Institubes Paris Terror Club Tour - Chop Suey

Ugh. Institubes beat the shit out of me last night. From about the second or third track of Orgasmic’s DJ set to the midpoint of Para One’s live PA when I finally left, exhausted, the music was relentless and punishing. I kept hydrated. I only had a couple drinks, but I couldn’t dance for more than five minutes to the 140bpm beat-down without feeling faint.

There were air-horns, animal masks, silly string, a shirtless Curses!, full-on neon-furred ravers, and a nail-painting booth presided over by our own DJ NAHA (sorry I never made it over). Curses!’s live PA was probably the highlight of the night, with Luca Venezia dropping live vocals over his hyper house cuts. Of the other three performers, it’s hard to pick out a second favorite. Orgasmic’s set was warm-up, but it was also the only forgiving 30 minutes of the night. Surkin’s classic rave revivalism and Para One’s blasting techno were both just exhausting. Everything was very loud. Like Dinosaur Jr loud. It may have all been a little too much for Seattle—or for me at least.

Thank god there’s no raves to go to tonight…