The X-Ams party concept was started last year as a techno spinoff of Funhouse. This year the organisers gave the party some dearly needed TLC by moving it to Radion. As the people behind Spielraum had already discovered two years ago, Radion is the kind of gritty concrete wonderland where you could almost believe that you’re actually at an underground rave. Immediately upon entering it was clear that the move had worked: everything just felt completely right like all the pieces of the puzzle clicked. I was still sober, mind you, and after I wasn’t things only got better.
Radion has two medium-sized rooms: one with a balcony with bar overlooking it and a sloped ceiling and another one next/above it which non-coincidentally has a descending floor. The first room leads to a downstairs hallway with smokers’ lounge and toilets, the second one has an obscure dark corner that leads to a hidden bar with lounge area.
The X-Ams concept consists of dark medium-tempo techno with low-key lighting. The previous editions were all held in WesterUnie, just like Funhouse; even the room setup was the same. This never really worked that well for me: the venue was not intimate enough for the X-Ams concept and the setup was too similar to Funhouse. Some less musically-sensitive friends of mine wondered who had turned out the light at Funhouse (it’s funny because it’s true). All together this made most of the previous editions a bit lacklustre. The move to Radion totally solved this. The venue has a more techno-y atmosphere, there’s two rooms for DJ’s instead of one and there’s room for wandering about which WesterUnie sadly lacks. As a bonus the people at Radion really don’t give a sh*t who does what to which person’s genitalia anywhere, which gives the party a free feeling similar to what I experienced at Peripate in Paris last January.
The turnout was pretty ok, especially considering that many of the kinky sex monsters were at Wasteland and the younger techno-aficionados at the School Weekend. There were a lot of familiar Funhouse faces, but I think the party has plenty of potential to grow it’s own audience. There definitely is a niche for gay techno parties where you don’t stand out after passing the geriatric boundary of 30.
All in all I had the best party experience since Funhouse in February. People were social, there was a general sense of freedom, the dancing was great, I kissed a dentist (this is noteworthy because Radion used to be a dentist academy so that sort of makes it an artistic expression), my boyfriend didn’t mind and many friends were there. I really think this party concept has a lot of mileage in it.
Party & Venue Information
| Party type | Gay, techno |
| Type of audience | Age range 30-60 Audience: mostly twinky and sporty Attitude: friendly, approachable, flirty, cruisy, social; One or two women |
| Outfits | Fetishy, sportswear, jeans, many shirtless |
| Music | Techno, medium tempo |
| Sex | Yes, no specific darkroom but there were no prohibitions anywhere. Most action was in the back of the auditorium and smoking area |
| Venue | Radion, a lovely maze-like concrete bunker with two dance areas |
| Security | Thorough security checks of people and possessions at the entrance. No signs of security once inside. |
| Facilities | Lockers (2 euro coins, possibility to buy those by PIN/bankcard) Tickets: For sale at the door Drinks were paid by tokens which could be bought by PIN, bankcard, or cash Drinks prices: normal Lounge: yes Toilets: Located upstairs near lockers and downstairs accross from smoking room; enough for the number of people Smoking room: yes |
