Live Review: Kode 9, TOKiMONSTA, Mark Pritchard, Oscar Key Sung

The Niche Productions crew hosted the first Hold Tight! party of 2014 with a stellar bill on Saturday, crossing several hard-edged rave styles before culminating in a devastating set from influential Hyperdub label boss Kode 9.
Two Bright Lakes (Melbourne) alumni Oscar Key Sung is no stranger to live performance, and his fractured, post-R&B soundscapes push the medium forward, but his set felt like a nervous bedroom producer playing in front of a crowd for the first time. His voice has been shot since New Year's, and it's admirable he managed to knock out a few great vocal tracks (seriously, when he locked down a beat and pushed out a song it was goddamn beautiful), but it seemed like he couldn't find the right sequence to get things moving or he wasn't confident with his material. That said though, there were flashes of brilliance, and we can consider this a small glitch in an otherwise solid career thus far.
The ever reliable Mark Pritchard shifted gears, dropping a super heavy set that messed with jungle, some tech-style dubstep, rave and trap. He has always had an ear for edgy material, able to navigate new sounds with bold determination. His sets don't hold your hand and massage your ears; they grip your ribcage and breathe down your neck. This was no exception. There wasn't much relief during his tenure on decks, and the pressure was mounting. It's almost healthy he wasn't on for more than an hour.
LA's Tokimonsta usually produces stuff you'd enjoy with headphones (warm future-bass, illbient, cerebral) rather than dancefloors, and her recent addition to FlyLo's Brainfeeder stable is a savvy move. She offered a pretty strong rave set that, while not offering much variation, gave us respite and recovery time from Pritchard's dark leanings. This was definitely the “fun” segment.
Mercurial producer Kode 9 is a formidable name to have on your bill, and conjures up scenes of dark and sinister warehouse parties in industrial London. Rather than assault the crowd with a terrifying deep-catalogue dubstep performance, he stuck his tongue in his cheek and offered a straight-up rave. He started off showcasing some new “footwork” (look it up) material from DJ Rashad, his shiny new acquisition, before moving into some garage that felt 20-feet high. It was electrifying, sweaty and accessible, and he proves once again how vital it is to have him behind the decks.