As if Wire wasn’t already bristling with standout club nights, this Autumn sees the launch of yet another party, Ossia. Over the past year, Ossia have made a name for themselves with events featuring names such as Ross from Friends and Kornel Kovacs, alongside collaborative nights with Manchester tastemakers Versions. The newly pan-Pennine promoters stayed true to form with their Leeds debut, bringing the Berghain regular Avalon Emerson to town.
By opting to have Emerson play from 1 ‘till 4, the Ossia residents were afforded ample opportunity to properly warm up proceedings. Providing a thumping opening set, the supporting DJ’s delivered by allowing the headline act to break straight into a hard, entrancing sound that would go on to characterise the rest of her set. Barely five minutes in, she dropped her recently-released remix of Octo Octa’s ‘Adrift’, the curiously-named Avalon Emerson’s Furiously Awake Version. The fact that Emerson was commissioned to produce Octo Octa’s first ever remix reflects the level of respect she is winning within the industry.
With sets like this, it’s not difficult to see why. As the room filled to what must have been an almost sold out crowd, Emerson strayed from her harder techno sound to bring an acid-tinged flavour to proceedings, think Koehler’s ‘Isle of the Dead’ (Mystical Psychosis Version). As things drew to a close, Avalon pulled out a sure-fire crowd pleaser. Last year’s Whities release, The Frontier, drew a rapturous reception as the night hit a peak. The track serves a useful condensation of her set as a whole – the blissful synth arrangement, smartly contrasted with a forceful bassline, maintains a gripping pace and undeniable techno sound smattered with atmospheric high points.
As the clock struck four and the lights came on, Avalon stretched her set to the very end, marking a triumphant arrival to Leeds for Ossia with perhaps the weirdest selection of the night. With only my (admittedly hazy) memory to go by, the Arizonan opted for what I can only describe as some sort of Irish folk song to bring things to an unexpected end. A blinding start from Ossia, who will no doubt look to replicate this success next time round.
Dan King
Image Credits: James Reilly Photography