With several mammoth events taking place on the weekend including the infamous Two Tribes the crew from Hardware presented special guests Ritchie Hawtin and Thomas Schumacher at Gas nightclub on Saturday much to the delight of the Sydney techno community. Ritchie Hawtin is a renowned name throughout the techno scene and no stranger to Australia having played in Melbourne and Sydney a number of times. Thomas Schumacher originates from Germany and together with Caitlin Devlin makes up the Elektrochemie LK act; Schumacher will be performing a DJ set which incorporates live tracks in the second hour. Also playing on the night was a stack of local talent including Biz-E, Emass vs Methodixx, Kate, Dave Choe, Marshall & AKA and many more. With such a blinding line-up the event was always shaping up to be a top night and indeed it was.

I got into Gas just after 11pm to have a few drinks with friends and settle into the event. Upstairs Kate was playing some nice and tough funky tech tunes whilst a fair amount of guests were milling around and relaxing on the Bohem level. Upon moving to the lower levels the sound could be felt coming thick and fast as we descended the staircase thanks to the crazy tunes on offer from Biz-E who was playing a fantastic set. Throughout the hour I listened to his set he provided some quality funky tech house, nice bass heavy electro, and some funky booty tracks to name a few. With such good tunes being belted out through the crisp Gas sound system it was a pity that not so many people had arrived yet and the main floor was empty however this quickly changed at it approached midnight with punters flocking out of no where to fill the room and balcony areas nicely about half way through Thomas Schumacher’s set.

The set by Thomas Schumacher was also different to what I expected and luckily Biz-E finished on a tough but funky note so that Schumacher could continue where he left off. Also performing with Schumacher later in the set was his partner in crime Caitlin on vocals who makes up the other half of their live act called Electrochemie LK. He started off by laying down some chunky acid house with dirty bass lines driving the sound along; he even got tribal throughout some parts of the set! The fired up crowd lapped up all the feisty acid house and tech build-ups enjoying what was an extremely fun and friendly dance floor. Towards the end of his set he continually bumped up the intensity working in some nice tech sounds amongst all the cool bouncy electro tunes he was throwing in. For the last hour of his set Caitlin joined in providing live vocals as they performed a heap of their tunes live which sounded great and by the end of their performance the sound and vibe was built up perfectly for the start of Ritchie Hawtin.

As a person who doesn’t follow techno as closely as many of the Sydney techno community do I must say my expectations were that I was going to see an amazing gig however by the end of the magic three hours by Ritchie Hawtin I must say I was absolutely blown away by the quality and class of this international. The set wasn’t just banging but funky and varied throughout and that together with the fantastic vibe on the dancefloor made for a stunner of a night. His setup comprised of Abelton, decks and a new mixer he has developed in conjunction with Xone for use with the looping program Abelton. He used to this perfection and the result was some amazing layered soundscapes that drew on tunes ranging from minimal, electro, booty tech and just general banging but funky techno. He continually moved the sound around by carefully constructing the set around the drops of each of the tracks and adding loops and samples layered in over the top.

For the life of me I could not possibly claim to recognise any of the stuff he played however all of it simply rocked the entire venue and by the looks of it was thoroughly enjoyed by the crowd. I must also mention the great look Hawtin was sporting with what can only be described as a visually captivating haircut which must be seen rather than described. Every time I ventured upstairs for a break from the main room a heap of talent was also on offer in the second room including Glitch resident Dave Choe who was rocking it up with some solid acid tech that was perfect to finish the night up with.

Overall it was a great night and I think non-techno regulars would all agree the music was amazing all night while Hawtin and Schumacher fans would have been blown away by both the sets. The tunes, vibe and sound were great and the atmosphere was one which made you not want to leave the dance floor all night. Props must go to the Hardware crew and Josh Campbell for making the night possible and providing such an excellent assortment of support and headlining DJs for the punters to enjoy for a very reasonable cover of $50 ($25 Members). See you at the next one!