- The beautiful city of Waterford played host to another night of quality music on Saturday, September 17th courtesy of the Musiklab crew and Slovenian DJ/producer Umek.
Walking up the city streets beforehand I sensed a kind of party atmosphere about the place which was further confirmed when I stumbled accross 5 guys drumming in the middle of John Roberts Square at about 6 o'clock in the evening.
The sun shining down, the guys seemed to be striking up a great rapport with the approving audience as they livened things up on the streets of Waterford. It was indeed a good omen for the night ahead for those on hand to witness it.
Waterford, which this year has already had visits from the likes of Carl Craig, Christian Smith, Marco Carola and Jeff Mills, was tonight expecting Slovenian DJ and producer Umek to entertain its clubbers so I decided to make my way down toThe Forum a little early so I could hear all of the performers and get a taste of the atmosphere building up inside the spacious venue. Before things got underway the sound engineer informed me that extra subs had been added to the speaker system in preparation for the night and as the bar staff opened their shutters I could hear them talking excitedly about tonight's line-up.
Travis Bickle got the music in motion and as the crowd made their way, treating them to some fine funky techno with robotic grooves. I'd heard this guy previously warming up for Marco Carola and on that night he'd also impressed me with his solid mixing and track selection. Tonight he more than adequately warmed up (or rather incinerated!) the place, dropping Patrick Skoog's "Desolation A1" and really lifting the crowd. A remix of DK's "Murder Was The Bass" on Elp with its menacing bassline and Cari Lekebusch's remix of "Granit" by Hertz with its robo-voice both getting a good reaction from the punters.
Next up were Torann, a local live act, who I was especially interested in seeing since these types of nights are usually predominantly DJ-based. As Travis Bickle came to the end of his set and Torann appeared in front of the stage, you can imagine my surprise when I discovered that these were in fact the same guys I'd heard drumming on the street earlier. I thought to myself - THIS I have got to see!
Torann recreated that samba carnival Rio vibe with their percussive onslaught, all of the guys taking it in turns to urge on the crowd which had experience a sizeable increase by this point. Tribal rhythms, whistles and anything that could be manipulated to create a sound was used to great effect as the temperature increased on the floor.
As Torann played their finale Umek appeared behind them and begun cueing up his opening tracks. Restarting the rhythm a little slower to begin with, he somewhat puzzled his followers but within a few minutes had moved it up a notch and got into his stride pushing jerky, electronic groovers and taking the audience with him as he embarked on his two-hour set.
"Using bassy, stompin' tracks similar to Marco Carola he kept things minimal, funky and definitely European".
Using bassy, stompin' tracks similar to Marco Carola he kept things minimal, funky and definitely European. As Dk7's "The Slipstream" was fed into the mix, people really began to become immersed in the sounds and at one point I even observed a guy on crutches suddenly beginning to overcome his disability. Stuttering effects and one huge build up half an hour into the set, cranked things up even further as the Slovenian really took hold of the crowd.
A Mario Piu track on British label Fahrenheit 01 with its vocal sample, instructed the Forum crowd to get "high on the music", which they clearly did! Umek stretched this track to its limit through the Allen and Heath mixer resulting in an enormous impact on the dancefloor. At one point, a small tribal element crept into his set as if casting an eye back on sounds from earlier in the night but that soon gave way to pulsing bass-led tracks with pneumatic drilling sounds.
Throwing in the occasional spinback and beckoning the crowd to join in, Umek built a strong vibe from behind the decks but definitely not an aggressive one. For a man of his stature - think Jonah Lomu on 3 decks - his turntable skills were amazing and he kept the heaving floor packed throughout the remainder of the evening; a Bryan Cox remix asking would " all the freaks get on the dancefloor".
Having broken a couple of ribs recently in an accident, Umek's stamina must be commended as he showed no signs of being hampered. As the night progressed he leapt over many boundaries within his set; the latter half sounding like a cross between Joey Beltram, whom he played three tracks from, and Marco Carola. His diversity in track selection illustrated his ability to keep apace with an ever-changing scene.
Finishing on a melodic note with an unreleased Carola/Redhead track and TDR's "Smoked Out" (derived from the Sabres of Paradise "Smokebelch") on Pias, Umek showed he has taken many different influences on board in recent times, tightly knitting them all together in an almost progressive fashion.
As the lights came up around the packed venue, no further proof was needed that a good night had been had by all at Musiklab tonight.
Special thanks to Luke and the Musiklab crew and all the staff at The Forum.