Awakenings #98 (All-Dayer)

A couple of months ago Peter Dekker (Däcker) and Hans van Kroonenburg (Skoulaman) were confirmed as part of the line-up of the 98th edition of the Awakenings electronic music concert series.
Not to be confused with the Dutch dance festival with the same name, but the English - quite underground - traditional electronic music event, to be held several times a year since 2004, at the current location of Lea Hall Social Club in Rugeley.

Shortly after the confirmation of Däcker and Skoulaman's appearance, the idea rose that I could also be part of the line-up. Which came together nicely, as their first collaboration was going to be released on my Deserted Island Music label, as well as I was already working on some new solo material.
Then, it had already been a while since I performed there. The first time in 2012, with a REMY solo performance, followed by appearances in 2014 (with Free Arts Lab) and 2017 (with Mäläskä).
The first of these were at the Paget High School in Burton-on-Trent, and the 2017 and current editions took place at Lea Hall Social Club in Rugeley.

So I was added to the list of performers, as part of the Awakenings All-Dayer.
The All-Dayer takes place once a year, and features five live acts during the day and evening, instead of the 'regular' two or three artist editions.

As the festival took place on Saturday, November 25th, Peter, Hans, my wife Paulien and I travelled to the U.K. by ferry one day earlier.
Peter and Hans stayed the night at Steve Whitlan's (fellow musician, and also involved into the Awakenings concerts) place. Paulien went to visit some friends, where we were invited to stay.

The next day was concert day. Because we all had to travel another 3,5 to 4 hours to the venue, we should have left far too early in the morning to be in time at the build-up time of 10:00. Instead, we arrived slightly past 13:00, when the opener of the Awakenings All-Dayer, Ashok Prema, just started his performance. Ashok and I had been on the same stage before, also during Awakenings, back in 2014, so it was a pleasure to meet again after his performance.
As the 'stage' was already full of equipment for the three acts playing the afternoon (Bouvetoya and Monkey Trial followed), we got the opportunity to set up our gear in the large break, between 17:00 and 19:00. So more than enough time to get everything working.

Photo by Phil Booth.

The evening program / my concert took off at 19:00, and improvised about one hour around new music, potentially for my next solo album, due for 2026.
After a short break Däcker and Skoulaman entered the stage and did their improvisation, including some themes and sequences from their just released "Saudade" collaboration album.
I slightly got lost in time, but I thought their part of the evening lasted for 70 minutes.
For an encore, I joined my two friends, and we improvised for another 15-20 minutes. I think it worked very well, keeping in mind we had never performed together before in this setting. And then an end came to the Awakenings All-Dayer 2025.

Encore. Photo by Genghis Postlethwaite.

In between the concerts I spoke to quite some people. It was a pleasure to meet a lot of you (again).
Thanks to everyone being present at this edition of Awakenings, and supported the artists and organizers by purchasing a Virtual Ticket and merchandising. Without you these kind of wonderful initiatives definitely have no right to exist.

When the hall was emptied from all equipment and cables, and our cars were packed, we parked our vehicles at our appartment, just around the corner of the venue.
Time for a drink or two and aftertalks, and finally back to our appartment when we were kicked out of the bar due to closing time.

'Afterparty' selfie with Hans, Peter, Phil, Mike and myself.

Sunday, after one hour extra sleep, because of winter time, Peter and Hans returned to Steve's home, and Paulien and I had some sightseeing in the wonderful Cambridge. Where we had plenty of time, as we only had to be at the ferry for our trip back around 21:00. After the sleep-over on the ferry, we came back home rather early the next day.

Thanks a lot to Phil Booth, Jez Creek and Dave Buxton for the organisation, and welcoming us again at their Awakenings event. It's always a pleasure to perform here.
Thanks to Peter Dekker and Hans van Kroonenburg for their good company and making music together.
And thanks to my beloved Paulien, and Hazel and her friend Phil for their hospitality. Really cool you were also there during my performance.

Remains the good luck for the 99th, and upcoming editions, and indeed the many Awakenings concert series to come! Looking forward to come back again soon!

Coming weeks there is no time to relax, as there still has to be done a lot of work for upcoming Deserted Island Music label night at the basement of the former V&D building in the center of Haarlem, on November 13th. There also has to be rehearsed for my participation together with Däcker at De Keuken at Pletterij in Haarlem, November 17th.