- Pureflow was for many a techno nutter one of the most anticipated parties of recent times. The first trip to Australia for techno demigod DJ Rush had a lot of people creaming their pants, and I went to the Goods Shed to see if Rush would indeed elevate himself to the coveted status of techno god.
Dave Pham was doing all he could to work his way up the ladder, a simply brilliant set of electro that led into punishing, relentless techno. This stuff was hard, damn hard, and it is a crying shame Pham wasn’t on later in the night. At 10pm there was nearly noone in the warehouse, and his intensity and skill would have been a perfedct lead-in to Rush. Big ups to Dave, he’s already a god in my book.
Simon Coyle was up next to record the impending Wetmusik Mix Up Volume 5. He played a slower, funkier set containing such floorfillers as ‘Compass’, ‘La La Land’, and even his patented novelty track – Young MC’s ‘Bust a Move’ overlaid with some funky ass techno.
Aplharisc played out a trademark set of banging tracks that suited me just fine, but by now the crowd was in near hysterics as DJ Rush ambled out on stage. Dressed in jeans and a t-shirt he was a far cry from the stiletto-wearing transvestite many had been talking up, but I felt Rush would instead let his music do the talking.
But I was wrong: Rush didn’t talk. He grabbed us by our hair, pulled our ears to his mouth, and he yelled at the top of his lungs. This was skull-cracking techno. And the crowd _loved_ it.
Rush didn’t flub a mix all night, and he pounded out track after track. Demonising the dancefloor, destroying it. He used EQs with complete class. He mixed in his own tracks and leered at the crowd as they lifted the roof. He picked up the microphone and asked us if we liked “muthafucking bass”. He danced with the rabid mob in front of him, he teased them, cajoled them, he had them eating out of his hand but he gave them exactly what they wanted.
DJ Rush was amazing.
The crowd lost complete control, and a large group up the front lost the ability to dance, preferring to mosh madly instead.
Rush played half an hour overtime, before BK and Rhythm Boy beat their drums, Patrick Lindsey beatboxed for a bit, and the Wetmusik boys threw down their own terrific techno. It was hard, and certainly one of Digby and Tell’s better sets of late, but not as punishing and overwhelming as DJ Rush.
Eric Powell then housed it up, before returning to some of the recent techno classics to close off the night in fine style.
With ears ringing after a battering from a very loud sound system, people still wanted more of DJ Rush. If they weren’t sold on him before, they certainly were now. DJ Rush didn’t just supersede demigod status. He’s not just a god. He is _the_ god of hard techno.
And I’m praying that god will return soon.