Pressure feat Ricardo Villalobos Vs Luciano, Vitalic, The Arches, 29th April

Vitalic proved too popular for the small arch he played to, causing dancing to overspill into the main hall to the sounds of OK Cowboy. With the energentic crowd firmly under his thumb he re-worked La Rock 01, teasing it into different sections of his excellent hour long live set. He pushed the crowd towards climax, before Ricardo Villolobos and Luciano took over the main arch for the rest of the night. One wore a neckerchief and the other sported a moustache nicked from a passing pornstar - together they put on a finely tuned homo-erotic show of minimal techno and tech-house. Utilising the length rather than the breadth of the Arches provided the perfect environment for this particular strain of electronic music; even the lights were muted, creating a moody environment with long periods in near darkness. Melancholy horns added a sense of ceremony to the end of their battle, Villalobos working them into a very minimal beat to signal the end of something very special. [Keira Sinclair]