ELECTRIC PICNIC: Four Tet Puts On A Rather Baffling Performance

Four Tet nearly attracted a packed house last night at the Electric Arena which was almost full although it has a huge capacity. At the demand of the DJ, it t was also plunged into complete darkness except for two very bright lights on each side of him.

The huge screens all around the DJ booth were off instead of displaying visuals and so were all the lights. It was so dark that photographers on site could not take a proper picture. For a while, I wasn't sure if that was a technical issue or an actual requirement from Four Tet.

And I wasn't the only one to find this a little strange as a lot of people were seen looking around, trying to wrap their heads around what was going on.

While it is great for artists to be daring and innovative, I did not quite get the concept behind this layout - or rather lack of.

This came as a surprise especially since Four Tet isn't exactly an experimental or alternative DJ - at all. If anything, I found his set to be rather dull and definitely not original, whereas it comes to the track selection or the mixing skills.

Was Four Tet trying to make up for this or was his goal to be considered different, edgier maybe? If so, that did not do it for me although I fully respect that rather bold attempt.

The DJ's set was still rather enjoyable but also sounded mainstream and rather baffling - with some weird transitions and breaks at times.

The performance was brought to a close with Four Tet's remix of the song 'Opal' by Irish DJs Bicep. While I love the original song a lot, I failed to understand why Four Tet released this remix. My question is - where is the remix? It just sounded exactly like the original, except for the bass-line which was slightly tweaked.

Does this really qualify as a proper remix? Apparently so. The finale song still has my vote because its original version is mind-blowing and so was the 'remix'. But this also left me with a major underwhelming feeling.

What is this DJ really about? I could not tell you as I could not quite comprehend it. To me he does not seem to have the makings of a headliner for such a big stage. While legendary Richie Hawtin's set before Four Tet could have done with more energy, I fail to understand why Four Tet was asked to close such a big stage and not the other way around.

However, the English DJ has proved to be very popular and the huge crowd at the Electric Arena seems quite receptive so this goes to show that it may be a matter of taste. Personally, if I had to sum-up this whole performance with one symbol, it would be a massive question mark.