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Live Show Reviews

Review: Jagwar Ma @ The El Rey in Los Angeles on 12/13/13

Jagwar Ma recently returned to Los Angeles for their final show of 2013. They had packed The Echo a few months ago and the El Rey was nearly sold-out this past Friday. These Australians have steadily built their live reputation, creating a major UK buzz this summer before focusing on the US. During intermission, the louder than normal conversation level in the house reflected that fans were stoked for this band. Lead singer Gabriel Winterfield told the throng of Angelinos that he’d like to see them “put the LA in play” and that’s pretty much what happened. Jagwar Ma has two distinct identities. One comes from catchy songs on the album such as their biggest airplay hit “Come Save Me”. In fact, they’re a psychedelic jam band and that’s exactly what they did for the first 15-20 minutes of their set. Some of the crowd probably weren’t expecting that and just when the energy started to flag somewhat, the guys brought the bounce with “Let Her Go” and then a fine extended version of “Come Save Me”. Jagwar Ma completed their set with some more pure jam and opened their encore the same way before finishing with the catchier “That Loneliness”. The sound that night was bottom-heavy. That prevented some of their melodic intricacies from shining through, especially on the harmonies which are such a strength for the band. These guys nail everything they do although the addition of a live drummer wouldn’t be a bad idea as the band continue to grow. It was a strong show that might have been even more compelling if there was a little less jam and a little more bounce. Reviewed By Bruce Rave

Jagwar Ma australia (Official)

Hear Bruce’s “Go Deep With Bruce Rave” weekly new music show on Indie1031/Los Angeles and WSUM-FM/Madison. Details and archived shows can be found on his blog and be sure follow Bruce on Twitter too!

reviewed by
12-19-13

PHOTOS: James Vincent McMorrow @ Joe’s Pub in New York City on 11/21/13

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Like many we were very pleased to hear “Cavalier”, the return single from Irish songwriter James Vincent McMorrow. In anticipation of his forthcoming sophomore album Post Tropical due in January, James Vincent McMorrow is currently on tour throughout North America. Below you can check out some photos from his recent gig in NYC courtesy of B3SCI contributor and photographer Eliana Siegal. Check out Post Tropical this January and be sure to catch James Vincent McMorrow on tour because he’s a talent to not be missed!

James Vincent McMorrow ireland (Official) (Facebook) (iTunes)

*For more JVM, check out this early interview with him from the B3-vault in 2011

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reviewed by
11-26-13

Review: Foxes w/ We Are Twin @ The Troubadour in LA on 11/19/2013

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Photos and Words by Russ Ramos

When you hear “Foxes”… what comes to mind? The viral video for “what does the fox say”? An enchanting mammal? For me, I think of the astounding Louisa Rose Allen. It’s likely that (at the very least) you’ve heard her vocals on Zedd’s infectious track “Clarity”. At the young age of 24, this English born singer/music school dropout has proven to everyone, and herself, that Foxes is a name to be known in the music biz. This past Tuesday night, the Troubadour in West Hollywood was crammed full of fans and Foxes left everything on the stage with an absolutely stellar performance. Her dancing, her voice, her honest yet powerful presence. The west coast of the US was fortunate enough to kick off Foxes’ current tour. If you’re on the east coast, you still have your chance, don’t sleep on seeing this artist live. Also, Foxes’ new album comes out March 2014. You can pre-order HERE and even have it signed by her (for a limited time only).

Foxes (Facebook)

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We Are Twin california (Facebook)

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Rating 8.3

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reviewed by
11-22-13

PHOTOS: Third Eye Blind w/ Gentlemen Hall @ Paramount Theatre, Huntington NY. 11/7/2013

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Gentlemen Hall have hit the road with 90s alt-gods Third Eye Blind in support of their new single “All Our Love”. And if their single, nor their popular cover version Kendrick Lamar’s “Bitch, Don’t Kill My Vibe” has yet to catch your attention, then we’re sure their flute wielding rock live set definitely will. Check out some photos from the show below, courtesy of B3SCI contributor and photographer Eliana Siegal.

