Live Review: Booka Shade, All Together Now

German electro duo Booka Shade, during their set on All Together Now's Something Kind of Wonderful stage, showed why their legends of the techno/house genre.

It was fitting the video installation accompanying the gig had a recurring motif of lines and shapes interlocking with each other. That's what Booka Shade do with music. They build sonic landscapes out of disparate, overlapping intricate grooves, which gradually blend more and more, leading to massive drops. However, unlike a lot of bad house music, these never feel gimmicky because the appropriate groundwork has been laid. Instead, they're more like natural progressions than a cheap way to generate excitement.

Booka Shade are also a lot more accessible for those who are not major dance music fans. As evident from this set, they aren't above utilising a fleeting sample of a pop song's melody (in this case the tune was Daft Punk's 'Get Lucky') to keep audiences invested.

Also worth noting is that as one member of Booka Shade is manning the decks, another is hammering an electric drum kit, not only adding an immediate sound but an element of performance lacking from a lot of house music gigs.

Fans were clearly loving it, as the stage was practically pulsating with energy. Between Booka Shade and Underworld, it was a strong end to All Together Now: Day 2.