- A mysterious venue change may have shaved two hours off of DVS1's recent July Pittsburgh show hosted by Humanaut, but those mysterious forces proved to be serendipitous. Belvedere's Ultra Dive, located on the hipper side of the city's Monongahela River, was the Plan B location. People trickled in, passed through a hallway lined with the dance-weary and into the venue's thumping belly of a main room. Dark, smoky and comfortably crowded, the space looked like a Moose Lodge complete with red, white and blue balloons cheekily tacked to the ceiling panels.
Respected local DJs were in heavy attendance, and sprinkled throughout a crowd comprised of the kids who just wanted to dance and old heads who prefer their techno to be spun on vinyl. The dance floor and lounge contained just the right amount of people with just the right level of enthusiasm—a lot. Sweaty bodies packed the space in front of the decks. Whatever special kind of darkness and anonymity that seems so pertinent to a quality techno show was well established by excessive darkness and smoke broken only by the restless primary colored brilliance of the LED screen behind the DJ.
Photo credit: Eric Rltvty
The show opened with a set from Relative Q, who wove together a sound colored by tribal percussion and throbbing bass that was tested and approved by the room's four corner sound setup. He was followed by fellow Pittsburgher Realmz, who shares with Relative Q a certain internet notoriety. Both slog away behind blogs and forums creating and/or chronicling deep cinematic techno, only to actually come out for special occasions—like opening for a contemporary talent in Minneapolis, a scene that has a lot of down home, quietly proud characteristics in common with Pittsburgh.
DVS1 has said in interviews that he needs the crowd's energy to get into the mixes. By the time Realmz's set ended and the two DJs switched over, the crowd was at prime intensity and DVS1 was in a perfect position to do his thing. Egged on by enthusiastic whoops, he braided together the contents of his crates with expertise and major personality. When 3 AM came, the lights were switched on, and he continued to grind the dance floor with palpitating techno to an insatiable crowd.
Overall, the sets the DJs each strung together techno made for a placeless atmosphere. Set in a dive bar in Pittsburgh, and starred a powerhouse from Minneapolis, but this one had little to do with locality and everything to do with good dance music.