Gentlemen Hall @ Paramount Theatre, Huntington NY. 11/7/2013

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Gentlemen Hall massachusetts (Facebook)

Third Eye Blind @ Paramount Theatre, Huntington NY. 11/7/2013

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reviewed by
11-13-13

PHOTOS: Charli XCX w/ Kitten, LIZ @ El Rey Theater in Los Angeles on 11/4/2013

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Photos and Words by Russ Ramos

It seemed like official “Girl Power Night” at the El Rey Theater in Los Angeles this past Monday night 11/4, with an excellent bill of live performances from Liz, Kitten, and Charli XCX.

Opening the night was Liz, and man did she surprise. You know those performances where you can’t believe the girl on stage is actually singing and dancing so well, but then the speakers hit your ear drums and you realize, oh shit, this girl is real. Yeah — that’s pretty much what I got from experiencing Liz. She was a beauty and a delight to watch.

Even with the recent change up of most of her band, Chloe Chaidez aka Kitten still put on an incredible show. A charming addition to the group, Fiona Grey is supporting Kitten as a backup Singer. I remember turning to another photographer during the set and hearing him say, “Yeah, they turnt this place up”. From stage dives to Chloe climbing up 20 foot speaker rigs, Kitten continues to blow us away.

“WHAT THE FUCK IS UP LA!!”. Charli XCX took the Los Angeles crowd to a whole new level, bringing a sold out venue and sea of fans to their toes, jumping to-and-fro to the infectious beat. It’s always a pleasure to hear a UK voice with prominence here in the States. I was a little skeptical on how her performance would turn out, but my concerns were quickly put to rest. With a strong fan base and a faithful independent label, I could see Charli XCX coming back to the States for many years to come.

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reviewed by
11-06-13

REVIEW: Casa Indio @ Folsom Street Foundry, San Francisco 10/30/13

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Team B3 was in the building for the San Francisco version of Indio Beer and Vice Magazine’s Casa Indio tour. Conceived to help increase visbility of Mexican and Mexican-American musicians and artists in the U.S., the San Francisco Casa Indio stop is one of four to take place in 2013; the others being Los Angeles, Austin & Chicago.

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Casa Indio’s two week line-up (the festival runs through Nov. 9) of nearly 20 artists included Wednesday night’s performances from Boiler Room L.A. vet Shawn Reynaldo and Icee Hot records artists Ghosts on Tape. The vibey modern house of both Reynaldo’s and Ghosts sets did nicely to complement the venue’s relaxed, artistically well-appointed atmosphere (and free beer).

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Casa Indio continues Thursday Nov. 7 at the Folsom Street Foundry with sets from DJ Vin Soul, Bobby Browser, Matrixxman, and Jason Kendig. For further information about Casa Indio including future performances, gallery showings, and how to RSVP; visit casaindio.vice.com.

reviewed by
11-02-13

Review: The Sounds @ Belasco Theater in Los Angeles on Thursday 10/24/2013

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Photos and Words by Russ Ramos

Swedish indie rock band The Sounds made their way to Los Angeles last night for a soldout show at the historic Belasco Theater, in the heart of Downtown. I go to a abundance of venues and shows, and shoot a plethora of bands, sometimes you’re not guaranteed a good show — The Sounds put on a great show. Lead singer Maja Ivarsson came out with a blazing cigarette, high heels, and a drop dead sexy dress, and like always, her attire had absolutely no effect on her performance. Paired up with bandmates Félix Rodríguez, Johan Bengtsson, Jesper Anderberg, and Fredrik Blond, The Sounds put on a real rock show that night. Lets just say you could hear them play from a couple of blocks away. It doesn’t look like The Sounds will be back in the States till later next year, if that. Dont miss your next chance to see them and be sure to check out their fifth studio album, Weekend due October 29.

