Christian Smith, the head of Tronic and one of the most durable names in techno, plays Rebel in Ohrid on August 8, 2026. A ticket costs 500 denars.

Smith is Swedish by birth but spent most of his childhood in Frankfurt, which in his case is not a biographical footnote - the German techno school is audible in everything he does. After studying in the USA he moved to São Paulo and played the biggest Brazilian clubs, before returning to the European scene as a producer with his own infrastructure.

That infrastructure is called Tronic and has existed since 1995. Thirty years on, the label is among those that dictate the charts, with releases from ANNA, Enrico Sangiuliano, Paco Osuna, Drunken Kong, Wehbba and Ramon Tapia. In one Beatport measurement it was the best-selling techno label in the world. Tronic also has a radio show broadcast on over a hundred stations, and it marked the milestone five hundredth release with Carl Cox as guest. In other words, when Smith stands behind the booth, this is not a DJ playing other people's records - he is playing the scene he built himself.

This show is part of the summer programme at Rebel, the club within the grounds of the Biljanini Izvori sports and recreation centre, which this season lines up names from the world techno and house elite week after week. Tickets are sold through karti.com.mk. For 500 denars, the Ohrid audience gets an artist whose label was set up long before many people in the room were born.