Mutek day II: listless, mostly

The second day of Mutek brings fresh blood from the west. After a missed call and a last-minute change of plans Alex and I end up drinking tall-boys in a street-side park, trees shielding us from rain.

We finally find our accomplices and head to the show. In the lobby and the bathroom we bump into more familiar faces; many made the Mutek-trek from Toronto. We quickly find the festival is less about locals, more electronic-enthusiasts.

I later learn more than half of last year’s attendees came from outside the city, and most of those from outside the province. Many others make their way to Montreal from all around the globe. As Mutek founder Alain Mongeau later tells me, the festival has become an annual pilgrimage for music techies, obsessed with the niche.

Tonight is Radical Connectors, the second evening in Mutek’s string of Nocturne events. It starts off with Jon Hopkins, followed by Belrin-based electronic veterans Mouse On Mars. Nathan Fake follows, and Mossa closes the night.

We sit upstairs at Metropolis in pew-like rows idling above the stage. Under us the dance floor we last year saw go so wild is mostly stagnant, only shifting as patrons come and go. People shuffle between standing and dancing, listlessly watch the lights and vibrate with the beat.

The beats themselves are bass-less: thick, heavy, and German. We disappear down into the tiny, dark Savoy room adjacent the first stage floor, hunt for somewhere to dance. Frustrated we breathe air outside, begin to yawn and tire.

We catch part of Fake’s set, but head out before its finished. After bus rides and days couch surfing, we accept defeat and promise to try again. On to day three.