The Last Big Weekend: Sunday, 31 August

Any committed drinkers with a two day ticket for the Last Big Weekend may well have decided to stay away today – such was the anger over bar queues during yesterday’s outing. Indeed, early on at this closing event, there are more than a few signs that the turnout is not going to be anywhere close to the numbers that showed up to see the likes of Mogwai, The Twilight Sad and Fuck Buttons reign supreme on Saturday [reviewed here]. A pity, as many more people should witness Golden Teacher’s heady blend of afrobeat, house and electro; the placing of their slot so early on when things have yet to warm up feels like a missed opportunity for the Glasgow ensemble to shine.

Easing us into the more DJ-oriented format is Spencer of the ever-buoyant Numbers collective, delivering a typically accomplished and varied set ... to a tent as empty as it possibly could be. The sun shines fiercely outside at this stage and many clearly decide they can hear the gleaming disco treats clearly enough from outwith the blue-turreted confines of the main marquee. The overall space allotted in Richmond Park is small enough to allow for this kind of loitering. It does make for a strange opening few hours though as visitors seem to dither between the sunshine outside and the dim of the main attraction – Scotland’s notoriously volatile weather really wouldn’t have allowed organisers to plan for anything else, it must be said.    

Nozinja’s arrival sees the tent beginning to fill with people and there’s an outburst of dancing, both on stage via two colourfully-attired pros, and in the tent below as the crowd begin to loosen up more. The South African artist, recognized for his role in spearheading the shangaan electro movement, delivers easily the most bpm-intensive set we will hear all day, merging frenetic African rhythms with electronic sounds and a call and response crowd participation technique that does a lot to lift the congregation, still notable by its small numbers.

Shortly after, Sophie greets the crowd with a screeching, frankly unbearable, wall of sound as an intro and in doing so almost precisely encapsulates what his brand of electronic bubblegum pop feels like to some listeners. His 2013 debut for Numbers gave the world Bipp and the forum nerds haven’t stopped arguing about it since. To read the youtube debates on his work, you would have to conclude Sophie is either a genius sent from some sugar-coated distant star to reinvigorate our pedestrian earthly music, or he is a callous philistine chipping away at the electronic scene’s inherent sophistication and depth. In truth, he’s perhaps a bit of both – his tracks are very much located on the love it/hate it/it’s growing on me spectrum and in truth such ability to polarise is usually a healthy sign. One thing is certain today though, despite some clearly enjoying the set, it seems a bit out of place for this time of day and, those skewed, infantile, vocals do begin to grate – both in content and in pitch – after two or three variations.     

If the music had got a bit hyperactive and jittery for some, it's lucky Optimo now emerge to let the tent simmer for a bit, their more stretched out jams seeming more fitting for the Sunday afternoon sesh. There’s even a bit of Paul Simon in there somewhere. DFA’s James Murphy, long time ally of the duo, begins his set in much the same vein, dipping into an extensive arsenal of party favourites. The crowd seems more content as a whole now and the vibe in the tent begins to approach what one imagines the organisers must have intended. For the first time all day, the music seems like it fills the room too and the ratio of tempo to people to levels of inebriation seems well balanced.

The energy levels build again and, if there was ever any danger that this would remain a relatively sedate Sunday affair, Jackmaster boots things firmly into life with his usual flawless melding of house and techno party tracks. As the set progresses, he’s comfortable extending the boundaries and slipping in choice cuts from an array of other genres – one particularly inspired mix blends pulsating bass-heavy techno with the melodic clarity of rnb hit Never Leave You by Lumidee, while towards the end of his set he drops Fatima Yamaha’s hauntingly beautiful electro track What’s a Girl to Do.

Hudson Mohawke further diversifies the day’s proceedings, bringing clattering snares, claps and the kind of bombastic synth-driven hip-hop style that has made him so sought after from suitors as illustrious as the Warp label and rap superstar Kanye West. It says a lot for the way in which Glasgow’s electronic music scene has been able to branch out beyond 4/4 house and techno that promoters can have such variation in a lineup which now sees Hud Mo’s genre-melding exuberance give way to the more immersive, metronomic techno of Jeff Mills.

The contrast is stark when the Detroit legend appears, appearing to represent an altogether different brand of club culture than many who have appeared earlier, particularly the likes of Hud Mo and Sophie. Originally a member of the legendary Underground Resistance, Mills has always kept an air of understated mystique about him. The emphasis in selection is much different too, with sets feeling like continually evolving arcs and not as much characterised by sharp changes in style or substance. This is pulverising techno which works its magic through sonic intensity and sheer hypnotic power – often punctuated by moments of crowd thrilling energy as when classic The Bells sneaks into the mix.

With perhaps a shorter set time than he would normally be afforded, Mills does away with much of the ambient warm up tracks he often utilises and goes straight for the jugular. You know it’s a rare treat when he reaches for his trusty Roland TR-909 so soon into his set and there’s certainly something just a little bit odd about bouncing about to his thundering drum programming at around 20:45 on a Sunday evening. Even by his own high standards, Mills’ set seems to go down a treat with the crowd, and he even sprinkles a rare vocal into proceedings with the use of Reese & Santonio’s classic How to Play Our Music, one of the many highlights.       

To round things off, it’s the return of Optimo and Numbers, this time together and represented by the trusty quartet of JD Twitch, JG Wilkes, Jackmaster and Spencer. As you might expect, it’s an all out party set for the remainder with Jack opening up with AFX’s ludicrously titled VBS.Redlof.B – its exhilarating looped bassline setting the pace for the gems to follow. By the time things come to a close, the day’s somewhat staggered and low key beginnings have been eclipsed by what has been an exciting and varied programme which, despite a few odd scheduling decisions and a dearth of numbers, has served the promoters well. We suspect a return to the drawing board but hope for a return next year.