The 26th of February saw THE BARON of techno, Dave Clarke, storming the Ironworks in front of his army of techno heads. T the he UK’s chief techno ambassador tore through a two hour set that left his fans stunned.
‘Audiolife’s’ Alan MacPherson set the pace in Room One, warning arrivals that beat-wise, this night was all about the 4/4. Ross Lyall of ‘Filth’ immediately followed and clearly “went for it” in tribute to the headlining act.
Meanwhile, among the leather couches in Room Two, Jamie B introduced a more laidback, eclectic atmosphere including some housey disco as an alternative to the mayhem downstairs. Robotone’s ‘We See Aliens’ followed with another intelligent performance of their home-made, soulful techno. The Dingwall act have built up a following that quickly filled Room Two and on a less frenetic night would have merited a main stage position.
Back on the ground floor, local hero Flynn warmed up the midnight hour for the night’s main act. His set was loaded with classics such as Laurent Garnier’s “Crispy Bacon” just in case anyone needed reminding that another legend was about to take control.
AKA “the bad boy of techno”, Dave Clarke looked serious from the off in a sinister ‘Misfits’ t-shirt. His set was as dark as his horror-punk heroes, intensifying as the rhythms thundered through a rapturous Ironworks crowd. Clarke has been one of Europe’s foremost techno innovators and promoters for nearly twenty years. His playlist seemed to be a mix of white label tracks and techno greats such as his own “Red” series.
The Baron‘s hip-hop approach to mixing allowed the audience minor breathers during his infamous cutting and scratching sessions. However, the bass-heavy attack built to a pounding finale that pushed the sound monitors to their limits. The mechanical pulse and underlying funk gave the Ironworks a glimpse of Detroit, soldering in to the memory banks of the stomping mass before him.
Ironworks and Robotone can congratulate themselves on providing sonics officially worthy of self-confessed hardware techie-nerd Clarke, who threw off his headphones and immediately tweeted:
“Brilliant, really brilliant. The best sound system I have ever played in Scotland! Production was almost Dutch specs. It defined the sound.”
His final tweet from the Ironworks dressing room read: “Great crowd in Inverness, very happy I came here. Now for a wee dram.”
Ten year old single malt for the Baron…stomping bosh!
Garry McCartney
