Awakenings Festival 2019 Saturday - Live set Enrico Sangiuliano
Area X
Another year, another pilgrimage to the hallowed fields of Gashouder for Awakenings, where we collectively pretend our knees don't hurt and that 3pm is a reasonable time for peak-time techno. Enrico Sangiuliano, in Area X, offers a live set that feels less like a performance and more like a masterclass in precision engineering. The sun is probably still up, but inside the tent, it's all strobes and smoke, a cathedral of bass where every kick is a prayer. Locked into a steady 130 BPM, Sangiuliano navigates primarily in 7A, building tension through layered percussive elements before unleashing melodic releases.
The energy arc is a slow burn, with low-end dominance (70.7% avg low energy) providing a hypnotic foundation, while strategic highs (3.5% avg) punctuate the journey. His mixing is seamless, often letting tracks breathe into each other, creating a continuous flow that never jars, and the harmonic progression through keys like 3B and 12A adds depth without clutter. For the crate diggers, the opening salvo, his own remix of CJ Bolland's 'Camargue 2019', is a statement of intent—nostalgic rave stabs recontextualized for 2019. Then, the curveball: Rui Da Silva's 'Touch Me', a timeless vocal hook dropped with such confidence it feels inevitable.
Dustin Zahn & Joel Mull's 'Vesperum Winds' brings a darker, driving texture, while Gary Burrows' 'It Doesn't Matter' is a deeper cut that keeps the heads nodding. From the retro-futurism of 'Camargue 2019' to the peak-time weapon of Jensen Interceptor's 'Lean Before the Interview', before landing in the expansive, nine-minute finale of his own 'Symbiosis'. A journey designed for the long haul.