Leeds’ Rinse FM invited Daniel Avery down to Wire last weekend to play a seven hour set in the city’s home of techno. It goes without saying that any techno DJ with a following as extensive as Avery’s gets booked to play the intimate underground club, and because of this there is a danger of them blending into one.

Yet Daniel Avery, unsurprisingly, managed to stand out from the crowd. The Bournemouth native managed to maintain a high level of excitement all night long with his solid techno constructions. Arriving late to hear ‘Need Electric’ was the perfect way to start the evening, the tracks’ consistent bassline occasionally interrupted by synth sounds got everyone dancing from when the first note was heard. Later on in the evening the crowd’s energy was lifted again to the sounds of ‘Water Jump’, another track from Avery’s album, ‘Drone Logic’.

A highpoint of the evening was Avery dropping the Roman Flügel remix of ‘All I Need’. The remix flattens out the synth tone of the original and includes some skittering keys to liven it up, which sent the crowd into a fervent frenzy.

The one let down of the evening was probably the crowd. Even if the event was not officially over-sold, it certainly felt much too full. The audience did not seem to feature the cult following that Wire tends to attract and instead included many individuals who did not seem to actually be enjoying themselves at all. Maybe it was Valentines’ Day blues, but it was a shame that Avery’s incredible set was received a little flatly. Maybe the heart shaped decorations hanging from the ceiling were a bad idea.

 

 

[Maddie Davison]

Photo: Wire Official Photography (Hessle Audio – 30th Jan)