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For some it is a deliciously over-the-top and extravagant annual happening to look forward to, for others it is an obligation, because you simply have to show yourself at the presentation of the Golden Gnome Awards in the Amsterdam pop temple Paradiso. Once upon a time, anyone who meant anything in the Dutch dance industry hád to be there. However, nowadays the cards have been dealt differently.
Yes, the Dutch are undeniably the world’s greatest dance pioneers. They may not have invented the genre – that shared honor extends from Chicago and Detroit to France, the United Kingdom, Belgium and Germany – but they did immediately adopt it and bring it to maturity, after which the child could spread it’s wings and give birth to many grandchildren with personalities of their own.
House veterans
Inherent to this, however, is that these house veterans are increasingly living up to the term ‘veterans’; gray hair generously leads that category. Which does not mean that an advanced age equals less productivity. Of course not. Miles Davis and Freddy Mercury also went on to the bitter end. Music flows through your veins, regardless of age.
Advanced age
Just take a look at Jan Bakker (picture below), whom I bumped into at the bottom of the stairs to the toilets in Paradiso. His 72-year-old particularly energetic personality. Jan, by the way, not only listens nto house but to “all music. And he doesn’t smoke. That’s actually useful for those who want to live a little longer.
Amsterdam dance business
The Golden Gnome Awards is an event that was once a kind of equivalent of the book ball, but in the Amsterdam dance business. No EDM and no real underground but operating in that considerable middle ground where it all really happens. Gay, classic, techno, house – the scenes where being yourself is valued – prevail.
The scene rejuvenates
Logically, however, new parties, festivals, organizers, artists and all that comes with it. The scene is rejuvenating. And so it should be. Coupled with this, a different view of the Golden Gnome Awards is emerging. Today’s twenty-somethings do not value this event and award as much as they did years ago. This became even more apparent today, during the awards ceremony, when several nominated festivals had not sent one delegate at all or only one. In the event of an award, at least someone could go on stage to receive the Golden Gnome. When this situation actually occurred a few times, a sentence from the unfortunate delegate invariably consisted of a thank you and a comment along the lines of, “Unfortunately, they can’t be there themselves. They are still broke from the weekend/they are sick/they had a tough weekend”. Only in the dance scene a valid excuse that everyone understands. However, winners who are conspicuous by their absence also seem to me to say a lot about the status a Golden Gnome has these days.
Rumors
Every year, of course, the rumors buzz. The GGA lend themselves perfectly to an annual version of RTL Boulevard (a Dutch gossip show on TV). In the end, no one takes the gnomes so seriously that people lose sleep over it if you miss out as a nominee. There are several reasons for this. It starts with having to vote for rather original and remarkable categories, for example, “New Member of Parliament” or “Minister of Public Relief.
Canal belt get-together
Another reason is that you just have to feel like it, a Monday evening (so you have to take the next day off) full of kitsch and nonsense and, above all, a lot of pretentiousness. After all: this is pre-eminently a canal belt get-together. Doesn’t the book ball also have that reputation? The festivals that secretly bear the Joost van Bellen stamp score high in terms of awards anyway. Despite young employees and perhaps partly thanks to the considerable lgbtq content. Moreover, Joost has of course known the Kabouter organizers and also generations for ages. Contrary to the suspicion of partiality regarding the DJMag Top 100 DJs, however, there is no hint of “with money you can buy everything” around the Gnomes. Absolutely not. Nepotism is more the case here. Following a principle of all times: you are who you know.
Perhaps my own rise in years is asserting itself. Even though I’m involved with dance practically 24/7 and consider myself pretty well-informed, I didn’t know an enormous number of nominees’ names. And for those I did know, I’m glad they got that credit this year: that Golden Gnome including past glory as a piece of recognition. Minitech Project and Thunderdome: well deserved!
"Staff"
I wonder how next year will go. In my experience, this evening was a lot less crowded than the 2016 edition. Plus, as I already mentioned, several winners apparently didn’t think it was important enough to attend in person themselves, but to send “staff”.
Contrarily to them, Rubzman (picture below) received a Golden Gnome ánd was present!
Enjoyment
Did I have a pleasant evening? Yes indeed! It is a pleasure to be able to spend any Monday night in April with your beloved friends. Always! Besides, I see some people only once a year, at the Golden Gnome Awards. Maybe it’s apples and oranges but when I see the Dancefair flooded with thousands of 15-plus guys and a single girl who no doubt have never heard of the GKA, well, that illustrates my sense of past glory. The idea was once good but needs renewal and rejuvenation to remain attractive to today’s entrepreneurial organizations in this great dance landscape.
Fresh-up
A good fresh-up would do wonders, both in terms of presenters (m/f) and design and in background music you only know if you were born generously before 1990 or always walk around gay bars. Admittedly, the evening was considerably less gluey than last year; there was a fine pace to it this time. However, it was obvious to a keen observer that the twenty-somethings in attendance, who grew up in a zap culture, were just short of yawning. And they were not alone. After the GGA program ended, Paradiso emptied out quickly.
Techno Tuesday
The organizers of Techno Tuesday, Dejan and Linda Milojkovic, managed to save the business a bit and lift it into this century: they turned it into a cool Techno Monday in the Paradiso cellar for once. For all generations. Unfortunately, half of the group in the main hall immediately wrote off the techno cellar. In my experience their loss. After all, I am a sucker for the genre and have great respect for Dejan and Linda.
Idealism
Seeing and being seen, but not at the Rembrandt Square level. Being seen in your full YOU and being allowed to be that, in all your extremities or homes civility. That is what the GGA would have once been champions of. I have only been there twice and I suspect that it was indeed once so and that the Golden Gnome Awards were an annual celebration. Perhaps at one time it was not a rigged event either when it came to nominations and awards (well, those gossips) and this event was born out of idealism and beautiful thoughts. I strongly suspect it was. Because society was lagging behind and this one night a year created a connectedness, an affirmation of the true shared character that characterizes house at its core, which is at least love, peace and happiness. The vibe of the hippies of the 1990s.
House belongs to everyone
House, however, belongs to everyone these days. Globally, there are countless bedroom producers and DJs (M/F) who dream of a fantastic career in this industry but consider the world purely digital. Branding is the operative word. An award presented, in their eyes, “by a bunch of senior citizens at an event by and for senior citizens” (just short of bingo). Well … as if they care. They reach out to Instagram or Snapshat, virtual hangouts where not a soul has heard of the GGA, and in a minute they get three times as many likes as the total number of people present in Paradiso tonight.
Maybe it’s time to reevaluate the GKA. To face reality and realize that this is a fun annual event for a motley crew of 35-plussers, full of geekery and surprises. However, with the realization that the awards an sich no longer meet the quality predicate they traditionally had. Gone are the days when cleverly conceived and original categories contributed to the status of the award. Nowadays there is mostly a whiff of far-fetched and a bit pathetic around it.