Live Review: Juan Atkins, Movement, Roland Tings, Worldlife, Softwar

Australian indie dance kingpins Modular hosted an eclectic party at Town Hall on Friday, with a number of guests covering an impressive spectrum of sounds supporting OG Detroit techno royalty Juan Atkins.

Movement opened with a smooth set of songs that hopefully got the attention of new fans. The Sydney trio are turning heads in all the right places, professionally speaking (supporting Solange early Jan, supporting Darkside later this year), and their stripped-back post-R&B sound is, frankly, so hot right now. Their set was nice, but perhaps drowned a little in so much space. In theory the setting was perfect, with the high ceilings and gothic architecture set to frame their nocturnal songwriting neatly. As it happened though, it just fell short of expectation. As mentioned, it would be great to have more exposure for these guys as they really are talented, so hopefully one or two new fans were humming Us the next day.

Juan Atkins was on the back foot from the get-go. The set was plagued with technical issues (entire speaker stacks didn't respond at one point, only to burst with life a little later), and he never really got the feel for the room, with volume being adjusted haphazardly and awkwardly. The set itself was okay, but felt out of sync with the acts either side. Where Movement chose subtlety and sophistication as their MO, Atkins blasted the hall with a lead-footed mix of old-school techno. It was so heavy on bass the speakers fuzzed out at the lower end. It was also a little repetitive, and you were more or less forced to strap in and go with it for two hours.

Melbourne acid-house producer Roland Tings offered a cool, zesty set to freshen up the late-comers, and it was good to shake off the weight of Juan's epic set.

The visuals for the event were cool and the venue itself still proves to be a fantastic addition to the festival. It just needs a bit more love in the sound logistics department.