Autechre concert

October 3, 2025

Went to see the techno group Autechre last night at the Ogten Theater. They’re a an experimental/techno band known for eclectic rhyhms and big subwoofers. It’s accurate to call them a form of “bass worship”, music that is valued for its use of loud, deep bass, sound that is felt as much as heard.

They had two opening acts. The first, “C Reider” on the marquee, one was pretty experimental, more a collection of bass and noise - not particularly danceable. Folks were basically standing there listening. He was playing some kinds of synthesizers on the left side of the stage. He played for a bit less than an hour. There were cassette tapes (!) at the merch table in the lobby of his music for $5.

The second act was Mark Broom. He was set up on the right side of the stage and was basically mixing live on a laptop. This was more conventional dance music that went through some experimental stages like the first, with some transitions through dub (dance music with reggae sound samples) and finally hard techno by the time he was done. People were definitely dancing more.

The lighting was interesting - the first one just had a blue light, nothing fancy. The second had more traditional light cans with LEDs of red and blue, some projections of whirling shapes on the ceiling, but when he was done, the lights went out and Autechre came on at about 2145. I expected the lights to come back up, but their entire set was in pitch darkness, with people dancing in the dark. There was enough light that you could see the two guys on stage, but they looked like ghosts.

I usually don’t remember to bring earplugs, but I did this time and was glad that I did because on the main floor where I was, it was very loud. Sometimes it felt like the sound was loud enough to be experienced as a breeze, almost. Their music was not your typical boom boom boom, although there were moments of that, it was mostly seemingly chaotic. I couldn’t help wondering if they were doing some other odd time signatures, but as I say, it’s as much a physical as auditory experience.

There were signs in the lobby that there was no smoking, and I didn’t really smell much weed being smoked. Given the current epidemiological environment, I wore a mask, so I might not have smelled it much. There were people vaping, maybe dabs, maybe nicotine, but I did get a whiff a couple times of DMT. I wouldn’t normally think that would be a good thing for a loud place, but maybe I am being a little limiting in my ideas of it.

After the show, on the sidewalk I met my friends Wally and Missy, who produce the Sorted parties, and Scott Everett, a DJ I knew back 25 years ago and who will be performing at the next Sorted show. I also also ran into Corey and Caitlin, also from the mtn-raves days. It’s an interesting piece of trivia that I have worked at the same place, at different times, as Caitlin and Wally.

Before I left, I ate a street dog, broke into my car (didn’t want to leave it unlocked downtown - it’s a long story) and drove home.

Someone posted a recording on YouTube. Here it is:

Autechre at Ogden Theater, October 1, 2025

The Fillmore, a couple blocks west on Colfax, had the Psychedelic Furs playing, which didn’t help the 8:00 traffic much. I was still able to park basically across the street by paying $20 to the folks who had put up an “Event Parking” sign outside (I think) a muffler shop. Short walk back to the car. The difference between going as a young person and a not young person: when you’re young you drive all over the place to find some street splt 3 blocks away and you walk, but now the value of just paying a little money for convenience….

It was a fun show, not terribly expensive and in a small venue. I was glad to finally get to see Autechre since I had wanted to see them in 2000 when I organized a road trip with a vanload of techno kids to the Detroit Electronic Music festival. Last minute complications had me miss their set.

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