words: nikki wright

On arrival in Hungary, we were met by Gyula, the promoter, and taken to a lovely restaurant called Café Mokka in the heart of Budapest.

The food was great, and we were also given a local aperitif to liven things up! It was really nice but quite strong, and the girl at the next table had knocked back three when she recognized Lucien Foort and ended up in a fit of laughter.

Next stop was back to the hotel for a quick change and off to the Home Club. The place was packed, and Lee Burridge was exciting the crowd with acid riffs and crazy dance moves!

DJ Lucien Budapest

At 3 a.m. it was time for Foort to hit the decks, and the crowd was responsive from the start. The DJ booth is in a commanding position, looking out onto the dance floor, where everyone can see the DJ and feed off his energy. Luckily, energy is something Foort has lots of, and the crowd loved every record he played and was hanging on his every beat. They were also constantly passing flyers for the DJs to sign…and some fans were even passing them money! Even Gyula the promoter was jumping around for Foort's entire set, willing him to take the crowd higher and higher. The atmosphere was so great we didn't want to leave, though we needed to get some rest in time for the next gig on Saturday night.

The next day, we were ready to continue our Hungarian adventure after a nice, late checkout to give us some extra time to sleep. While we were waiting for the driver, we noticed the huge shopping mall that was at the back of the hotel. I couldn't believe it! Over a thousand shops and no time to have a look round! I would definitely have to come back!

At 3 p.m., our driver arrived, with a big Cadillac, dressed in cowboy hat and boots, with a dancing Elvis in the back window. It was quite comical really, considering we were in Hungary, but it made the two-and-half-hour drive more fun as we headed off into the countryside. The drive seemed to take forever and we seemed to be getting farther and farther away from civilization!

DJ Lucien Hungary

We finally arrived at the hotel in the town of Keszthely, which we were told was a popular holiday resort next to a huge lake. The only thing they didn't tell us was that it was a holiday resort for old people. Even our rooms were designed for disabled access! We also got some very strange looks while we were checking in, so maybe they were trying to tell us something? After negotiating the hotel dining room and the all-you-can-eat buffet, if was off to club Colors.

The club was in the middle of nowhere, with bright neon signs, and we were not sure it would match Club Home in Budapest. When we entered the club it was totally different than what we were expecting, and the DJ booth was raised up and looking out onto the entire club. We were told the club was open 'til 10 a.m., which gave us some idea of the night that lay ahead! The crowd seems to like to deeper and harder at this club, but Foort took it all in stride when he hit the decks at 1 a.m. He enjoyed it so much that he even went for a walk around the club, to chat to the punters and dance with the crowd.

The people there were really friendly and didn't want us to go, but we knew we had the two-and-a-half-hour journey to the airport the next day with our all American friends (and Elvis!), so we needed to get some sleep.

It was a great time and it's all we talked about for the entire trip to the airport. We hope they will have us back soon!