After months of rumours and scurrilous gossip, the news emerged that it was true – the good folk behind monthly Canberra institution UG Beats had not only managed to land a Canberra date for Brazilian-via-Brighton and Montreal sample manipulation demon Amon Tobin, his Ninja Tune cohort and touring partner Kid Koala was coming along for the ride. At Toast – easily the most ‘petite’ venue to be included on the current tour; the added bonus being the ability to check out both artists’ formidable skills with a view most folks around Australia would no doubt sell a kidney for. As the night itself arrived, Canberra was certainly out in force at Toast with the organisers / promoters conducting a judicious cross-off of individual ticket numbers upon entry – though I later heard that at least one soul tried to make it in with a ‘faux’ ticket, which must at least represent some kind of backhanded compliment as well as a first for Toast.

While the bolstered-up soundsystem advertised had unfortunately encountered some logistical difficulties along the way, when I wandered in, the sound itself was certainly powerful enough to fill the room, which was already packed with a healthy-sized audience getting their drink on and enjoying UG regular Pornstylus’ opening set. After procuring the requisite red Coopers, Montreal’s Kid Koala was already converging on the main stage DJ set-up, and various television monitors cunningly positioned around Toast’s interior provided the opportunity to get a birds-eye view of Koala’s every subtle deck manipulation as he proceeded to let loose with one of his trademark sans-headphones scracth-happy deck excursions. In many senses I was quite surprised by Koala’s set – rather than unleash the sort of head-scrambling Monty Python-oid vinyl avalanche contained on albums such as ‘Nufonia Must Fall’ and ‘Carpel Tunnel Syndrome’, he focused more upon building atmosphere, with recognisably unexpected tracks occasionally moving towards the forefront – I’m sure I caught Radiohead’s ‘Everything In It’s Right Place’ in there at one point. The high point for me personally (as well as for many other folks, from what I could see) had to be Koala’s celebrated live rendition of ‘Moon River’ (apparently his Ma’s favourite), which certainly had the audience spellbound as he brought the ghostly harmonic chords in and out of phase with one another, sending chills up the vertebrae. While there are certainly the odd rough moments and mis-cues throughout (a source of comment on ITM’s Canberra forum over the ensuing days), in many senses comparing Koala’s set to a Craze-styled technical set seems to miss the point, as both his wilfully individualist approach and story-stled backcatalogue make clearly apparent.

It’s around this point that I hear that Amon Tobin has requested that his set be moved forward, as apparently he’s feeling out of sorts (a burst eardrum or random illness, depending on who you talk to), and pretty soon Mr. Cujo himself is locking in for a downright poisoned and evil junglist set that suddenly reminds me that I don’t pick up as much dnb vinyl as I did a few years back; I’m forced to take it in as a dark continuous wash of scything breaks and paranoid bass swell; though I’m certain that I spot bits of ‘Verbal’, Noisia and Controller7 along the way. I also kinda revel in the idea of each growling sub-bass drop being a firm middle-finger jabbed in the direction of a certain cheap-ass hotel that won’t shill for sound-proofing acoustics and instead targets live venues. While it’s certainly brutal stuff, I’m left with a sense however that Amon’s being out of sorts has him in many ways delivering a more conventional set than some of the other capital cities experienced – after hearing tales of him subtly tweaking and manipulating string elements at the Sydney date, I was slightly disappointed that he appeared to want to just get through it, a preconception perhaps confirmed by Amon’s quick retreat to the curtained-off VIP area at the end of his set. Still, while it perhaps wasn’t quite the poisoned cinematic descent I’d perhaps anticipated, Amon managed to wow most of the room, his debut Canberra visit being pulled off by the UG Beats crew successfully despite factors beyond their control.

Unfortunately, due to work commitments the next day, I have to hightail it after the end of Amon’s set – but as I leave, I catch the start of UG veteran Bec Paton’s return visit set; the UG Beats founder once again delivering in her signature style to a enthused dancefloor; if there’s one DJ you gotta grab for a Ninja Tunes night, it’s Bec. All’s well that ends well…but I still wanna check out MC Harlequin – danged work next day…next time, gadget, next time…