- Perhaps the most disappointing aspect of Melbourne's techno scene is the lack of support for local DJs. On numerous occasions, talented openers have far outshone their international guests with similarly-slanted material, yet tend to receive little response from crowds, who are impatient for imports to take the stage. The same scenario could not have been repeated last Friday, when Marcel Dettmann and Ben Klock touched down for the first gig of their inaugural Australian tour. Theirs is an inimitable style, one which no local DJ could emulate convincingly.
The event took place at Brown Alley, a venue which has by-and-large played itself out for most of the city's serious music-heads. The promoters, Novel/Smalltown—a new masthead run by old hands—seemed cognisant of this fact. A recently upgraded system—including higher-slung front speakers—improved the main room's punch and distribution significantly. Additionally, a new lighting rig proved effective without causing distraction. The bill was blessedly simple: Two hours of locals and eight of Dettmann and Klock, a type of duration the Berliners have repeatedly expressed their preference for.
Playing back-to-back, the German duo seemed to consciously halve their set anyway. The first was more varied, moving from Zadig's tremulous "OO_D" to Phuture's 1987 classic "Acid Trax" and Speedy J's primal "Armstrong" with ease. Klock also took the opportunity to drop two of the tracks from his compatriot's newly-released Translation EP. Apparently, Dettmann doesn't like to play his own music. It's lucky Klock was there, as "Translation One" and the later-played "Planning" were superb moments.
The night wasn't trouble-free, however. The main problem was an unsteady bench top, which had been installed to accommodate live gear for local artist Mike Buhl. Later, this made the turntables essentially useless, somewhat of a hurdle for two DJs as vinyl-centric as Dettmann and Klock. Battling with audibly skipping needles, the pair eventually switched to their backup CDs. Unfortunately, the mixer also caused woe, cutting their set short by 40 minutes.
Thankfully, the duo's sound music selection nullified these hiccups, though they did seem to lose the crowd briefly round 3 AM with a few particularly discordant tracks. It was a small misstep, however. Only an hour later, they spectacularly pulled off what would generally be considered impossible for DJs; keeping people dancing without a beat. For a good ten minutes, a coarse, rhythmic bubbling—akin to acid—was all that sustained the floor. It was an interlude; a period of calm before the storm. The preceding second half was even tougher than the first, keeping the dance floor packed 'til early and eventually concluding with Carl Craig's remix of X-Press 2's "Kill 100." Throughout their set, the duo remained gracious and enthusiastic, even stretching down to share their champagne with the front row.