Yo DC ravers — what's good?
Your dance music gremlin is back for Issue #006 and this weekend is the kind that makes you set four alarms on a Thursday. Sven Väth is returning to DC for the first time in years — landing at BERHTA Friday night for eight hours with LTJ Bukem in the side room. Nü Androids is following up Bedouin with Röyksopp on a DJ set at A.i. Warehouse, which is the kind of booking that makes you stop mid-scroll and say "wait, seriously?" Saturday flips to disco and bass — LF SYSTEM and Yulia Niko at Tigres de la Noche, Angrybaby under the Nü Androids banner at Culture DC, and Armen Miran going late night at Flash. The Fluffy Cloud residency at BERHTA closes out the weekend before it packs up and leaves town for good. Flash is running the full three-day marathon again. There is a lot happening. We are not complaining.
Techno legend to disco royalty to warehouse bass. That's the weekend. Let's get into it.
This Weekend's DC Rave Itinerary (April 10–12, 2026)
Fri April 10 – The techno gremlin awakens:
Sven Väth / LTJ Bukem / Jus Nowhere / Joanna O / Gingersnap @ BERHTA – Techno / Atmospheric Drum & Bass / Deep Techno 9PM–5AM | Sven headlines the main BERHTA sound stage; LTJ Bukem plays the BETTE side room
Nü Androids Presents: Röyksopp (DJ Set) @ A.i. Warehouse – Synth-Pop / Indie Electronic / Electronica
Kepler @ Flash – UK Garage / House / Minimal House
Galantis @ Echostage – Future House / Electro House / Pop Dance Support: Gudfella, Head Rush | Presented by GLOW
Gremlin tip: BERHTA versus A.i. Warehouse is the real decision you need to make before Friday. Sven Väth is running a genuine eight-hour deep techno set — the T.R.A.N.C.E. world tour has been one of the more talked-about runs in underground techno this year. Röyksopp on a DJ set at the Warehouse is a once-in-a-while booking that only shows up when Nü Androids is feeling bold. Both are correct. Pick your lane and commit.
Sat April 11 – Disco, bass, and your decision-making ability in direct conflict:
Matinée Presents: SWIM @ Flash – Disco / Soulful House / Deep House — Day party
LF SYSTEM / Yulia Niko @ Tigres de la Noche – Nu-Disco / Disco House / Melodic House
The Fluffy Cloud: Bass Music Night @ BERHTA – Bass Music / Electronic / Immersive Final concert of the TFC residency. Once it leaves, it leaves.
Nü Androids Presents: Angrybaby @ Culture DC – Bass House / Tech House / Breaks
Armen Miran @ Flash – Afro House / Melodic Techno / Deep House
KSHMR @ Echostage – Big Room House / Bollywood Bass / Electro House Support: Hoang, Kastra, Just James | Presented by GLOW
Afters tip: Culture DC and Tigres de la Noche are in the same building at 405 Morse St NE. After Angrybaby, the staircase flip to LF SYSTEM's disco set upstairs is one of the better moves available to you Saturday night. The building giveth.
Gremlin tip: Armen Miran at Flash is the underrated pick of the weekend. Armenian-Norwegian, deep Afro House roots, the kind of set that rewards people who stay in the room and let it build. Flash's Funktion-One plus that catalog is a very specific kind of good time that not enough people talk about.
Sun April 12 – The cool-down that refuses to be one:
Sunday Love — 15 Years of Visionquest: Galcher Lustwerk & Ryan Crosson / Aaron Sparks @ Flash – Deep House / Minimal House / Lo-Fi House — Day party
The Fluffy Cloud: Residency Closing Party @ BERHTA – House / Electronic / Immersive Final night of the DC residency.
Gremlin tip: Visionquest's 15th anniversary is not a small deal. The label defined a generation of deep and minimal house, and Galcher Lustwerk b2b Ryan Crosson on a Sunday afternoon at Flash is exactly what this city needs after a Saturday this stacked. Around $22 a ticket. Go.
