This post is also available in: Nederlands (Dutch)
The Cannabis Freedom Day was held in the Westerpark in Amsterdam and my love and I decided to take a look. We strolled around and checked some of the bands. We were looking for a part of the festival that met our needs - since we are both really only drawn by dance music. While we were wandering around, my love spotted two familiar faces, relaxing in the grass, and he introduced me to them. And so I met this non-typical, warm and welcoming couple Rombout and Kiki Toao, whom also, as it turned out, were a DJ duo with the name Catsuit. Both performed solo as well. As soon I heard they were into dance music they had my attention - considering the seeming lack of that in the cannabis-loving world.
That afternoon, the four of us hanging out in the grass together, I didn’t quite grasp that Kiki Toao and Rombout, under the name Catsuit, are a pretty well-known couple in the Amsterdam dance scene. They not only performed but also produced. I went with the vibe of this utterly relaxed couple that radiated a balance and serenity together. An energy that very much appealed to me.
Hip hotspot
I saw and heard Kiki and Rombout play together as a couple at de Toren in Amsterdam. This unique location used to be the old Shell headquarters for a long time but now was transformed to one of the hippest (read: most expensive) hotspots of Amsterdam. Also, I was there when Catsuit played a great set at Radion, another new hotspot at that time, still existing today but with a new regime.
Shamanism
In the years since I met Kiki Toao, she developed a deep or perhaps delved into her existing interest of shamanism. I believe she’s actually a shaman herself. Although we don’t run into each other as often as I would like, I have a grasp of Kiki’s enormous and probably sometimes almost unstoppable creativity as well.
'Men who knew better'
Writing the story of her first DJ-gig ever, I know that during her first set in Leiden she already got confronted with men who ‘knew better’. Luckily at 22 years of age she was not intimidated. Quoting DJ Kiki Toao: “This still happens and I still laugh about it.”
Women time!
Honestly, to me it seems rather sad, that some men still think they know better than any female DJ on stage, who might and most likely will have ten times the experience these men have. From that perspective: I think the times, they MUST be changing! It’s women time! I’m pretty certain that Kiki Toao will vote for that as well.