The Sounds sweden (Official)

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Rating 8.4

brown8

reviewed by
10-26-13

Review: Holy Ghost! @ The Fonda Theater in Los Angeles on 10/20/13

Holy Ghost

Reviewed By Brian Litwin

It seems that America’s youth is really starting to appreciate the true potential of a Sunday night. For example, whoever said that you must stay in early on a Sunday night to prepare for the dreaded Monday work day? As a packed Fonda Theater in Los Angeles this past Sunday night eagerly anticipated the electronic wonders of Holy Ghost! to take stage, not many seemed to mind any looming cases of ‘the Monday’s’ that would be theirs in only a few hours to come. Midnight Magic opened things that night quite nicely, the crowd was teeming and the band served a nice warm up to the synthpop dance party that was to follow.

Consisting of Nick Millhiser and Alex Frankel, along with some friends to man the drums and machines behind them, Holy Ghost! provided a dance happy soundtrack to the Fonda’s vibrant atmosphere. The band sounded super tight throughout the evening, not skipping a single beat or cue. The crowd moved in rhythm, seemingly without a single person in the house resisting movement to the beat, and the band fed off that energy. Holy Ghost played fan favorites off of their self titled debut album and 2013 album Dynamics. The audience sang along most of the night, rolling through different fan faves like “Okay”, “Dumb Disco Ideas”, “Wait and See”, “It Must Be The Weather”, “It Gets Dark” and 2007 single “Hold On”. It was also bandmate Alex’s birthday… which made the night even a touch more special.

Holy Ghost! newyork (Facebook)

Tour Dates

10-21 Phoenix, AZ – Crescent Ballroom
10-22 Tucscon, AZ – Club Congress
10-24 Austin, TX – Emo’s East
10-25 Houston, TX – Fitzgeralds
10-26 Dallas, TX – Club Dada
10-28 Atlanta, GA – Terminal West
10-31 NYC – Terminal 5
11-04 Burlington, VT – Higher Ground
11-05 Montreal, Quebec – Belmont
11-06 Toronto, Ontario – The Hoxton
11-07 Pontiac, MI – The Crofoot
11-08 Columbus, OH – The Basement
11-09 Chicago, IL – Metro

Rating 9

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reviewed by
10-24-13

Review: Phantogram w/ Future Islands @ The Vic Theatre in Chicago 10/10/2013

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Wednesday, October 10, 2013 at Chicago’s Vic Theatre was a night of musical extremes, impossible to connect. Looking back, I’m still baffled by this musical adventure in Wonderland. The venue marquee clearly sold their merch, the sign over the Vic was pretty clear and my ticket definitely confirmed I was at a Phantogram show, but it felt like I’d wandered down a rabbit hole to Old Time High’s Class of ’85 Reunion.

Watching the Future Islands trio take the stage is like seeing a stuck-in-a-time-warp, southern, middle-aged, suburban dad step-walk out from behind the curtain. As the music started, the crowd’s puzzled looks moved quickly to astonishment. Samuel Herring shuffled, two-stepped and spun his microphone by the chord; he punched the air, snapped his fingers, bobbed his head and pulled melodramatic faces and illustrative hand-motions. The lack of movement and eye-contact from the other two band members only accented the time warp. Many a jaw were left hanging open in the audience for Future Islands’ 45 minute set that night.

Slowly, the audience reoriented themselves to 2013 and buzz built for the headliners. The venue went black as Phantogram took stage. Soon lights pulsed at each drum beat which disorientated even the most sober. It was something that would not stop save for the solace of alternate strobe lights. But the darkness paired with the danceclub-like lighting perfectly personified everything Phantogram.

