Rising star Or:la’s exigent and eclectic set on Friday 2nd November marked a serious high point for Natural Selection’s third season at Headrow House.

Since the start of autumn, the Super Friendz affiliated promoters have hosted Call Super, DJ Seinfield, and Moxie and Saoirse at the venue, with Honey Dijon and Crazy P still to come before the end of the year. It was the arrival of Or:la, however, that arguably marked the night’s biggest coup to date.

Or:la first cut her teeth at her own ‘Meine Nacht’ (which aptly translates to ‘my night’) in Liverpool as a student, before stellar sets for The Warehouse Project and Boiler Room, along with winning DJ mag’s Breakout DJ of the year, have seen her become one of the UK’s most lauded DJs.

Natural Selection pride themselves on being able to pair world class DJs with the best local, up and coming talent, and never was this more apparent. Both Ryan Monaghan and Adam Pits were really impressive, the latter having recently released an EP on London based label, Holding Hands. Pits’ set was one of fast paced, glitchy electro, meaning that when Or:la came on, albeit half an hour late, the atmosphere amongst the sold out crowd was already electric.

What impressed most about her set was her ability to invoke genres like disco, trance and electro whilst constantly in-keeping with her own distinctive style. We were witnessing a techno DJ at the very top game, her selection oozing the kind of confidence that comes from playing regularly at Europe’s biggest clubs and festivals.

Next up, Natural Selection host Romare on Friday 7th December. Or:la plays at Manchester’s Soup Kitchen the same night. 

James Dewar

(main image: Natural Selection)