Tech Feaks Hell Down Under Tour - 18.9.2004

After one aborted attempt last year, Bassoids finally brought out Tech Itch and Dylan, AKA Technical Freaks - it was definitely worth the wait.

The party was held at Club 383, familiar as the seedy looking retro club near the old Scubar. We arrived a bit after 12 and as we did, the windows above shuddered with blasts of filthy, distorted bass. I had the feeling this was going to be a good night.

This feeling was cut short as I encountered some of the worst security guards I've had the displeasure to meet. They actually kicked a guy (who'd just coughed up $40 admission) out because he brought an outside bottle in with him. Fortunately, one of the promoters saw this and sorted it out, but the night wasn't off to the best of starts.

My irritation began to subside on the dancefloor as DMZ were rocking the crowd with some pretty nice tunes, Bad Company's Planet Dust among them. The intensity of the music waxed and waned nicely for a warm-up, although they later explained that this was due to problems with the setup. The harder they played, the more people would start jumping and generally going nuts.

Consequently, the records started skipping and they'd have to take it easy for a while.

Dr Sponk and JC were on the microphone and doing a pretty good job. Like good MCs, they knew when to shut up and let the music do its thing, complimenting rather than overriding it.

DMZ closed out with Loxy and Keaton's Haters, and paved the way for the aural onslaught that was the Technical Freaks.

Music writer Arthur Schnabel once said, "music cannot punish, only bless" - these guys proved him wrong. From the opening track, laced with heavy metal guitar riffs, they both punished and blessed the crowd with wave after wave of dark, brutally hard music.

The back-to-back format worked pretty well. Dylan would absolutely flatten the floor and then Tech Itch would ease the music off just that little bit, only to set it up for another demolition. The set continued thus, until it was just on the verge of becoming repetitive and Dylan delighted the audience by throwing Nine Inch Nail's Closer into the mix.

Things picked up again after this, with some really nice jungle-influenced tunes towards the end. They finished the set off very nicely with Tech Itch's anthem Soldiers.

My mates were leaving at this time and as I was relying on them for a lift, I departed, feeling more satisfied with a party than I had for some time. Big-ups to Bassoids for an excellent first party, I hope to see more. Tags

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