Dot.AY has things pumping as I head into the Bridge Club, his high energy chip-tunes have drawn the early crowd down towards the front and the mix is sounding good. There can be a cliché in electronica of ‘man stares intently at laptop’, but there’s no such problem here this evening as Alex Yabley attacks his bank of instruments excitedly and thrashes around to the music; showing the crowd how it’s done. For the final part of the set, he jokes about moving to the future with some 16bit tracks, and while there’s some technical glitches, his charm and enthusiasm makes sure it’s fun and not frustrating for the audience.

The Dank Morass djs are effective in between acts, keeping the upbeat music flowing, without totally dominating the room. It’s not an easy balance to manage, but tonight it’s spot on, building nicely to the point where I’m a little sad when the next act signals that they’re ready to start.

Tincture chills things out, with a more down-beat sound, but there’s a definite groove running through it, and the bass fills out the venue nicely. Fractured beats and R&B melodies give way slowly to thumping snares and a dub vibe, as the set slowly ramps up. Tincture’s sounds recall some of the bigger names in left-field electro at the moment, but his work stands up well to those bigger names, and his set is highly accomplished, and well worth catching.

This is apparently Outerwaves’ debut show, as well as his EP launch, but Dom Stephens isn’t displaying any first show stress (his experience fronting Oh Ye Denver Birds presumably lessening the nerves). Outerwaves skirt the edge of chillwave, but there’s a distinctly beachy feel to the tracks that works as a point of difference to keep things interesting and the live vocals add an enjoyably unique aspect to the performance amidst tonight’s other artists. I do wonder if his lower energy music would have been better suited earlier in the night, but the quality is high and the crowd enthused, so it’s a minor quibble.

Daedelus looks curiously appropriate in the wood panelled, Irish themed club, with a stylish vest and impressive mutton chops. He starts the show with a speech, explaining that his live show is a bit different from his recordings, but that he hopes we’ll all join him on the journey and enjoy ourselves. There’s no doubt of that. From the outset, Daedelus drops some stunning beats, moving effortlessly between idm, dubstep and straight-up techno, and the crowd is carried along; bunched up and dancing, as the room slowly heats up. Daedelus looks like he’s having a great time, dancing around with a contagious smile while controlling proceedings on his Monome. It’s a mixture of his own tracks and remixes tonight, and the bass drop on James Blake’s “I Never Learnt to Share” brings a particularly big cheer from the room.

The air-con at the Bridge Club is having a hard time keeping up with the number of people moving around, and things get hot and sweaty, but the heat’s never overpowering (oh hai, Arena) and really adds to the whole vibe, bringing back memories of Adventjah and System 6 from days gone by.

It’s not a short set, but it’s still over far, far too soon. Impressive from start to finish, this is easily my favourite electro gig since Flying Lotus at the very start of the year. Props to everyone involved for making this one of those nights where you really wish the artist would just keep playing forever and you could all catch the sun coming up when you finally pile outside.

- Words and photos by Sky Kirkham