3/5
Three things make a good band, in any general sense. The ability to keep going when everything is against you, playing every show like it’s your last, and making things happen when fate has it in for you.
In an hour long set racked by technical difficulties, dubstep outfit Tek-one managed to do all this and then some. Playing what must be the most poorly designed stage in the western world, to a crowd at less than half capacity, the outfit broadcasted their super heavy strand of electronic music in a manner of complete brutality. From their cover of The Prodigy’s ‘Smack My Bitch Up’ to a particularly ferocious ‘Broken String’ the band managed to rip through a searing set with no signs of stopping. On more than one occasion MC Tonn Piper dived into the mosh pit before giving me a cup full of vodka just for “sticking with us”. Cheers mate.
Despite their good show and an unrelenting willingness to perform, it becomes clear why earlier this year Tek-one announced their desire to end live shows and resort to DJ sets. If hardly anyone turns up, the stage is (to put it crudely) crap and every technician in the venue seems to be inept, it hardly seems surprising. Could this be the beginning of the end for live performances of this kind? Tek-one will be playing a DJ set at Slam Dunk Festival in Leeds on 24th May – maybe that show will gauge some kind of answer. Either way hats off to the guys for a hard hitting set.
Dominic Moffit