When you go to a show, you’re (hopefully) overawed to see an artist’s mastery as they perform. But sometimes a silhouette is more powerful than the full picture, and that night only the outlines of the musicians appeared. Sarah Barthel wore a white leather jacket, allowing the audience to follow her torso and arms which turned various shades of neon per light; otherwise, you could only see her razor sharp bob swishing above the keyboard. Her-counter Josh Carter’s baseball cap helped you find him on stage, but his black shirt otherwise obscured him in the darkness.

Darkness, imagination, and movement was the theme on the night. The two times the band members were illuminated was with an overhanging, muffled white light as they introduced their touring band members, and then when thanking the audience. Any other time you saw their faces was inadvertent. The set was about the music, plain and simple.

Phantogram drew in the audience from the opening shock with a mysterious, enticing and elusive performance. The night proved to be a visual feast as the darkness, lights and silhouettes paired perfectly to Phantogram’s tight beats, complex layers and mesmerizing vocals. Their live show is the perfect medium for their message. Barthel and Carter wanted attention on the music, and I’ve never been more excited not to see a performer in my life.

The Phantogram tour continues through December as they promote their forthcoming album, Voices, which drops early 2014. (Be sure to grab one of their EP vinyls only available at the show.) But until the new record arrives, fans can enjoy their new song “Lights” which will be featured in Hunger Games: Catching Fire hitting theaters November 22.

*Review by J.L. Greene

Tour Dates

Oct 13: The Depot – Salt Lake City, UT
Oct 15: Commodore Ballroom – Vancouver, Canada
Oct 17: Showbox at the Market – Seattle, WA
Oct 18: Crystal Ballroom – Portland, OR
Oct 19: Treasure Island – San Francisco, CA
Oct 21: Observatory Santa Ana – Santa Ana, CA
Oct 22: House of Blues San Diego – San Diego, CA
Oct 23: Crescent Ballroom – Phoenix, AZ
Oct 25: Trees – Dallas, TX
Oct 26: The Mohawk – Austin, TX
Oct 27: The Mohawk – Austin, TX
Oct 28: House of Blues – Houston, TX
Oct 30: Marathon Music Works – Nashville, TN
Oct 31: Masquerade Atlanta – Atlanta, GA
Nov 1: Cat’s Cradle – Carrboro, NC
Nov 2: Jefferson Theater – Charlottesville, VA
Dec 4: Terminal 5 – New York, NY
Dec 5: 9:30 Club – Washington, DC
Dec 6: Union Transfer – Philadelphia, PA
Dec 7: Upstate Concert Hall – Clifton Park, NY
Dec 8: Paradise Rock Club – Boston, MA

Phantogram (Facebook)

Rating 8.5

brown8

reviewed by
10-20-13

Review: Arctic Monkeys @ the Wiltern in Los Angeles on 9/29/2013

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When Arctic Monkeys dropped their first album Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not in 2006, it was one of the hottest debuts the UK had ever seen. No big surprise that like most popular UK bands things haven’t developed quite as quickly for Arctic Monkeys here in the US. Still, here we are in 2013, and the band is at a point where they can sell out a respectful three nights staight in Los Angeles at the 2,300 capacity Wiltern Theater. A big part of their continually growing American profile is the acceptance of their most recent AM album, a release that just might top many year-end lists.

Always a winner live, the Arctic Monkeys has evolved into the kind of precise, energetic machine that not only rocks the floor of a venue from front to back, but also wills the normally quieter balcony audiences to pretty much ‘lose it’ just as well. Opening the show to a roar of familiarity was AM‘s first single “Do I Wanna Know”. The UK second single “Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High” also was a highlight that Sunday night, September 29. While the band’s sound has morphed into a more dark, and largely mid-tempo vibe with a bluesy feel over the years, the guys are wise enough to maintain the party atmosphere throughout their live show by performing their early songs like “I Bet You Look Good On the Dancefloor”, “Dancing Shoes”, “Teddy Picker”, and “D is For Dangerous”.

