A Study in Psychedelic swampy drug music Immersion
Fvtvr remains a uniquely harsh environment, a space where the industrial architecture dictates the mood as much as the music does. The crowd was, as expected a very Parisian international Saturday night techno gang, a study in contrasts: the fashionable set, with the dedicated unfashionable techno nerds, the drunk Saturday night where’s the party crowd – constantly yapping on the dancefloor, and a few older heads of the scene. And, of course, the Fvtvr experience wouldn’t be complete without the ritualistic, long lines to the outdoor bathrooms, where the biting cold acts as a jolting reality check from the warmth of the dancefloor.
The night centered on a highly anticipated live performance by Claudio PRC and Luigi Tozzi. Individually, both artists command massive respect in the global techno community. Claudio PRC is widely regarded as an architect of the deep and hypnotic, known for his ability to craft “wide-screen” soundscapes that bridge the gap between Detroit-influenced techno and avant-garde electroacoustics. Luigi Tozzi, meanwhile, has spent years establishing a reputation for a distinctively dubby, ambient-leaning techno that is as cerebral as it is functional.
Given their collective pedigree and their recent collaborative work, such as the track Onirica, our expectations were high. We arrived expecting the kind of seamless, evolving interplay we have experienced from the masters of live performance we have seen this year like Rrose, .VRIL & Wata Igarashi or Donato Dozzy and Neel, who often treat a live set as a fluid, narrative journey. And admittedly we are spoiled by the high quality these live acts.
What we encountered, however, was something quite different.
The two-hour set was saturated with a profound, heavy, swampy and undeniably psychedelic ambience. It was dense and textured, effectively turning the room into a singular, foggy, red-lit vacuum. But, our impression was the performance felt slightly static. There were moments where it was hard to ignore the feeling that maybe the two were still finding their footing as a live unit; the dialogue between their machines lacked the razor-sharp, reactionary chemistry in the slightly more varied live acts we have been seeing this year.
But as the set wore on, we began to question: was the lack of dynamic shift a flaw, or the entire point?
There is an argument to be made that the “monotony” was entirely intentional. Rather than chasing the dramatic peaks and valleys of a traditional live set, Claudio and Luigi seemed content to lock the room into a deep, singular trance. It was an exercise in endurance and spatial awareness, less about “track selection” and more about the maintenance of an dense, hallucinogenic atmosphere. In that sense, it served as a perfect, if uncompromising, sonic companion to the Fvtvr’s industrial “red fog.” And that keep us thinking – what the hell is happening – in a deeply hallucinatory mind-expanding non-ordinary way – and that is a very good thing.
If you went to Fvtvr expecting a high-energy, constantly evolving journey, you may have left feeling that the performance was too restrained. But, for those who leaned into the repetition, the set functioned as a powerful, hypnotic drone. Claudio PRC and Luigi Tozzi are undeniably masterful sound designers, even if their collaborative live project seems to be still shedding the skin of its early stages. It is a performance that demands patience, it doesn’t ask you to listen, it asks you to question reality.