Last Weekend Recap — April 3–5
Last weekend had range. Two shows in particular earned the full write-up treatment, and I published both separately — here's the short version with links.
Arodes at Culture DC (Friday, April 3) — Nü Androids pulled off exactly what they set out to do. Arodes came on at 1AM and held the floor for two hours of clean, intentional Afro House, Melodic Techno, and Indie House — a real arc, not a genre salad. The 360 sound system at Culture did its job. The lighting kept the room intimate. Arodes himself was locked in the entire time, locking eyes with the floor, vibing back and forth, and then turning around and pulling off transitions like they cost him nothing. The crowd, unfortunately, did not show up in the way the room deserved — sustained full-volume conversations right next to the decks, zero floor awareness, PLUR score in the basement. It didn't take away from what Arodes was doing, but it did take away from what the night could have been. The venue earned it. The booking earned it. Worth going back with people who actually dance. Full recap here: Arodes at Culture: This Is What House Music Is Supposed to Feel Like
Ministry of Sound x The Fluffy Cloud at BERHTA (Saturday, April 4) — This one landed completely differently. Ministry of Sound's 35th anniversary showcase under The Fluffy Cloud's three-story, 200,000-watt sound sculpture — and yes, it absolutely lives up to what you've heard. When the Cloud drops to eight feet off the ground, the bass doesn't come from a stack. It rains down. You're not listening to music, you're inside it. Andruss, Berin, and Tiffy Vera kept the sets tight and intentional all night. The crowd was the real surprise: older, more intentional, heavy Burning Man energy — a room where PLUR was the default setting rather than a concept you have to explain. BERHTA held the whole thing together. It was one of the best nights in DC this year. Full recap here: Ministry of Sound x The Fluffy Cloud: DC Got Its First Taste of a Global Institution
The Fluffy Cloud residency ends this weekend — bass music night Saturday at BERHTA and the closing party Sunday. If you haven't gone yet, this is genuinely the last call. Once it leaves DC, it's gone.
Unreleased ID Tease / Track of the Week
Anyone else completely gone over "Beautiful," the new Anyma and Joji collab? Afterlife ambient energy meets Joji's signature ache — it shouldn't work as well as it does and yet here we are. This one has been living in the pre-game rotation all week. Queue it up before BERHTA Friday and thank me later.
What was your track of the week? Reply and let me know!
Gremlin Tips + PLUR Corner
Tip: BERHTA runs 9PM to 5AM on Friday. Eight hours. Eat a real meal before you go and give yourself permission to arrive at midnight — the room hits different once it's fully locked in. LTJ Bukem in the BETTE side room is not a consolation prize. It might actually be the move.
Tip: Röyksopp DJ sets are rare. This is not the full live production with the theatrical staging — it's Torbjørn and Svein behind decks making real-time decisions in a room the size of A.i. Warehouse. Nü Androids keeps landing "wait, what?" bookings and the community has noticed. Don't sleep on this.
Tip: The Fluffy Cloud closes Sunday. If you've been on the fence since the residency opened on March 31, Saturday's bass night and Sunday's closing party are the final two windows. Tickets at feverup.com.
PLUR reminder: Tigres de la Noche is a no-phones venue. Go in, put it on airplane mode, and just be there with LF SYSTEM. A room full of people actually dancing — no content creation, no notifications, just the music — is what this is supposed to feel like. Take care of each other on the floor.
That's dispatch #006 — Sven Väth and LTJ Bukem on the same DC bill, Röyksopp at the Warehouse, LF SYSTEM and Angrybaby closing out a week that started with Arodes at Culture. Your gremlin is doing the math on how many places to be Saturday night and the answer keeps coming back as too many.
Reply to this email or DM @plurtatochip with your weekend plans, floor pics, and whatever unreleased IDs you're sitting on. Next one drops next Wednesday. Forward this to your rave fam — let's grow this list.
Stay PLUR, stay hydrated, see you on the floor.
– Your DC Dance Music Gremlin
PLURtatochip
The Capital City Raver