Blast your Ghetto tomorrow

Arnaldo's take below:

We all know the ‘80s fashion revival that still reverberates in the streets was born in the clubs, on a soundtrack by Hot Chip, New Young Pony Club, Justice and the like. But years before the world was introduced to this movement in youth culture that is now known as New Rave and London was dubbed as the place where it all originated, we in Antwerp were already riding the avant-garde train. To be honest, we never really fit the bill of New Rave and did our own special thing. Every month or so we would gather in flashy, insane outfits at some sinister club near the Kaaien to groove on deep electro beats and delightfully wrong ‘80s tunes. The party was Fanklub and it was an underground gathering like no other. I remember having to call around to get the date of the next party, go on a shopping spree with an open mind and making up creative outfits in my head a week before. Customized and oversized t-shirts on tights jeans, dresses that scream vintage and grandpa's glasses just for the value of accessorizing. You could practically wear anything to these parties as long as it showed a vogue effort. And believe me, vogue it always was.

But then MySpace came along and blew the whole thing out of proportion. Fanklub became a commercial success, something it never wanted to be, and the organizers packed up their tent and moved to Paris to keep their credibility under the helm of Bruno Pieters. For years we in Antwerp were left in the cold and had to flee to Ghent (Make-Up Club) or Brussels (Dirty Dancing) for our fashion party fix. Luckily, last year some people saw our need and got together with the Fanklub DJ’s to bring the cool back to Antwerp. Blast Your Ghetto was born and every month Café Capital became the place to be. People who experienced the Fanklub-era will say it is just a light version of the real thing, but the music and the inspiration are the same. Blast Your Ghetto is the night-time playground of Antwerp's young art crowd. It is crazy, dirty, sexy, fashion, and if you are tired of your usual Friday destinations, you should definitely give it a try.

Next party: Tommorrow
See you there!

www.blastyourghetto.com
www.fanklub.be

A.x