1998 – Club XIII

Dj Kolya:
«At that peak of «Galereya,» Grad called me and said that Gary wanted to talk to me. XIII at that time was perceived as a club for foreigners, and lived some separate life of its own. Tolya back then played the kind of Italo-disco that suited the expats perfectly. But the club needed to progress somehow, and they called me in.
When I showed up at XIII, I immediately started playing completely different music. By that point I was drifting more and more toward progressive. When the first compilations by Digweed and Sasha appeared, it just blew my mind. I always practised eclecticism, a sort of blend of known and unknown compositions. In the end, the hits pulled the new tracks along, people got used to them and, over time, these «unknown» things also became hits. This trick worked, and at XIII they believed in this music. I consider myself a little Che. I made a revolution at XIII, driving in there practically on a bulldozer and bringing the fashion for progressive to Moscow.
The club had a great team. Everyone did their own thing and didn't climb into others' affairs. I slotted straight into that team, and everyone was literally bursting with ideas. All that was missing was a musical push, and, with my arrival, the overall picture of XIII finally came together. This music radically changed the club's atmosphere and, accordingly, XIII's plans for the future. As a rule, I played after three o'clock and closed the parties. We all drank sambuca and rejoiced at a successful party. It was a fantastic time! Of course, XIII was very lucky with its manager. Name me a club whose owner would himself be a freak and encourage all this madness. He treated everything with understanding, and as a businessman, he had an excellent sense of how one could make money off this madness. In the end, XIII danced, sang and jumped, all while bringing in good money.» In general, XIII marked the beginning of the modern club history of Moscow. It was like a stone thrown into water, from which ripples began to spread. One thing gives rise to another: XIII in many ways passed on its energy to «Zeppelin» and many other capital clubs.