The first edition of Pitch was the perfect festival debut

Paula Temple, Vanishing Point, Sunday: Heads whirling from how good Octave One had been we wandered up to Vanishing Point at the back of the festival site to witness Paula Temple do her thing. Icelandic minimal duo Kiasmos were just finishing up and provided their own profound moment as people huddled together against the encroaching cold of the night. As they closed, we made our way to the front to dive head first into the experience the UK techno icon was about to deliver. Japenese artist Koichi Shimizo’s recent release on Holontone Records ‘Wholetone’ was the opening track and the rapid-fire bass was like a beautifully brutal shovel to the face after the quickly forgotten short period of prior silence. It wasn’t long until people were hanging off the speakers as Temple cranked things up a few notches on the fringe of the bush where silhouettes of twisted gum trees lay in the darkness.

Ben Klock, Béton Brut, Sunday/Monday: Ben Klock’s set was our set of the festival. From the moment we arrived at Béton Brut we were completely lost in the German techno heavyweight’s sound which was matched perfectly by the stage’s towering brutalist grey design and deep blue, green and purple lighting. It felt like you could have been at one of the world’s best clubs in Berlin rather than the Australian bush, but the moon and stars visible in the clear night sky made it something very special. The way the stage could look so different across the weekend was impressive until the end. At 3am and after three solid days of partying we admit we were starting to feel a little broken – but the pull of the music held us there and made us forget about everything else. After three hours of incredible dark techno the final stages of Klock’s set drew everyone into a frenzy. Underworld’s huge 1994 belter was the finale and 10 minutes of pure ecstasy. Each element sounded incredible on the system as the crowd heaved and the mood elevated to yet another level. The techno don finished his glass of wine, raised his hands to the crowd and was gone. Absolutely. Huge.