Sydney’s unprecedented ‘Year of Techno’ reached its latest climax on Saturday at Stereosonic, but the action wasn’t just at Homebush. Across town, with nary a Wifebeaterz singlet in sight, the HAHA guys were back at the Bowlo.

Making a welcome return after wowing the HAHA crowd in 2007 was Glasgow’s Vince Watson. His Sydney debut on the HAHA ‘Sub Tub’ cruise came just as the upcoming crew moved from memorable but intimate knees-ups at the Abercrombie to hosting international acts. In the years since, the brand has only grown – and to back that up was the other big name on the bill, a veritable elder statesman of the genre, Detroit’s Juan Atkins.

It had been a long time since Atkins had visited Sydney, but old heads hadn’t forgotten his trademark trainwrecks. True to the form guide, he faltered early, with some sloppy mixing keeping the crowd from fully immersing in some upbeat, jacking tech.

In fact it was only when Atkins started reaching for the retro that he really found his groove. The turning point was the surefire floorfiller I Feel Love, and the rest of the set was filled out with favourites ( Inner City – Big Fun ), straight up pop ( Crystal Waters – Gypsy Woman ), and forgotten monsters ( Alexander Robotnick – Problèmes d’Amour ). I’ve never heard the latter on a dancefloor, anywhere, and my god didn’t it go off.

Hearing a personal favourite is always going to make for a subjective highlight, but fatigue was starting to set in. By the end of Juan’s set there were lots of tired bodies outside rather than on the dancefloor. And while there was a surge from the smoking area when a super piano-led version of Strings of Life announced its arrival, there wouldn’t be a similar rush once the massive string stabs of Vince Watson’s opener announced that the night was about to go stratospheric.

Those that were inside to hear Watson were transfixed from the off, and those that wandered back in to find out where everyone had gone became similarly trapped in a force-field that was part slack-jawed chinstroker, part face-freezing orgasm. Whether you’re staring in disbelief at the 45 billion tracks he has going simultaneously on Ableton, or whether you’re completely consumed by the beauty of the euphoric strings that he lays on thickly over a pumping tech beat, Vince Watson is a delight to watch, and hear, and be swept away by.

On first listen, the music is a delicately arranged, complex beast with some huge melodic hooks. You can’t help but fall for it. And then you think, “Wow, techno can do this?” Delve a little deeper, or move closer to the front of the dancefloor, and you start to get blown away by the artistry. A landmass of keyboards, pads, knobs and switches is laid out before Watson, and he rarely pauses for a breath or deserved applause.

He stabs a few notes out into a live riff, before flicking to a different channel and recording a loop for later. “What’s he up to now?” you wonder, but the answer is less than 16 beats away, as a new loop jumps into the fray. There’s a voice looping in your mind too, and it’s saying: “Holy fucking shit”.

With dancefloor melted and sky growing pink, Watson’s extended live set breathed its last, the Scot taking the cheering and incredulity with humility. HAHA regular Optimo was left to clean up, a late addition to the line-up after Alex Smoke was taken ill. We wish him well in his recovery. Optimo was, naturally, less trippy than Smoke would have been, but a much appreciated closer as Sydney’s sky exploded with one hell of a sunrise.

On a night billed as a ‘Versus’ battle, there was one clear winner. Vince Watson was an instant favourite after his last HAHA appearance, but now, after another mesmerising live set, he’s won more fans in Sydney, and cemented himself, in at least this reviewer’s mind, as one of the best in the world at what he does. But then again, who else really makes music like this guy?