Autechre Live 2025 – Thoughts

This was, without a doubt, the most riveting set I’ve experienced to date.

One of the things I respect about Autechre is their understanding of the modern, post-COVID crowd ettiquete. Performing in complete darkness and discouraging flash photography wasn’t just an aesthetic choice—it was a deliberate move to minimise the ego-driven antics that often plague live shows. That said, the audience wasn’t entirely free from obnoxious behavior, with people shouting absurd remarks like “Take your jacket off, it’s hot,” which only reinforced the necessity of Autechre’s approach.

About 20 minutes in, technical difficulties briefly interrupted the set. But instead of letting it derail the performance, they masterfully toyed with the audience’s expectations. They drifted into ominous ambient noise, then teased the crowd with bursts of intricate, percussive beats—only to pull back into abstraction just as excitement began to build. The result? A mixture of heckling, laughter, and a strange sense of submission from the audience, as if Autechre were playfully asserting dominance over the room. It was a sick display of control, and I loved watching them dictate the experience.

The set transformed into an exhilarating glitchy onslaught—the most dynamic and energetic performance I’ve heard from them. Standing near the barriers, I felt the crowd’s energy shift from aggressive to something more respectful, I let myself dissociate from the chaos around me. As time passed, a sense of euphoria took over. At one point, I could swear I was hearing fragmented vocal samples woven into dense soundscapes—an illusion, perhaps, but one that only added to the perfect experience.

I’ll be obsessing over my bootleg recording of this set for a long time.

Thank you Autechre <3