Arctic Monkeys touched on all five of their studio albums throughout the night. Everything worked, with the moderate exception of the two slow songs they played in succession following “Dancefloor”. Historically, band leader Alex Turner is the kind of guy that can be a premier frontman just by standing and singing in one spot. Notable this time around at the Wiltern, he had become much more animated in presence. Alex has stated recently that he wants to play less guitar so that he can “prat” around the stage. A few years ago, the band played to a quiet but attentive main stage throng at Coachella. Alex showed his modesty by saying after the set that it was one of his favorite gigs. I was surprised by his reaction as I personally felt they deserved a far louder response.

Having headlined various festivals throughout this summer, Arctic Monkeys have got to be delighted with how things are going. And so must their fans. The merch lines at the Wiltern this past Sunday were far longer than the beer lines. Definitely a good sign for longevity.

Review and Photo by Bruce Rave

Arctic Monkeys england (Official)

Hear Bruce’s “Go Deep With Bruce Rave” weekly new music show on Indie1031/Los Angeles and WSUM-FM/Madison. Details and archived shows can be found on his blog and be sure follow Bruce on Twitter too!

reviewed by
10-05-13

Looking Back @ Virgin Mobile FreeFest 2013

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Reviewed by Brian Litwin and Charlie Walker

As fall approaches and festival season comes to a close, only several events from 2013 seem worthy of making note. The eighth annual Virgin Mobile FreeFest in Columbia, MD. proved to be one such experience for the books. Unlike other ordinary festivals, tickets to FreeFest are given away for free, and the over 50,000 fans that showed up raised over $1 million for the RE*Generation project, which helps the young homeless. Our adventure on Saturday, September 21 was memorable, as a torrential downpour for over 7 hours provided a nice change of pace from B3SCI’s usual sunny Los Angeles habitat. Check out our recap of happenings from Virgin Mobile FreeFest 2013 below:

GHOST BEACH

B3SCI alum and faves, Ghost Beach opened the festival in fine fashion. Beating the rain in the Dance Forest stage, the duo consisting of Josh Ocean and Eric “Doc” Mendelsohn brought their tropical, grit pop to the masses in Maryland. Playing hits like “Empty Streets” and “Miracles” the duo seems poised to make some serious noise. Reviewed By Brian Litwin

BLACK JOE LEWIS

As the rain steadily came down, so did the spirited jams of Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears, a southern, brass-filled psychedelic outfit from Austin, TX. With their bluesy, soulful licks, it made for an exceptionally refreshing performance given the mostly synth-heavy Virgin Mobile FreeFest line-up. Channeling his inner James Brown and the 60’s era with a tight band right on his heels, the vibe was intimate while Joe Lewis’s extended jam of “Skulldiggin” was a hit with the drying crowd underneath the Pavillion Stage. It was evident with the screams and extended applause that the revelers were captivated, engaged, and wanting more when the set concluded. Reviewed By Charlie Walker

CONGOROCK

Tucked away deep in the woods with the tree canopy’s above shielding some of the constant drizzle, the FreeFest Dance Stage hosted a solid array of acts, including a thumping, energetic performance by Congorock. It was completely bonkers as Rocco Rampino’s set absolutely crushed the late afternoon timeslot, dropping massive electro-house sounds with riveting punk breaks. This Italian producer had bodies moving and twisting every-which-way, clothes literally flying off, and arms thrusting in the air when he let loose with his remix of Zeds Dead & Omar Lynx’s “Cowboy” remix. It was a completely different environment in the forest as this enchanted bassland was full of neon’s and seemed so far away from the rest of the FreeFest happenings. Crush-mode for sure! Reviewed By Charlie Walker

THE AVETT BROTHERS

Completely owning their unique sound and maintaining their positive ascension over their 10-year tenure as a band, The Avett Brothers ripped through a stellar 16-song set in front of a capacity Pavillion Stage crowd for over an hour, with those on the lawn dancing in the rain. Scott and Seth Avett, along with Bob Crawford, played with precision and without boundaries during “Life”. As majority of us VIP attendees were imbibing in crafted moonshine cocktails, the fellas fittingly played a crowd pleasing “Down With The Shine”, and had everybody on their feet singing along and dancing to their hit “I and Love and You”. Does it get much better? Reviewed By Charlie Walker

