System
Marcel Dettmann, Tini
Mint Club
Saturday 26th April
Having celebrated its fifth birthday earlier this year, System have built a strong reputation in Leeds for playing host to some of the biggest artists in the sprawling universe of house and techno, booking such giants as Sven Vath, Jeff Mills and Ricardo Villalobos over the years. Last Friday’s instalment of the club night continued in this tradition, with German techno heavyweight and Berghain resident Marcel Dettmann’s name gracing the flyer. Dettmann is deservedly one of the most respected artists in techno today, both as a producer and as a DJ, having played a vital role in the rise of Berlin superclub Berghain and its associated record label Ostgut Ton.
We were excited enough by the prospect of seeing Dettmann that we hardly noticed the other name of the flyer, which turned out to be Munich native Tini, a highly regarded techno artist in her own right. Upon walking in we were struck with full force by her pummelling sound, but also by the sheer heat and humidity of the place, typical of Mint since the smoking area was closed off, trapping a packed room of dancers in a swamp of smoke, sweat and flashing LED lights.
This only added to the effect of course, and her jubilant house set was the perfect accompaniment to the club’s iconic neon ceiling which flashed away into the night, to the delight of the revellers. The ceiling was dripping and the floor was bouncing, creating an excitable atmosphere which Tini capitalised on with all the panache of a headline act. So much so, that we forgot about the actual headline act, who there was still no sign of at 4am.
Unfortunately, the fatigue resulting from hours of dehydrated dancing caused us to call it a night at this point and sadly miss Dettmann. According to local DJ and Leeds student JN Heartstealer who was present, Dettmann “didn’t want to interrupt Tini because she was absolutely smashing it”, but eventually did get behind the decks, and “proceeded to absolutely belt it out”. Good to hear, and while it was a shame to miss Dettmann, Tini more than made up for it, resulting in another great System night overall.
words: Max Passinke & Hugo Greenhalgh
photo: Ian G. Ramsey