Live Music | 25/5/19

A question I ask a lot on first dates is 'what's the best live performance you've ever seen?' It's accessible, invites funny stories or amazing memories to share, and it's exciting when it turns out to be somebody you've both seen and you can share all the moments that gassed you the most. The thing is, it's definitely a trick question, because I could never answer with just one show myself. Asking it a lot has made me think about how different forms of live performances excel in a variety of ways, and the high points of each style. It's a cliché to say that DJs just press play on a load of songs and aren't 'performing', obviously crap, but it does bring to light the aspects that are impressive in other performers. I wanted to write some words today on some of the best performances I've witnessed in my life and what made them so special.

Let's start with the most mainstream entertainment. The example I want to use for this is pretty relevant at the moment, because she released her documentary 'Homecoming' on Netflix. I saw Beyoncé live twice in 2016 and I still consider it to be one of the best things I've ever seen. Sophistication of music aside, it is unbelievably entertaining to see someone hit every note and move perfectly for two hours solid. It's a live exhibition of talent, focused directly on that single performer, and the excitement and obsession it builds around them in the moment gets you completely carried away. It isn't surprising at all that there's such a culture of 'fandom' around pop stars; there's such a unique kind of exhilaration when you see them live, and I do think Beyoncé is the archetypal example of this. The quality of performance is faultless, not a hair out of place. There's so much flamboyance in the outfits and stagecraft, the whole show is such a spectacle and you just want to be a part of it. I remember she opened up with 'Formation' and hearing 90,000 people belt the words simultaneously was crowd mentality on another level. She also lets the audience sing 'Love On Top' and we just kept going higher and higher until she was laughing, saying we had to stop now. That's such a direct connection between performer and audience that I think is really valuable.

Now, if we talk about the documentary itself, I really think that takes it to the next level. What she's able to artistically express, the movement she's able to make in what she puts on that stage, I think is almost historically important. I was blown away by the documentary, even though I had already seen the Coachella set online at the time it happened. The entire brass band and drum line set up on that stage, the comedy and dance interims, the number of people involved alone, it's two hours of pure entertainment. I'll link a dance break here which is essentially iconic by this point, but it just sums up the elite level she's on. The documentary sums it up well in that what she is doing is creating example of black excellence on a world stage, of what black people are capable of and represent in every way, and that's highlighted in the HBCU theme. Another major highlight, that this type of performance is just unbeatable in, is the moment Destiny's Child rises up on stage. I'm sorry but W I G. She's done it before but it doesn't even matter it is the most GAS this, and then one 'Hit me!' and 'Lose My Breath' drops in. asdfghjkl. I can't even imagine the explosion of emotions going on in my brain if I was there, and then to go on through a montage of some of their classics breaks away from the rest of the show in an extended throwback that breaks up the night even more effectively. 

So that covers one aspect of live music, solo entertainers, but then there's bands. It's similar in a lot of ways, but the differences take the experience in another direction. You lose the hyperfocalisation on that single person, the very direct interaction, but there's a reason bands are the classic festival performers. There's something special in a collective, and the best example of this I have in my own experience is seeing The XX live at Bestival a few years ago. The great thing with this is my expectations weren't really high, I loved their music but imagined their style live wouldn't bang at all. I could not have been more wrong, and it was in ways I least expected. The emotional connection between them and all of us cheering in front of them was so touching. It's the combination of all the elements, their voices, their own relationships within the band, the instruments, Jamie's DJing, it all comes together and there's this incredible sense of unity. The moment 'Intro' soared out of the speakers and across the field as the stage lit up genuinely made my hair stand on end, it was absolutely magical. 

(this is the xx playing loud places in hamburg)

Unity is really what I'm going for here, bands reminds me so much how music brings people together. It also allows for the pace to dip into moments of focus on each member that takes you further on the journey of the narrative. They stop and introduce Romy's solo and she then sings 'Performance' on her own, and it was such a sudden moment of utter intimacy that it really took me by surprise.You felt so brought into her pain and memories, the crowd went silent and everything got forgotten except her and the guitar. Cor blimey!!! The set carries on, and later we see Jamie get a focus instead; we hear one of his own songs, 'Loud Places'. I mean, the song is euphoric on its own anyway, but it was the fact the focus came on him, bright lights shone out from the stage and the whole set was lit up with the album's rainbow colours as the chorus kicked in that left me speechless. I thought that was mad enough, but my friend Rosie told me when he performed at BST it was pouring with rain, but at this moment the clouds literally parted and the sun shone down on them... it's like the universe KNOWS. Anyway, in this context, it's another example of how solos in band performances are such one-off, memorable moments.

The last type I want to cover is... surprise surprise - DJs!! Who would've thought. Now yes, the DJ themselves doesn't show us incredible coordination in their dance moves, physically indicating their understanding of rhythm, there's quite the unity of the group performance in a band, and the music isn't live in the same way. But you're not looking for any of those things at a set, what you get instead are some of my favourite feelings in the world. At the end of the day, DJing is curation. In that, what a electronic musician does with his song choices can create crowd mentality in a totally new way. At Lost Village last year, I can't even remember who it was (oops), but on the first night in the middle of the set they dropped 'Gypsy Woman' after a solid 40 minutes of obscure and interesting house. It was just the right time, and as it built up to the drop the crowd was loving it. You really just get transported into this place of mutual happiness within the crowd, because there's nobody onstage you're supposed to be watching. Let's be honest too, there is absolutely nothing in the world like the feeling you get from a drop hitting just right and dancing like a baby learning how to use its motor skills for the first time. Andy C's 'Get Free' remix was one of these moments for me live, as was Tourist's 'Run', Peggy Gou's 'At Night' remix, I mean I could go on and on. You forget the world in that moment, and I think electronic music does that best.