WASHED OUT

I have heard only the best things about the Ernest Greene project aka Washed Out’s live performance. Following Ghost Beach, all of those rumblings came true. The set was tight and the groove was steady. Greene played tracks mostly off his recent 3rd studio album Paracosm. Though my likeness lies anywhere on the first release Life of Lesuire, the whole set made the younger festival crowd dance. Reviewed By Brian Litwin

CHVRCHES

Scottish three-piece musical group CHVRCHES took full command of their audience at the West Stage, living up to the buzz they’ve created as one of the most promising new bands of 2013. Playing their catchy, well-remixed track “Recover” and popular live version of “The Mother We Share” – Lauren Mayberry, Iain Cook and Martin Doherty received perhaps the most arousing reaction from the youthful crowd as they played music off their debut album The Bones of What You Believe, out September 24th on Glassnote Records. It was in the following moments that Doherty busted out in frenetic dance with Cook, Mayberry, and roughly 15,000 others following suit. Reviewed By Charlie Walker

VAMPIRE WEEKEND

Over on the main stage, poppy, preppy indie quartet of Ezra Koenig, Chris Baio, Rostam Batmanglij and Chris Tomson played to the over flowing (of people and rain water) Merriwether Post Pavilion. When the band finally appeared, they killed it. Being only three albums deep into their career, Vampire Weekend has a numerous amount of hits and singles. Listing off their setlist would be pointless; they played anything and everything. They also proved that they can and will be (soon, mark our words) a headlining act of festivals of this size. Reviewed By Brian Litwin

MGMT

Another were another act I had been dying to see live, and lucky for the rain drenched crowd they played the covered pavilion stage. Fresh off the their 3rd studio and self-titled release, Ben Goldwasser and Andrew Ban Wyngarden’s set sent shock waves through the soaked crowd. To little surprise, fans did not respond well to their newer songs, but become uproarious when playing hits like “Weekend Wars”, “Time To Pretend”, “The Youth” and “Electric Feel”. Though the coolest part of the set may have been the giant cowbell played by a Virgin Mobile-wielding-fan during “Your Life Is A Lie”. Reviewed By Brian Litwin

PRETTY LIGHTS

Finishing out FreeFest’s West Stage was Derek Vincent Smith aka Pretty Lights, who’s been profoundly touring the country after releasing his newest, highly anticipated album A Color Map of the Sun via Pretty Lights Music. With rainfall remaining steady, the crowd was radiating with smiles and eagerness of what would be the best display of lights, bass, and energy of perhaps the entire festival. Icing on the cake? The beautiful stranger beside me, dripping wet with glitter from head to toe, as she mischievously looks over at me and whispers, “Just wait for ‘Hot Like Sauce,’” as she grinned from ear to ear while pulling packets of hot sauce from her neon fanny pack. Reviewed By Charlie Walker

MADEON

This 18 year old French native may be the second coming of the great powerhouse that is the French EDM scene. Being so young, Hugo Leclercq has seen a lot in the touring circuit, but a continual 7 hour rain in the middle of Maryland, might be something new to him. No matter, the Virgin Mobile Freefest crowd went nuts, seemingly doing a rain dance to Madeon’s set. Playing a slew of popular club hits and his own “Pop Culture” and “The City”, Hugo closed the Dance Forest stage quite nicely to the drippy, muddy ravers. Reviewed By Brian Litwin

Virgin Mobile FreeFest (Official)

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reviewed by
09-28-13

Review: Empire Of The Sun w/ Alpine @ Aragon Ballroom in Chicago 9/12/2013

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Review by J.L. Greene

It’s a given with Justin Timberlake, I’d expect it with Justin Bieber and would definitely anticipate it with twerk-magnet Robin Thicke. But I never, ever, ever thought I’d get crushed to death by a savage mob in front of Empire of the Sun’s Luke Steele (see picture above).

