TuneLab
Luke Slater - Awakenings Easter Festival 2022
Awakenings Festival: where techno purists go to nod solemnly at each other while being pummeled by sub-bass. Luke Slater, a veteran who probably invented the waveform you're currently feeling in your chest, doesn't disappoint with a set that's both a history lesson and a battering ram. The Gashouder in its full glory, strobes cutting through smoke, a sea of black t-shirts moving as one.
This is peak-time techno at 138.1 BPM, predominantly in the dark, driving 12A key. Slater's mixing is clinical and relentless, layering percussion and acidic lines with the precision of a surgeon who only operates on dancefloors, building tension without release until the very last moment. For the diggers, the industrial grind of Bidoben's 'Gstaad' and the raw power of Planetary Assault Systems' 'Say It Loud' are essential, while the inclusion of Kate Ryan's 'Désenchantée' is the kind of absurd, brilliant curveball that reminds us not to take this too seriously.
The journey begins in the murky depths of an unknown opener, escalates through the frenetic chaos of Axel Karakasis's 'Airborne Dust', and culminates in the nostalgic, trance-tinged euphoria of Energy 52's 'Café Del Mar' (Three 'n One Remix)—a perfect closer that leaves everyone smiling through the tinnitus.