An improvised and mostly unrehearsed three turntable Techno throw-down, performed live at the temporal point in space-time that is Freerotation Festival.

The last time I played an up-tempo Techno set like this at Freerotation was in 2011, and I’ve been pestering Steevio to let me bang it again ever since - this was the year it finally happened.
Set times aren’t announced until the day, so it was as much of a surprise to me as anyone else to find out that I would be playing the closing set in that room.
After a night of excellent live & DJ sets from the highly talented women I had the honour of sharing the bill with, I had to be on top of my game to maintain the energy levels at the high bar they had set.
My aim was to keep the tempos up around 137 BPM, make good use of all three turntables, improvise as much as possible in a spontaneous way by keeping the rehearsing to a minimum, and stay as present in the moment as much as I could possibly be.
I worked out the intro and the first couple of tracks, but then kept it mostly freestyle after that, which led to some unexpected twists, turns and inspired moments that kept me on my toes, and the crowd buzzing.
This was one of those special nights where the amazing and supportive crowd gave so much energy, that it fed straight back into the music, which then began to feel like an energy flowing right through you, that pulled you even deeper into the moment.
Presence!
I was ecstatic to have been so well received by the large crowd that had gathered, it was an honour & a privilege to hold the space for 90 minutes, and a joy to have the opportunity close the room on such a high.
Unfortunately some of the amps developed a fault, causing them to overheat & create a nasty burning smell, so the set had to be brought to an abrupt end to avoid causing a fire.
An unmet demand for a final tune rampantly ensued, I loudly and regrettably responded “The Amps Are On Fire!!”, to which someone remarked “of course they are, you did a good job”, which I felt was a fitting end to a smoking night of Techno-music, that was pure heat from start to finish! :)

Recorded Live on Sunday 7th July 2019,
4:30 - 6am, in Sammy String's (Room 3),
at Freerotation Festival, Baskerville Hall, Hay on Wye, UK.

www.residentadvisor.net/dj/alexdowney
www.facebook.com/AlicksDowney/
www.instagram.com/alyxdowney/
Interview: www.untitled909.com/alex-downey/

Photograph by Calandra Balfour @Calandra
Audio mixdown by Charlie Tear @charlietear

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