Review: System & Set One Twenty @ Mint Warehouse

Image: Mint Warehouse

Bank holidays and Leeds - these two need little introduction and Sunday 25th May at Mint Warehouse proved no different. Veterans System and fresh-on-the-scene Set One Twenty first collaborated forces earlier in the month when they successfully offered up a stellar line-up of Seth Troxler, Ten Walls and Detroit Swindle to the Leeds faithful.

So expectations were understandably high for round two as there was a huge spread of live acts and DJs across the three Mint Warehouse rooms, bringing the summer afternoon into the early hours of the Bank Holiday night...  

Arriving into the party, we landed straight into the depths of Ibiza connoisseur Davide Squillace (check his recent i-D mix above). The fully decked terrace was jam-packed with bodies, and as the infamous sounds of the Italian's dark techno roared through the jungle themed ceiling.

You could almost have been forgiven for overlooking the grey Yorkshire skyline overhead... High-energy, thumping and potent, Squillace held his own in the heat soaked terrace to prove why he is a name to watch on Circoloco line ups on the White Isle this year. 

After a quick cool down as Squillace closed up, the masses flooded back into the main room for Berlin man Mathew Jonson to take center stage. Jonson is notorious for coming equipped with high-octane live sets and unique, mesmerising sounds which have seen him accredited by labels like Cocoon and Crosstown Rebels; this Bank Holiday set was no different.

Cinematic style, crescendoing bass notes fused with more ethnic, oriental sounding melodies gathered to unpredictable climactic drops. His refined, detailed style of sound was decorated with layers of unexpected genres- a particularly memorable moment being the emergence of his evergreen classic 'Tightrope' (above), a song we'll never tire of hearing.   

The surprise of the evening came as we found our musical senses lured in by a little room tucked away towards the back of the venue. Mint Warehouse's Boiler Room embodied everything we love in a raw musical atmosphere: intimacy, intensity and sounds stripped back to basics without flashy strobes and half-naked dancers.

Fitting probably no more than forty people at one time, Medlar and the Wolf DJs cranked up the tempo to a small, but responsive crowd that lapped up each and every different turn of the sounds.  

Closing off the proceedings was no other than DC-10 staple Dyed Soundorom. The Parisian is an artist who needs no introduction, he is no stranger to providing an unrelenting journey through tech-house and futuristic, metallic sounds.

Two hours under the Frenchman's control and the last-standing party goers showed no sign of fatigue as he muscled on into the early hours with simplistic, easily absorbable basslines which bled into a symphony of funk and old-school melodies.

A disciplined, controlled and fluid set which he conducted so effortlessly, Dyed definitely showed Leeds why he has earned all his stripes over the years in the world of house.  

Hats off to System and Set One Twenty for pulling out all the stops with this one: their musical marathon succeeded in combining a high production value with an underground feel that faded off until well past 4 AM. 

With the end of May signaling the end of the university year for many, Leeds' techno church Mint yet again proved why each and every time it lets the music do the talking, as you clamber home with that oh so beautiful ringing in your ears that refuses to let you forget the night you've just left behind...

Want to catch your own party at Mint Warehouse? You can see what is coming up at the venue here.