303 presents Surgeon at Joshua Brooks review

Image: Joshua Brooks (303)

Surgeon has had a busy time of it recently. Off the back of his Lady Gaga supporting gig last November (flying the flag for UK Techno in the process), he’s switched up his live setup and has been putting the miles in playing to eager crowds both here in the UK and on across continent. On his second trip to Manchester this year, we were lucky enough to witness a further evolution of his sound within the confines of the sweaty Joshua Brooks basement.

It was a clued-up and eager crowd that assembled outside, with voices from as far as Italy to as near as Yorkshire discussing common ground in the queue, from the merits of analogue gear to the intricacies of modular synthesis. The Liverpool-based promoters behind 303 opened to an already busy dancefloor, hitting us with a pleasing mix modern Berlin sounds and acid-laced, UK elements.

The basement of Joshua Brooks was absolutely rammed by the time Surgeon appeared, and accordingly he hit hard from the off. The crush in the crowd wasn’t aided by the VOID soundsystem's direct positioning at the front of the crowd, which was exactly where the thoroughfare in the room was. Eventually the room settled down, and once you’d found a spot the claustrophobia and lack of lighting only added to the intensity.

The promoters had leaked information earlier in the day that Surgeon had made a last minute change to his technical specs and would not be bringing a laptop. His previous set at Sankeys had involved a small modular setup matched with laptop mixing. For tonight’s set he kept the modular system in play, but eschewed the laptop in favour of an Elekton hardware sampler.

The music itself was free of any bells and whistles. With his new setup Surgeon kept it simple, the modular seamlessly integrated into a raw, rhythmical sound. The drums hit straight and hard, with the melodic elements providing syncopation and driving the groove. With parts mixed abruptly in and out, the solid yet funky style sat firmly in the shadow of classic UK and Detroit sounds.

Slowly, as if becoming more comfortable with his setup and surroundings, he brought in more complex elements, and the sound palette started to widen. Although the sounds became more complex, the focus remained squarely on the rhythm.

It wasn’t until late in his set that he responded to the crowds calls for acid, with a bubbling bass line, soon followed by one of the only upfront builds of the night, a mammoth rising pad that refocused the entire room's attention. And then just as abruptly as it started, the set ended, with a hyped crowd giving the most rapturous ovation we've experienced in a club environment in a long time.

Having an act like Surgeon as the only named act of the night will always bring mixed blessings, with the room feeling over-full for the main event, but the crowd focused their energies into the music, and the artist felt safe to push his own boundaries. Overall, it was pleasure to witness the further evolution of this exceptional artist, and experience the crush in the process. 

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