Snippet from C2C: A Deep Dive into Club Reality
More than a festival, a cultural project: that’s how we define C2C today, a unique event in Italy that hosts thousands of people and internationally renowned artists every year.
C2C 2023 via IG @mariagiuliazannini
In the club, you can only enter if you fully embrace its concept and know how to navigate in it. Just to be clear: I’m saying this because it’s not just a “disco”; the club is a separate dimension where everything outside loses its meaning. It’s a matter of mechanisms and sequences, a shared act of communion among those who have nothing in common.
Voyeuristic men in women’s restrooms watch them reapplying lipstick after vomiting, couples kiss on the dance floor, people stay sober but dance their hearts out, others explain concepts slowly because they’ve had drinks mixed with drugs, individuals look you in the eyes and smile while dancing with you. The club is a constant generator of life and chaos, and if you feel uncomfortable, you must truly hate feeling part of something. You can never be alone in the club, even if you’re physically alone, because what surrounds you becomes yours too. What resonates in your chest when the bass beats, resonates with everyone else too. There are no differences; in the club, everyone is everyone, indistinctly.
King Krule live at C2C 2023 via IG @pvrvpluie__
“The World” is the twenty-first card of the tarot major arcana, and this year marked the twenty-first edition of C2C with the theme being the world itself. The artists were vastly different from one another; some had already performed at Lingotto, while for others, it was their first time (many were making their debut in Italy): Caroline Polachek, King Krule, Lucrecia Dalt, Yves Tumor, Moodymann, and others. The most anticipated performance was by Caroline Polachek: the face and voice of audacious modernity. Particularly appreciated by the younger audience seeking refined, sensual, suspended pop with a retro feeling. Another highly anticipated performance was by King Krule: an intimate concert that managed to embrace the entire crowd, creating mystical atmospheres. On the other hand, Flying Lotus stormed onto the festival stage, immediately switching the mood. Surrounded by screens displaying hypnotic AI-generated graphics, the Californian producer set the main stage on fire, making everyone dance and giving a big adrenaline rush. That’s what the club is: a place where you pour your soul into alignment with the planets for just one night and wake up the next day feeling emptier than the days before. The taxi ride back home is like the saudade of coming back to the routine after a month on vacation, like the serotonin recharge after an MDMA hit, like the standstill period after finishing high school. And C2C represents the closest Italian manifestation of all this, offering a sanctuary for those seeking a deep connection.
