TuneLab
Joseph Capriati
Awakenings Summer Festival 2022
Awakenings Festival is where we go to have our skeletons realigned by sub-bass, and Joseph Capriati's 2022 summer set is a masterful chiropractic session in mainstage techno. It's big, bold, and unashamedly fun, a reminder that techno can be both physically punishing and strangely euphoric. The vibe is pure festival massiveness: a field of people moving as one, pyrotechnics painting the sky, the shared delirium of a long day reaching its peak.
On the technical side, Capriati drives a relentless pace at 136 BPM, cleverly modulating between keys like 7A and 12A to keep the energy dynamic and driving. The low-end is a constant, tectonic presence, while the mid-range is filled with playful, often cheeky samples and classic rave stabs, and the high-end provides crisp, driving percussion. His mixing is energetic and crowd-pleasing, using well-timed drops and familiar hooks to maximum effect.
The tracklist is a joyous raid on the archives: 'Fatboy Slim - Song for Shelter' provides a moment of soulful, breakdown heaven, while 'Gillette & 20 Fingers - Short, Short Man' and 'Alice Deejay - Better Off Alone' are hilarious, effective injections of pure '90s nostalgia. 'Avision - The Tunnel' is a contemporary tunnel-vision techno tool, and 'Hypnopunk - Crazy Bass' lives up to its name with a punishing low-end workout. It all starts with the ominous throb of 'Lorenzo Chi - Off', builds to a peak of singalong madness with those classic vocal samples, and cools down with the sophisticated, driving melancholy of Jon Hopkins' 'Open Eye Signal (George Fitzgerald Remix)'.