Caprices review 2018: Legendary party in the mountains tops it once again

Organisers drafted in techno heavyweights such as Adam Beyer, Ben Klock and Monika Kruse for the festivals 15th anniversary - but the lack of female artists was hard to ignore

The MDRNTY stage, a crystalline glass greenhouse, provided incredible views of the surrounding mountains, complimented by a techno backdrop (Dmitry Smirnov)

Split between the daytime 'MDRNTY' stage – a crystalline, glass, mountain-top greenhouse providing uninterrupted views of the Valais Alps – and the night-time 'Moon' stage, Caprices provided both form and feeling for its 15th anniversary. On the roster for this year’s event were regulars Ben Klock , Ricardo Villalobos, Sven Vath and Adam Beyer b2b with wife and fellow Swedish DJ Ida Engberg. New to the mountain were Paul Kalkbrenner, Dubfire and Cobblestone Jazz.

Considering 2017's line-up had been hailed for its inclusion of females – the absence of women this year was hard to ignore. Other than Engberg, just two other women featured: minimal master Sonja Moonear, returning to the MDRNTY stage after last year’s much-talked about set, and Monika Kruse, the Terminal M boss and founding mother of the German techno scene. It was clear organisers had found it difficult to juggle demand to bring in diverse new talent, and showcase all the genre has to offer.

The early arrivals to Crans Montana were met with immediate intensity, with the festival officially starting on a Thursday evening on the Moon stage. Notably absent from the promotional material, the white tarpaulin-covered volume resembles a wedding marquee on approach, though the appearance is betrayed by the bass that can be felt three streets way.

A large screen behind the decks takes up the entirety of the far wall, with the crowd pooled in front of it - cut up into three sections with intelligently placed lasers that, as we walked in, were beaming into the masses, highlighting smiling dancers in light.

There was a smoothness to how the space folded out in front of you; little pushing - no queues, aside from the occasional eye contact made with stone-island-wearing locals making bass faces, you could be completely alone. The lasers placed on metal beams above would erratically dissect the audience on heavier beats - and then on spread out long notes, scatter, bathing the entire room in light.

Local boy Ripperton was the first up on the decks, bringing an almost religious intensity to the room. A drawn out, chime-filled rendition of Lore J's "Flying Fishes in the Sky" remix was accompanied by blue lights flowing across the ceiling like raindrops; unafraid to funk it up, he created a light and breezy moment with Kornel Kovacs' Snacks remix "Order to the Senses".

Paul Kalkbrenner's live set followed typical form for the Berlin regular; "Sky and Sand" eliminated any possible morose feeling from the Caprices congregation; Kalkbrenner rounded out his set with a happy, jump-up rendition of "Feed Your Head", had the conflux bathed in yellow light screaming for more.

The next morning was time for the MDRNTY experience, accessible only by a 15 minute gondola ride; the approach is all part of the magic, with nothing but quiet alpine breezes and the soft noise of skiers cutting through the snow to accompany the ride up; this moment of blissful silence is broken-through as soon as the stage is visible. It’s difficult to pinpoint what I heard first - the horde that had over spilled onto the surrounding mountainside - or the springy beats of Sonja Moonear.

Sonja felt like the perfect accompaniment for the stage - ceiling with LED cubes hanging from the rafters, met with her minimal chimes and piano keys in The Sweet Running Over, and to the left, endless views of the Alps, with even the Matterhorn managing to avoid the typical April cloud cover. The vibe changed dramatically as the usually minimal Ricardo Villalobos took to the decks; his set declared to the audience that the party had indeed started, and so had Caprices.

The sound oozed extravagance, as did the audience bobbing their heads to it - beautiful Europeans, perfectly manicured, chugging down 17 Franc vodka cokes - the room was boujee - this is an expensive setting, and these were people who could foot the bill.

Archie Hamilton had the morning crowd bopping along to his funky rhythms, the welsh producer demonstrating his own brand of house-techno sound that differs greatly from what is usually seen on the London scene, preferring more complex, bassy European notes. Berghain Resident and techno-giant Ben Klock veered on the house-y side; straight off a sell-out show at London's Printworks, he stayed repetitive, mixing in his own hit "Sub Zero" slowly with Carl Craig's "Transport".

Cobblestone Jazz improvised their live set, reflecting the rabbles mood back at them. The lush notes started off slow; a techno massage pulsating light across the ceiling, curing any ailments the days partying may have incurred. By the end lasers scanned the dance floor, daring us to be ready for what was going to come next with a hyped mix of "Skies above Us" by Same Side.

Paul Ritch played in his set with "Rhea" by Andrew Crom, drawing the mix out continuously through his harmonic, emotive set, melting the crowd into an embrace; the Parisian laid on the electricity with "Under" by Marco Flashbax and a soulful reproduction of Bafana Njlapo's "All Good Things".

Monika Kruse delivered the most thrilling oblation of the weekend with an education in techno; demonstrating her command of harder beats, Spectre's "Another Life" transformed acutely into "Wake Up" by Thomas Schumacher, scouring the crowd in blue lasers, looking for survivors of her onslaught, spangly delicate notes intertwined with chimes, whistles between notes in Elektrochemie LK's "When I Rock". Drops made way for the slow, vibrating beats of "Let There Be Dark" by Beico + Mt93.

The set was timed beautifully; firstly she demonstrated her skill, she showed the crowd exactly what techno should sound like - and then proceeded to take them back in time, laying on a nostalgic gift of satisfaction to the crowd who had been obediently two-stepping to 130bpm up until this point. Prodigy-esque drums, overlaid with comforting trance riffs that transported us to her beginnings, anthems that pleased Munich's ravers in the nineties. The shell-shocked crowd packed into the Moon and grinned ear-to-ear as she finished them off with a cheeky sample of "Pump up the Jam" by Technotronic and a subtlety mixed-in "Everybody's Free" by Rozella.

For the crowds who made their way to the Swiss Alps, they were met with an offering that managed to somehow draw attention away from the surrounding views. It was symbolic that it was one of the three women who made the cut for this year’s festival, who managed to deliver its most memorable moment, a set that will hopefully inspire Caprices, and women who want to give their own contribution to the genre to shake things up.