Welcome to my entry in this weeks #technofriday, our hashtag designed to highlight our favorite techno excursions for the week.
Today, I'm throwing up a bizarre yet amazing moment in Techno: the much talked about combination of underground techno legend Surgeon with Lady Starlight as the opening act of Lady Gaga.
Surgeon isn't exactly someone with pop appeal. Pretty much the opposite. So how did he end up joining with Lady Starlight for a blistering set of atonal techno opening for Gaga's tour?
Honestly, it's pretty serendipitous. Lady Starlight just happened to be performing as her opening act in Birmingham when she toned down the music for a second to shout out the artist Surgeon who was from Birmingham, one of the artists that inspired her in her musical career. Little did she know that Surgeon was actually in the audience with his wife and after introducing himself after the show, sparked a friendship that lead to this uniquely absurd moment happening: the confrontation of the underground brushing right up against the pop elite. The fact that this happened so organically is what makes this so special here.
I want to make a point here that I don't want to devalue Lady Starlight's contribution to this. Her story here is honestly more important that Surgeon's as she did the heavy work of subverting expectations and making this moment happen. Her conversation is a larger one about the barriers created by culture and the difficulties of establishing authenticity in a scene filled with elitism, but Resident Advisor has addressed it better than I ever could, so I'll link it here.
https://www.residentadvisor.net/features/2934
With that said, enjoy this moment of pure authentic underground techno that exists in a rare snapshot of time.
