Ten out of TenSnakes

Article by Christian Pandtle

On May 3rd UHall was fortunate to host the always funky Hamburg born nu-disco/house producer, Tensnake. Coming in hot off his recently released album, Glow, Tensnake’s album tour hit UHall for the 3rd time in 12 months with überfunk that we at theMUES love and have come to expect. The night began early with talented local support Ray Casil and Man & Woman who teased a packed venue with the exact sort of easy house grooves that you love to hear in the early night. Lots of bass lines and soulful vocals, but the vibes stayed rather subdued  until the man from Hamburg took over the decks at around 12:30 am, then everything changed.

Tensnake began his set in an unorthodox fashion for an album tour, beginning the night with a number of deep cuts that whetted the crowd’s anticipation. He didn’t even begin to play anything off of Glow until well past 1:30 am, by which time the dance floor had been completely filled. It was really refreshing to see such a large number of people getting down to deeper house, which I hope is a sign of things to come.  After playing his seminal ‘Coma Cat‘ to great enthusiasm, Tensnake surprised everyone by launching into a short Acid House set which was capped off with a classic Depeche Mode jam straight out of the 80’s.

Seemingly effortlessly transitioning from one jam to another, Tensnake’s supreme mixing skills were definitely on display. Since house (especially deep) is the most DJ-friendly music there is, it is often hard to tell the difference between good mixing and great mixing. That being said, the steadily rising energy and nearly unnoticeable transitions which characterized Tensnake’s set are indicative of excellent DJing,  which we all love to see. Hopefully he’ll be back again soon as his UHall sets are always a stand out.