Pearson Sound’s latest instalment of his all-vinyl Acetate night down at Wire managed to produce the most exciting line up of the May Bank Holiday weekend in Leeds despite strong competition from the Garden Party and Mint.

With Ben UFO and Gerd Janson what the small club in the city centre had to showcase was two of the most in-form contemporary selectors, praised both for running the successful Hessle Audio and Running Back imprints respectively and for gaining widespread respect not only from clubbers but also from many of their peers. In the past, their back-to-back sets have drawn so much admiration that Mr. G even decided to write a song about one of their performances, out of respect for the pair.

By watching or listening to either Gerd Janson or Ben UFO talk about their profession in interviews, it is clear how both put a great deal of thought into playing records, which was reflected so well on Sunday. The opening hours demonstrated a considered warm up with a variety of deep numbers being played before Ben UFO really got the party going with Roman Flugel’s remix of Daniel Avery’s ‘All I Need.’ What was most impressive in the intimate venue was how comfortable both felt playing a broad range of music. The battering ram that is Barnt’s ‘Chappell’ was in stark contrast to the soothing ‘Deep Burnt’ of Pepe Braddock but neither felt out of place in the set, alongside piano-led house or rare disco. Janson even closed with Talking Heads’ ‘This Must Be The Place’ after driving the last hour with pounding techno.

The variety was even more impressive considering all tracks came from the duo’s record collection and not just compiled onto a USB stick. Acetate’s all-vinyl approach is certainly at home at Wire, the ability of the club to attract some of the world’s best DJs in a small, intimate club with a great sound system, makes it one of Leeds’ best institutions and one can only hope that is continues with nights like these for a long time.

[Chris Caden]