Robert Hood

To top the stellar line-up at tonight's Metropolis show — especially Jon Hopkins' killer and highly kinetic set — was going to take someone of high calibre and credentials, and that's exactly what the crowd got with Robert Hood. A founding member of Detroit's Underground Resistance and pioneer of minimal techno, Hood began his set in slightly more house-oriented territory, gradually teasing the crowd into his set with danceable grooves before straightening out into a more forward-moving techno set. Hood added some live elements to the mix, including judicious use of keyboard work and live sampling, and you could see the concentration on his face as he built the set up. Not as transcendent as his old buddy Jeff Mills, Hood's music is more rooted in the here and now, but it's no less captivating for it. The visuals augmented the set nicely, with geometric patterns overlaying the fabric screens behind him and projected over him. Hood's was a set of such calculated beauty, executed with so much soul, and when it seemed a short set – around 45 minutes – he suddenly came back on for an even more banging encore to a still-packed room.