Patrick Topping graced La Belle Angèle on Saturday, 28 February as part of the Nightvision series. Topping began making music in his bedroom when he was 19, and the six years that followed have seen him work his way up to critical acclaim. The last year and a half has seen his transformation into one of Ibiza’s most talked about DJs and recipient of the ‘Best Newcomer DJ’ of 2014 at the rather niche annual DJ awards.
The Geordie house and techno aficionado certainly packed out the newly refurbished venue, which has until very recently been closed following a fire which devastated it almost 12 years ago. Nightvision consists of a series of club nights, priding itself on changing the face of Edinburgh’s electronic music scene and bringing some of its most exciting names to local venues. Topping’s live performance however left much to be desired, featuring mainly dull remixes and repetitive techno beats. His fans were certainly high on more than just life – demonstrated by their uninhibited dance moves and the sheer number of uncontrollable jaws. It would seem that his musical genius can only be harnessed with illicit substances, but this posed no problem for the majority of the crowd.