We went last night to the Rufus Wainright album release party at Cookies in the Yellow Lounge at the Westin Grand. A friend talked us into going, because it was billed (to him, I never saw advertising for it) as a typical Berlin club but with classical music and top-notch live classical performances. So we went, and wow. Boring. I thought I recognized a few well-known young conductors and musicians, that sort of thing, but it was mostly just young people standing around for hours, totally crowded in uncomfortably on one another, and staring at the center of the room where mostly nothing was happening. A looping classical/modern classical track played loud enough to inhibit conversation, and a mood video looped on screens above. Usually when I'm bored and it's too loud to talk, I peoplewatch, but it seemed like every single other person there was equally bored.

The first act was a singer who really didn't impress me very much but the crowd seemed to really enjoy her performances. We left after her set, but I wonder how the rest of the evening was. A string quartet and a few DJs were slated for the remainder of the event.