Digging through June with Rita
As the infamous quote goes, „If your pictures aren’t good enough, you aren’t close enough.“ If you saw Rita Watson’s photographs you know she gets quite close, intimate almost. Combining a raver’s angle with an insider-access, she has been capturing Prague’s nightlife with an eye of a true and dedicated observer for several years now. We asked Rita to take a look at our events in June to give you some tips, and she also included a few images to tease you a bit.
Photo by Liliana
I’m a simple girl…If there’s a beat, I’m gonna shake some ass. That’s why I was so nervous to write this piece, because what do I know about music?
Well, what I do know is when I am surrounded by quality people in a quality club space, I’ll be there all night, or maybe even for a cheeky weekend bender. And after checking the lineup for June, I can already see myself making more than a few appearances at Ankali.
So I called my buddy Karel aka Silhouette aka Vision of 1994 to give me the inside vibes on the Harmless Youth x Amphibian. At first he just said ‘dubstep’, and of course as an American I immediately had war flashbacks of neon fishnets, nipple pasties, and Cinema by Skrillex. But Mr. Karel reassured me that this was something different: heavy UK bass and that spooky-sexy dubstep.
I know the guys from Amphibian and Harmless Youth, so I’m positive they’ll slay as usual – but I had to do some digging on the headliner Youngsta (or the Don of Dubstep). This guy is an absolute legend, I know this is going to be a unique night at Ankali for sure. In the end my boy Nicholas, aka Atch22, said “he (Youngsta) will come in and be the true test of the Ankali soundsystem” – Wheww! Is this a challenge or a threat? I’ll find out for myself 😉
Amphibian at Bike Jesus
The next day comes the first edition of Aqueerius, and like I said, it’s giving bender, as I’ll be there both nights. From the looks of it, the club is gonna be trance and house all the way – the type of sound that glues you to the dance floor. This is my absolute favourite type of music, so I am super excited to hit this one. Also to see some friendly faces, like Shillof and Admo, who are making their Ankali debut.
The name that immediately caught my attention was Bashkka. Her Maricas Hör set stays on repeat in my household, even the neighbors know it by heart. It’s the kind of sound that grabs you by the eardrums and refuses to let go until you’re a hot, sweaty mess of pure rhythm. Thank god the dancefloor is dark, y’all don’t wanna see the moves i’ll be serving there.
23–6–2023 Harmony Label Night
In the past year I have had the pleasure of hanging with the Harmony boys; doing photos, social media, and teaching them how to properly use the word slay. Since then they’ve become a little crazy family to me, so excuse my bias when writing about the upcoming, can’t-miss label night 😉
Last year’s edition was a total banger, especially up to the final hours in Planeta Za where DJ Yan had everyone covered in sweat, shaking ass to some iconic groovy beats, it was such a feral vibe. Oh and the cherry on top of it all? My girl Ella rockin that bubble machine against a sun-soaked Planeta Za – it was the perfect morning on the dancefloor.
Harmony x hereandthere, 2023
8 Years of Harmony (2022)
For this year I am expecting a similar vibe…but times 10!! I am so excited to welcome Kia back to Prague; she first played for us in Bike Jesus last summer at the Harmony x Animalia event, and all I can say is these Australians are no joke, they definitely know how to party and play. Also looking forward to having Harmony label-resident Forest On Stasys joining us from Argentina, he’s gonna serve us some groovy-electric techno, my favourite !!!
See you on the dancefloor hehe.
Check the full programme of June here.
Artwork for June 2023 was made in collaboration with Olbram Pavlíček
