In the mid-1980s, parties took place in and around Bern, which anticipated the future culture of celebrations. On the «Psychorama» nights, people in the scene danced next to Bhagwan disciples. A look back at the beginnings of the Bern club scene.
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«Psychorama»-Party «Temptation» in der Linde in Kirchlindach, 1986.
Foto: Peter MacTaggart
One of the most popular stories in the international club scene goes like this: Four London DJs experience in Amnesia in Ibiza how DJ Alfredo hangs up and casts the party crowd under its spell for hours with his eclectic mix. Inspired by this, they started parties at home and started the acid house wave in 1988, which soon reached the European continent.
In contrast, this story, which took place a few years earlier, has hardly been told: the Bernese sound engineer Peter MacTaggart and his partner Katie Grossenbacher also dance at the Amnesia. They too listen to DJ Alfredo and are enthusiastic. From 1984 they organize parties in and around Bern that follow the tradition of the so-called traveling discos. They move around with their own system and hold their legendary “Psychorama” parties in restaurants and community halls. Those were the nights when the people of Bern heard house music for the first time.