Perhaps it was just naiveté on my part, but on Thursday, September 12th it was hard to think of such dangers. Alpine, an up-and-coming group of bewitching Australians, opened the show and brought with them another level of dance-consciousness. It’s easy to see why Rolling Stone named them band to watch in July 2013. With pump and enthusiasm coupled with sparkles and paint, singers Phoebe Baker and Lou James danced with flowing hand motions, and then like clawing cats, while displaying the range of their exquisite voices. Their energy was contagious and they proved to be the perfect opening act for Empire of the Sun.

Between sets, fans waited in Chicago’s Aragon Ballroom, passing around white paint to mark their faces. The humming crowd filled the unique space, a venue built almost to accompany Empire of the Sun’s tour itself. With balconies out of Aladdin, a ceiling painted with shooting stars reminiscent of Mickey’s adventure into wizardry and a touch of the fanciful in the Never-Ending Story, the Aragon stood almost as a testament to the fantastical past, waiting for the fantastical future that EOTS would bring.

Empire exceeded expectations. It was like an hour and a half electronic acid trip. Frontman Steele emerged in a black and gold costume with a magnificent headdress that Shredder would envy. Steele’s quirky “girls of the future” surrounded him continuously as they alternately donned space helmets, anteater-like masks, angel feathers and gigantic pink guitars. With perfect lighting, Steele ran about the stage crushing his guitar but always returned to an anchored spot, a command station post in the middle of the stage where he would work synths and keys.

There was constant, intense motion throughout the long set. With the dancers on stage, Steele running about, and projector images of travels all over the earth, outer-space and phases of evolution. Throughout the show, Steele randomly came down from stage for intimately close encounters with euphoric fans.

The room was absurdly hot and even Steele felt it. He first stripped his headdress to show bleached hair, highlighting his blacker-than-black thin goatee. Then he stripped his jacket, rocking around stage in a black shirt and leatherish pants. The heat, however, would not stop Steele from his futuristic costume changes time and again, each one hitting the elaborate state one would expect from the boundary pushing artist.

As Steele disappeared to the side of the stage, a huge form emerged from the stage back, rising to the multi-tiered platform summit. With two, red leaf-rakers for horns, a giant grey skull with flashing purple and blue eyes donned a multi-colored robe. The stunned crowd screamed its delight as Death pulled out two gasoline pump handles and began shooting fog. After a few minutes, and just as seemingly natural as he arrived, he descended into darkness once more.

But where Death left, Steele emerged in a similar costume if not the same as featured in the EOTS “Alive” video. The three burly musicians wore their attire with grace–including the drummer who’s helmet’s plume matched the height of his torso. You can clearly see why Cirque du Soleil would be so attractive to Empire’s other half, Nick Littlemore.

Speaking of Littlemore… Despite a visually overwhelming show and Steele’s ability to capture the huge ass stage, you couldn’t help but hope that fellow bandmate Littlemore would make a surprise entrance. Littlemore’s missing presence was like J.D without Turk, Wayne without Garth, Troy without Abed. It was a palpable ache you hoped would find a happy ending. Even though it was a given to Empire fans he would never arrive, his missing presence still hurt the soul.

In the midst of this fantastical show, my life passed before my eyes several times as I saw my phone flying through the air punched by a fan’s eager fist, received a blow to my face (bruise included) and was almost crushed to death on a few occasions. Honestly, it was the first time I could see how people died at shows. Again, maybe I was naive but never have I been around such ruthless fans. To say the least, the show was beyond anything I’ve ever experienced–both visually and physically. One thing I know for sure: never again will I underestimate the power of a man in a headdress.

Empire of the Sun australia (Official)

Rating 8.3

reviewed by
09-23-13