- If you’ve opened this review looking for a detailed dissertation on the first Melbourne performance of the king of Belgian techno, I must make an apology:
I’m sorry, but the local lineup at Wetmusik’s latest party were too much of a distraction!
I entered the reception centre with a fast moving queue of punters as Eric Powell warmed up the main room, but it was almost immediately to the Materialz side area where Teknotyk was slammin’ out a storm. A very nice, tight, aggressive mix that kicked my night off just right.
There was more EQ mayhem to be had up next, but on the live tip with the Technician. Linus and Dave have apparently never played out live before, and had been working on this first foray for a number of months. There were a couple of excited punters in the room and I made sure I stuck around to see what they were so enthusiastic about.
The answer, it soon became apparent, was the best live set of techno I’ve ever heard. And that hyperbole ain’t no reviewer’s faux pas, it’s the honest truth. These guys completely blew me and the small Materialz room away with a well-structured, original set.
Always rocking, the set started off with a lush tribalistic feel, before building in intensity, and building, and building, and building…relentless, dancefloor-killing techno. The Technician were a joy to watch, their hands never stopping their dance across the banks of equipment, tweaking here, cutting there, each button press sent new energy through the crowd.
In a word, the Technician ROCKED. I trust that I’ll be able to be ravished by their delights again soon!
Speaking of rocking, the fury was only sure to continue as Dave Pham took to the decks. The Materialz brand is in theory used for the rising stars of Melbourne techno, but Pham is a man who needs no introduction.
He’s made hard techno his own this year, with sets at places like Fokus and Pureflow simply unforgettable. And as he cued up his first record, wearing a Red Seal t-shirt, we knew what he had in store for us.
Pham started off with his trademark electro class, but surely enough the hint of a driving bassline started to drift around the background of the set. Closer and closer it came, until, suddenly, the dancefloor was going mental in techno heaven.
But Pham didn’t stop there. He continued to build the intensity, and just when you thought he was going to ease off, there, spinning around a turntable, was the same logo as on his t-shirt.
Bang! There it was, coming in out of nowhere to pummel the dancefloor: ‘Nervehammer’. With the hot room sweating along nicely, what better turn to follow it up with than… What? No way! It can’t be! Oh yes! Here it comes! …’Point Blank’, Gaiden’s stormer, setting the floor alight.
There’s only one person this reporter has seen that can match it with Pham, and surprise surprise, she was on next. What a lead-in to the primetime set of the night – that of Cecille. This girl has had two superfluously good sets at Fokus this year and the Materialz stage was the perfect place for her to be crowned before a wider audience as One To Watch.
She competed against Marco Bailey, but Cecille didn’t just steal his thunder, she drowned it out. Her Pham-esque tuff, tuff tekkers and underground electro loopism was always going to impress. I can’t get enough of this girl, or her character behind the decks - dancing, tweaking, cutting, smiling…loving it.
I did poke my head into the main room for a couple of seconds and when I did, Bailey was knocking out some solid basslines and terrific records. But I was soon sucked back into the Materialz room. As Bailey mixed out of the delectably intense Speedy J remix of ‘Point Blank’, I ducked back into the Materialz room to see that Red Seal label again doing the rounds on the decks.
I readied myself for another nerve hammering, but as the track built to its furious crescendo, the euphoria on the dancefloor shot way past orgasmic as Cecille pulled out her next record: another copy of ‘Nervehammer’.
Oh my.
The turntablism that ensued made any remaining doubters instant converts. Back and forth she went, the dancefloor in awe, the roof lifting off the reception centre with the roars of approval.
Cecille, I love you.
Serotone had been milling around his equipment for some time and the hours of setup were immediately worth it as he threw down a chunky beginning to his live set.
From a purely techno start, Serotone spiced up his set with a few vocal samples, some acid influences, and ultimately something listing more to the NRG side of the spectrum.
Meanwhile in the main room, punters hoping for a respite after Bailey were given no such opportunity as Damian Laird punished the dancefloor with a very, very tidy set of hard techno. Well done Damian!
His driving, funky stuff brought a smile to my face, and having not seen him since his delicious morning set at Hardware 19, I was mightily impressed to see him pulling off this darker, harder set with equal flair.
The Wetmusik boys played a rather fine set, with Simon Digby pulling out many of the records he wowed the Fokus crowd with a fortnight earlier. Typical of this was a carbon copy mix of two of my tracks of the year to date, ‘Vitalian House’ sliding into ‘EuroStar’ (Sven Vath remix).
Mike Callander further cemented his reputation as one of Melbourne’s men of the moment as he rocked the Materialz room – with a little help from Dave Pham!
The camaraderie between these two exmplified the vibe in the side room, and the healthy, intimate state of Melbourne techno in general. Nice!
The main room was hammered home, literally, by Steve Douglas. Steve, mate, please start playing out more! It’s easy to see why so many people are excited when the hard man of Melbourne techno is scheduled for a rare cameo. He is superb.
He flattened anyone left dancing with a punishing set. Sure, there were brief moments where he let us dance to tracks like ‘Access’, but this was tough stuff. He made sure we all left the reception centre cowering in fear, dragging our tails behind us.
Yum.
And so dawned a miserable rainy Anzac Day. Another top notch night of techno which, for this intrepid punter, was almost entirely thanks to the world class local talent.
Let’s have more of these all techno parties, and let’s see more of those Materialz acts raised high on the pedestal they so rightly deserve!