It is with a heavy heart that news has arisen from the camp of Mannheim’s Parker Lewis that they will be sadly closing down their club at the end of this month.
After a run of 5 years the BE9 stronghold has been a home for the burgeoning Mannheim minimal scene and in that time, has played host to the scenes main protagonists in Onur Özer, Livio and Roby and the RPR Soundsystem crew and everybody in between, to the new breed of artists such as Seedee, DeWalta and Praslea.
What some don’t realise is that as well as Parker Lewis being home for minimal music, it is also the innermost sanctum of the actual home and HQ of BE9 and the artists that have built it from scratch. It houses their actual living spaces, studios, meeting rooms, kitchens, chill spots and the basement houses the actual club space (which is the only space to close).
In a recent post on the closure resident artist Ben Balance explained the sad situation, “Because of the constant complaints we thought about different measures to improve the living together. Basses and volumes were adjusted, apartments around the club were rented by friends, even new masonry was installed.” He continues “All this without certainty that the desired result would be achieved. Unfortunately, we were never able to even come close to the potential of our sound system. These facts, reinforced by the complaints of neighbors have permanently worn us down.”
Even with all these proactive steps taken by the club where sound quality and vibe are placed above all else, sadly this has reduced the potential of the club so much that the current location of Parker Lewis is no longer the viable haven that it once was.
What makes this news all the sadder is that the fertile testing ground that the team at BE9 had nurtured over the past 5 years by Dennis Kusi and Dominik Grunert has given emerging stars such as Sedee, Ben Balance, Fabe, Jan Golly and Tim Etzel the tools to develop as game-changing artists and to expand their craft in comfort.
If you are in Mannheim on Friday, May 31st then you should definitely be joining the Parker Lewis family for one last rave where they will be joined by an as yet confirmed line-up that is sure to give the club the send-off that it truly deserves.
Before that, there are the following events to help warm-up for the final send-off.
Saturday, May 25th – Parker Lewis presents Funk E, Āman & Jan Golly
Wednesday, May 29th – Parker Lewis presents Alexis Cabrera & Ben Balance
More info on Parker Lewis
Facebook | Resident Advisor
More info on BE9
Facebook | Resident Advisor
