Leaving Call Lane and heading down the stairs to Wire again, there was great anticipation. Passing trembling walls down to the booming basement flooded with blue and red lights turned out to be a good omen for the upcoming hours.

The night started with ALTER’s resident Animist, who warmed up the crowd nicely. London’s promising Volte-Face was next in line. He’s a part of London’s electronic music scene, and regularly plays in clubs throughout Europe including Berlin’s Berghain. His DJ set was mainly techno driven but at times he went further to find the crowd’s taste. From spooky house to driving techno to hip hop-like beats back to spherical techno, Volte-Face was playing with the audience’s expectations. Dropping Voiski’s ‘A Star In Your Head’, he continued to prepare for the main act. Blind Observatory’s own ‘Beneath A Steel Sky’ then introduced the atmosphere to come from his successor. Finishing with beautiful, dreamy spheres, Volte-Face ended his entertaining set.

Berlin’s Blind Observatory took over turning the spherical, dreamy transition into what he is known for: dark, trippy and melodic tracks. Achieving this while keeping hard metallic kicks throughout, the German DJ showed his ability to oppose the stereotype of techno being monotone music. Meanwhile, the end of the semester helped to fill Wire’s basement quite well, still providing enough space to dance. Some of the guests probably had little knowledge of what they were attending, as wearing high heels for techno parties is a courageous venture…

After presenting Marcel Fengler in September and Lucy in November, ALTER again brings Berlin’s finest DJs to Leeds’ ambitious techno fans. ALTER and Wire club are taking off more and more to establish Leeds as a spot for exceptional techno nights.

Peter Lell