Photo: Thomas Bone
Teknicolor have maintained a reputation for throwing one of Leeds’ most acclaimed pre-weekend events since 2013, and this night certainly didn’t disappoint. Hosted at The Mint Club, which has an impressive lighting system similar to that of the recently closed Manchester super-club Sankeys. The key difference in the two venues however is that due to Mint’s smaller capacity, the atmosphere inside could be described as intimate and spirits seemed high at the start of the night.
Photo: Thomas Bone
First on the bill was up and coming DJ Route 94, whose name originated from the road that connects Chicago to Detroit, (Chicago being the founding city of house music) Route 94 certainly produced a set that appealed to the house lovers in the crowd. After his recent success over the past year with his tracks featuring on various boiler rooms, his performances on Rinse fm and Skream and Benga’s Radio 1 show, I anticipated an exciting set.
Although playing well known commercial tracks such as ‘Jack’ by Breach and ‘Look right through’ by Storm Queen I was a bit apprehensive at the start of his set. However after he dropped his new single ‘My Love’, (featuring on Annie Mac Presents ‘13) ‘tell her why’ and ‘freak’ the crowd seemed absorbed by Route 94’s set.
Photo: Thomas Bone
Next was Skream, one of dubstep’s founding and most distinguished producers and my own favourite DJ. Although Skream’s recent shift from dubstep to house music over the past year left me unsure as to what he was going to play, the Croydon based DJ stuck to a tech-house based mix which seemed highly suitable for the night. Mixing ‘House Nation’ with ‘Bigger Than Prince’ by Green Velvet was the highlight of my night and the atmosphere next to the DJ booth was thrilling.
Photo: Thomas Bone
Being last on the bill and only given an hour slot in comparison to the two longer sets prior to his, the crowd seemed too fatigued to enjoy the quicker, more up-beat songs that Ejeca played. As I wasn’t as familiar with his songs as I was to the two previous DJ’s I didn’t know quite what to expect, but I was really impressed with his ability to keep a tired crowd dancing till the early hours of the morning.
James Bate