Transformed from a second world war bunker into Germany’s buzziest dance venue, the acoustics at Open Ground in Wuppertal are raved about by DJs such as Floating Points – and may even be good for your health
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t’s 8pm when DJ Lag steps up to the booth for his sound check at Open Ground, a dance venue in western Germany. It has been described as the “best-sounding new club in the world”, and when the first track plays you can hear why.
Rotund bass lines roll across the acoustically treated room, propelled by an extraordinarily powerful, horn-loaded bass enclosure named the Funktion-One F132. High-pitched melodies and intricate textures develop with startling clarity. And as for the call-and-response ad-libs – they sound as if the vocalists are standing only metres away.
Open Ground certainly knows how to make a great first impression. “I remember the moment exactly,” recalls Eddy Toca, AKA Piccell. The Angola-born DJ, who is now based in Dortmund, is here to play alongside DJ Lag and the rest of Barulho World, his afro-electronic collective. “It was a flash. It was a bang. We couldn’t compare it to any other place we’ve ever played. It’s like a dream.”
