Realizing my mashed-up, partying ways wouldn't last long in the local climate, I started looking outside the city. That’s how I almost accidentally discovered that Julian Liberator and Lenny Dee were coming to town while surfing a Montreal rave website. By that point, I'd been in Ottawa nearly 4 months and my memories of London's party scene had started to take on an almost mythical sheen; its array of DJ's and clubs a kind of promised land beckoning from across the Atlantic divide. In other words, good timing for a Liberator to show up (even before you consider they only play here every 2 - 3 years!)

I must have been the first person in line for a ticket, a move unprecedented in my life (buying a ticket, I mean). Before I could open my purse though, the shop clerk, glancing at the flyer in my hand, stopped me.
"We haven't got any tickets for that," he said. Panic gripped me.
"You're sold out? Already?"
"Oh no," he chuckled, as if I’d made a joke, "they haven't even been delivered yet."
"Not delivered the tickets? But.... it's only 17 days from now!!" His expression changed from one of amusement to one of pity, mingled with concern and he suggested trying back next week.
If you're thinking by now that any techno night in Ottawa would've been like a drop of rain in the desert, you're right. But luckily Industrial Strength wasn't 'any' techno night….

17 days later:

The crowd of alternative types hanging out by the venue door looked promising, 'til I heard the punk music coming from inside and realized there was a gig on. After checking that I did have the right place, I grabbed a drink to soothe my nerves and sat down to wait for the Industrial Strength crew to come & take over.

The venue wasn't club per se; it more looked like a biker bar that had stumbled acros an all night rave license: ad-hoc. That, combined with smoke, booze and great tunes, meant the distinctions between Canada and UK tended to blur as the night wore on. This was good.
The first DJ, EXT, revved us up with speedy beats for around an hour, mixing tunes in a just-sketchy enuf style which was faithful to their squat party origins.
At some point, Julian took over from him and reduced the tempo to an earthier level. Beats deepened, breaks segued into reflective head trips. It was tempting to join the other dancers for a sit down but, knowing this was a one-off, I wasn't giving in so easily!
Whether you were sitting or standing, Julian’s music enclosed you in its electronic sketches. Was it being made live or just recorded to sound that way? I wasn’t sure. Whatever the case, all the chopping and changing between styles – break-beat, funk, techno, experimental - gave it a live feel. Unlike the traditional 4/4 tekno beat, which can hold you indefinitely with its constant state, Julian’s exploratory, ever-tweaking EQ was grounded in real time.

Underpinning all the tracks was a persistent energy, linking them like points on some sort of personal spectrum. It reverberated under our feet, edging more and more people onto the dancefloor as it grew. Once it had us right where it wanted us, the playful, acid tangents dancing through it abruptly fell away, leaving us in the middle of a serious belter. My legs ached at the memory for days afterwards.
This is just an taste of the 2 or more hour set was like. For most of it I was tuned out of any world but the familiar, aural one of techno, so I've only written what I noticed in the breaks where I paused long enuf to think.
Lenny Dee got up there next and did his damndest to keep us moving, but I found him exhausting to watch. He didn’t stop - dancing, chatting, running errands, etc, all while playing a set. I kept thinking, this man needs a double of himself. But it was very entertaining to watch someone who so perfectly embodies his music's restless, gregarious energy.
Though it was a small night in a small town, the 3 DJ's I saw (I missed the 4th one) combined to deliver in compact enough energy and creativity to revive my party-parched life. I'd like to thank them for it, regardless of what my legs say!
Alexia

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