Contakt Pushes DJing to Gig Status – Contakt @ Brixton Academy Review

Friday, October 30th, 2009 | Event Reviews

Since the mid nineties the DJ turned into the super star DJ. No longer was the DJ some person that happened to be playing records in the background, they were thrust into the limelight, they became centre stage and elevated above the crowd, they became closer to becoming the rock star. Well at the end of September Richie Hawtin and the Contakt bunch stepped DJing that little bit closer from merely playing records to putting on a full blown show. Gone are the dark sweaty dingy small clubs; in are the arena sized live venues. No more will the single sweeping blue light and occasional strobe keep the crowds visually entertained, it must be 30ft high LED screens with intricate graphics. Production values now rival a rock gig. But is that what clubbing and dance music is all about? Had Richie Hawtin pushed the concept too far away from its roots? There had been a lot of apprehension on whether the London Contakt show would be any good founded on some of the issues from last year along with a bit of a Minus backlash with people growing tired of their sound for being too cold and too clinical. There were also qualms about the venue, the ticket price and just a general feeling of tiredness from the whole idea. Leading into the show/gig/party, expectations seemed pretty low with a general feeling of well I’ll pop along to see what its like plus I’ll get to hear a bit of Hawtin.

I happened to pop along too and to answer my questions – it can be; I don’t think so, he’s having a go at trying something new; the venue worked; and finally was it any good – a resounding yes!

Contakt Brixton DJs

I had my reservations about Brixton academy when the venue was announced but looking back it really was suited for that type of show. The large capacity room could fit everyone in along with the massive stage space required for the screen and DJs. Brixton also sorted the floor out by having it level for the majority of the main dancefloor, so the fears of being wonky and at 20 degree gradient were alleviated. The only gripe that persisted, and I mentioned this when I was previewing this event, were the drinks. A choice between Tuborg or Carlsberg was like a choice between gouging your eye with a bread stick or trying to do a surgical incision through paper cuts alone. There was the special cider option number three which was Strongbow or the final alternative – the spirits route. Either way the drinks situation, as always with O2 Academies, was pretty dire. But then again you’re not out clubbing for the drinks – or so I’m told. But as I was saying before I got distracted by drinks, the venue worked well, the staff were well organised, there was space to move yet the right busy for a good atmosphere plus the sound weren’t too shabby either.

Contakt Brixton DJs 2

But the true spectacle of the night has to be the visuals. I’ve seen the Ali Demirel show a few times now and it just doesn’t become tiring to see, and at Brixton Academy it looked particular special as you can see by the video in this post. It really does step up a few DJs playing records to a full blown audio visual show. Demirel had a full kit of visuals for every moment in the music from graphics that gave the illusion of travelling through space, through to slowly mutating and growing, pulsing graphics or simple shades and shapes – all complimented the abstract and discernibly electronic music being played by the Minus crew.

Earlier I mentioned people becoming tired of the Minus sound with it being too cold and clinical, but on the night no one seemed tired at all. Yes they played that Minus sound where it is mechanical and clunky or abstract and alien, but the high energy beats and big room bass gushed a sea of smiling faces from where I was standing. Whilst I did yearn for a quick detraction from the Minus techno to add a bit more dimension,  it wasn’t detrimental to the set. People were happily caught on every whirring sound, every bass drop and every flash of prominent noise which created a great responsive atmosphere. The techno was heavy and pounding yet not at a pace which required a crowd to try and keep up but instead have everybody in the place bouncing on the temporary level floor. It is big room techno for a big crowd to be audibly and visually floored. It still is clubbing, it certainly felt like it, just with that larger than life production. Its something different and it worked.

Contakt Brixton Crowd

But did the combined DJ show work? Kind of. I still question whether it really requires all of them to play at once and whether one or two people could do same job. There were some interesting moments which involved some practiced set pieces to heavily layer up a body of sound. Yet it was difficult to tell whether their real time manipulation was making any impact and adding more than if that piece were simply recorded and played back by one person. And I guess this is the significant difference between a gig with a band musicians and a band of laptop DJs. Unlike a band of musicians there is no visual connectivity between the DJ and the affect they’re having on the music. You’ve got five or six people up there, but there’s no link between what a person is doing and what you are hearing. Whereas with a band the visual aspect of seeing a talented musician input to the sound is very powerful, allowing you the audience to appreciate each and every person’s input. It’s kind of like seeing an excellent lead guitarist going crazy on their guitar and being able to audibly associate the result directly. If Contakt can some how visually connect the DJs actions through their LED display then I think they will make a leap forward in the combined DJ performance realm.

However don’t let that last outburst distract from the fact that the party was fantastic. The music was great, the crowd were great and the event was well put together. The show does seem to be improving and I can only hope they take it further.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Related Posts

No comments yet.

Leave a comment

Search

Links

Share!

Bookmark and Share