Richie Hawtin CLOSE
Sydney Opera House, June 3
★★★★
It's more than 30 years since a wide-eyed, teenage Richie Hawtin found himself in a Detroit techno club for the first time.
![Richie Hawtin moved frenetically between two tables supporting his live mixing gear,
generating from fast-paced ...](http://web.archive.org./web/20170616183635im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/w/k/g/3/6/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gwkdg8.png/1496749767643.jpg)
It was the late 1980s and Detroit's now-renowned techno scene was made up of just a couple of hundred people.
But even in those early days, the self-described "geeky white kid" knew it was something he "had to be a part of".
![On the Sydney Opera House Northern Broadwalk, the 90-minute performance was a full-body experience.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170616183635im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/w/k/g/0/6/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gwkdg8.png/1496749767643.jpg)
"[Back then] when I started clubbing and playing the DJ was in control, but they were usually kind of hidden away … they were at the centre and controlling the whole experience, but actually from afar … That's still at the heart of what I do," Hawtin says.
There was no denying Hawtin was in control, as he commandeered the stage before a packed-out crowd to perform his latest show, CLOSE, on one of the final nights of Vivid Sydney.
Amid a haze of smoke, LED lighting and digital optical illusions, Hawtin's performance was a unique take on the live electronic music format, with subtle throwbacks to his past aliases as Plastikman and F.U.S.E.
Set outdoors on the Sydney Opera House Northern Broadwalk, the 1½-hour performance was a full-body experience.
![Richie Hawtin's elaborate hardware looked like the motherboard of a spaceship, but he masterfully played it and the crowd.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170616183635im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/w/k/g/0/3/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gwkdg8.png/1496749767643.jpg)
From the smell of the salty sea air off the harbour to the ear-tingling bass and the kaleidoscopic colours of the Vivid light show, the senses were well tended.
As with so many Vivid events on the outdoor stage, the 10.30pm curfew felt a real downer in a performance that needed time to accommodate a journey.
It's thanks to his deft layering of sound that Hawtin's music is so immersive, so it was disappointing the performance had to wind down within 90 minutes.
In a pre-show conversation with Vivid curator Ben Marshall, the 47-year-old Canadian admitted he didn't even know if what he does "is really 'DJing' any more". Watching him at work, I could see why.
CLOSE was not merely a stage show of a DJ mixing tracks. Rather, it was a showcase of technology, artfully manipulated in real time to create a unique performance.
Focused on giving the audience a close-up of his craft, Hawtin stood between two tables supporting his live mixing gear.
At times he moved frenetically between them, both arms outstretched to generate everything from fast-paced high-hat rhythms to deep bass drops.
He became somewhat of a puppet master, conducting the ebb and flow of the heaving crowd hypnotised by Tetris-like patterns on the main screen.
The detail of Hawtin's handiwork was amplified on the big screen, with close-up camera shots of his hands projected to reveal every twist of a knob, every push of a button.
The elaborate hardware looked like the motherboard of a spaceship, but Hawtin played it just like any other musical instrument.
In his pre-performance talk, Hawtin lamented that "so many electronic shows these days sacrifice spontaneity" in an attempt to be exciting.
But the same could not be said of CLOSE, a true celebration of improvisation and live performance.