By the second or third day at Melt you start noticing the T-shirts proclaiming “I survived the sleepless floor”. In one sense Sleepless Floor is the constantly palpitating heart of Germany’s Melt Festival, the non-stop, dance till you drop – or at least need a sit down – sector that features back-to-back DJs from the opening party on Thursday night (which, somewhat jarringly, featured Fatboy Slim) until well after daybreak on Monday when Kuriose Naturale takes over after Ellen Allien’s 6-hour stint.
But Sleepless Floor is also set over to one side of the site - a peninsula that reaches out into Lake Gremmin - while the more picturesque Sisyphos (in the middle of a forest) and Gremmin Beach nestle over at the opposite end. In between lie the main stages and the colossal industrial relics of Ferropolis that belch fire into the night. Melt isn’t exactly two events in one but its geographical centre – where Oasis, Pet Shop Boys and Kylie have all played previously, and Phoenix, The Kills, M.I.A, Die Antwoord and Warpaint appear this year – is a kind of indie/alternative/pop festival, and the further you spiral out from there, the closer you get to the festival’s essence.
2017 is the 20th year of Melt so the combination is obviously working. And watching Phoenix on Sunday it’s clear how the dynamic works – after taking on Monoloc’s grit at Sleepless Floor, a communal bath in the French four-piece’s rousing power pop is just what’s needed, leaving you refreshed and ready to wander the outer reaches again.
Well, maybe not quite ready, because what follows is one of the highlights of the weekend. I have never seen Die Antwoord before, and may never do again given that they’re supposed to be releasing only one more album (still, we’ve heard that before), so if it’s to be just the once I’m glad it’s here. They gel perfectly with Melt’s combination of Mad Max dystopia and positive party vibes, and from the moment the eerie, eely coils of Mica Levi’s ‘Under The Skin’ soundtrack are interrupted by ‘Carmina Burana’ tethered to monumental beats, you know Ninja, Yolandi and God have no intention of paddling in the shallows. We’re subsequently treated to numerous costume changes, ghoulish pixie dancers, daddy issues, simulated premature ejaculation and, well, Ninja flashing his arse. Their desire to be ‘freeky’ is so all-consuming that it breaks through to a kind of freeky-sublime. It feels a long way from the soulful introduction on Friday evening, with Kamasi Washington gracing the very same stage as folks still drift in, but he’s captivating, both challenging and effortless. At the same time, Canadian Marie Davidson is over at the bunker that is the Red Bull Music Academy Stage, delivering the beats and wired poetry of her ‘Adieux Au Dancefloor’ with her usual nervy energy.
The Red Bull stage is the place not only for the festival’s more refined treats but also (barring Die Antwoord) it’s more outré characters. Egyptian Lover’s schtick is as enjoyable as ever, but rather one-note when compared to self-described "black, queer and 'other' " rapper Katz, whose set on Saturday is a revolving door for various personae and musical approaches, from glowering predator who crouches in the darkness on a ledge to the side of the stage, to playfully petulant on the Lesley Gore-ripping Icona Pop feature ‘My Party’, via a new Hudson Mohawk collaboration.
Katz’s set, with the vogueing references in ‘Ima Read’, calls back to Parisian Kiddy Smile’s, his first outside France, on the same stage a couple of hours earlier. The former’s also opens with a male dancer, but that’s nothing compared to Kiddy’s entourage of at least eight performers, including three pink-clad backing singers, two DJs, and male and female dancers. Kiddy himself is clad in an open-chested, blue, green and turquoise-feathered outfit and sings like the ghost of ‘Your Love’ vocalist Jamie Principle. The covers of Everything But The Girl’s ‘Missing’ and CeCe Peniston’s ‘Finally’ might be to paper over a lack of material for now, but Kiddy – and his crew – are going to be striking poses abroad on a more regular basis. Guest vocalist Rouge Mary also provides a link between Kiddy and Hercules & Love Affair on the Medusa stage (the smaller of the two central venues) for their glorious set that naturally peaks with ‘Blind’.
The big stages can sometimes baffle as much as they delight – M.I.A delivers, and Nao puts in a powerhouse performance, but Warpaint feel a little flat in their 9pm Saturday slot. The centrifugal pull inevitably draws you outwards again, often towards the Big Wheel stage. Big Wheel is frequently bold and beautiful, and although any positives about Bjarki on Friday have been superseded by subsequent controversy about his label mate's transphobic comments, Dekmantel Soundsytem bring in the dawn on Saturday night/Sunday morning with a masterclass. Their set is a neat bit of a curation, a plug-in taster for their own Dekmantel Festival and brand. From a distance they make a funny pair, a kind of yin and yang of the DJ jet-set, with Thomas Martojo more animated, lapping up the attention in sunglasses as the light intensifies, while Casper Tielrooj is more subdued, even business-like. Their seamless set glistens to a close with Kraftwerk’s ‘Europe Endless’ (undoubtedly a glorious affirmation of techno roots, but also charged with added poignancy for the Brits still left standing).
Endless, sleepless – they’re the festival’s two watchwords. There may well still be people dancing there as you read this.