Sometimes, it's a lot more subtle and long-form than that, though. You're so wrapped up in the music and the crowd around you that you never want that song to end. DJ Koze playing 'Pick Up' and 'Operator' for 10 minutes each at Printworks this year I'm just never going to forget. You looked around the crowd, and everyone had the exact same look on their face. It was almost jokes each time the chorus just came back and we're all just shouting 'oi oiiiii' over and over again. DJs take you on a journey with their set, and I think the best ones are able to go to different places and transition from them in ways you wouldn't expect would work. That's the thing, with other live performances you're distracted by what's going on stage and there's a more literal narrative to the show, but with this it's just the music and the lights, and that's how you've got to tell the story. The majority of the music is prerecorded, but rather than see that as a weakness, it just allows you to take things even further and stretch your skills and musical capabilities as you're not held back by having to recreate the sounds. I just talked about Four Tet a lot last week so we don't have to go into it again, but that show was an example of how much potential there still is for new areas of performance within the genres.

I haven't even scratched the surface of all the forms of live music there are out there, all the things you can feel and how many amazing performers there are, but my point is how exciting I find it that these different forms excel in different ways. People have their preferences but I love when you take someone to something they wouldn't usually like and at first they're apprehensive, but after the show you see this eureka moment and they just get it. And then the doors are opened, and they can explore this whole new area of their taste. I'm on the train to go see Hunee in Brighton at the moment, and the sun in the sky has got me gassed so gonna finish up here. Have a great bank holiday and buy those tickets you're not sure about - live music is the best thing in the world. x

FOUR TET | ALEXANDRA PALACE | 10/5/19

I booked tickets for Four Tet at Alexandra Palace the day they went on sale last year, and the hype has slowly been building since then. I've seen a couple of his DJ sets in the meantime, he's released a handful of songs, and I've started my collection of his work on vinyl. Already, I would consider Kieran Hebden to be one of the biggest current inspirations in my life, but it's funny in life how when you already think you're at the limit of something it just continues to increase and increase. He's definitely on my ultimate dinner party list or whatever the phrase is, I'd die for the chance to have a conversation with him. His music has brought me closer with so many people in my life, and really opened up my mind to new sounds and ideas. Let's talk about the concert though, because that's the point of this post, not my undying love.

We walked into the main hall of Alexandra Palace to a web of 42,000 hanging lights loosely hanging in the darkness, with a swarm of people shuffling underneath them and a DJ booth set up in the middle of the room. We squeezed through the crowds to immerse ourselves properly in the set, and it wasn't long before it began. As the first few sound effects begin to take shape in the form of 'Planet' the lights start to flicker in unison in a very 'New Energy' blue. Once the main plucked-string melody comes in, patterns start to shift across the crowd to many oohs and ahs. The underbeat from 'Only Human' already starts to feature in the set here, building anticipation for later... It really is magical, and already I clocked that it really didn't matter what angle you had in the room, everyone had the same experience. That's really, really difficult to achieve with any kind of performance, and the unity you feel with everyone else is special. I think it reflects Four Tet's outlook on music in general, that there's no form of hierarchy and accessibility is key. His all-night sets are usually still about 8 quid no matter how big he's gotten, and although tickets for this were more expensive (it's too big production for that ticket price) you still see the same message put across. It's already wonderful, and as samples from 'Ba Teaches Yoga' bounce around the room, I had a feeling I knew what was coming. After a minute or two, the instantly recognisable hook of 'Two Thousand and Seventeen' blasted out of the speakers, the entire room lit up bright white; overwhelmingly gas. As colours and patterns float tenderly around you, you're just taken on this journey with the music, not in the traditional high pace of a lot of live music, but drifting softly through the story told in the ambient tones.

Pace lifts slightly into 'Ocoras'; I love the droning bassline in this and it was an important moment of tension building as he started, bit by bit, to fully drop in 'Only Human'. The next five minutes are just unbelievable. First of all, the song bangs live, there's no denying it. The lights pulsed a vivid purple in expanding spherical shapes, and the drop was so heavy the crowd that was just silently mesmerised was jumping all over the place. Singing along to the Nelly Furtado sample and swinging the hanging lights round and round, everyone was having such a sick time. Just as you'd think the song would draw to a close, Kieran mixes in 'Lush' with its rolling melody repeating again and again, syncing perfectly with the beat to 'Only Human'. The vocals come back in again and it's two tracks I would never have expected to sync so brilliantly. It takes the dancefloor classic feel of the first song and adds Four Tet's usual cosmic twist, and as huge concentric circles drip down from the ceiling like a lava lamp, you're lifted further and further into this world he's creating. Then we move into 'Kool FM', and he utilises the stop and start nature of the song to create shining white blasts of sudden light in striding, powerful lines up, down and across the room, constantly demanding your attention with each 'hey hey hey'. I noticed at this point that some features of 'Only Human' were still echoing their way across the room. This is maybe 30 minutes into the set and he has managed to feature it subtly the entire time, the unity, the creativity in this blew my mind. What a genius. 

Visually, we took a further step with the next song. Giving us some of 'Rounds', 'Spirit Fingers' was the fastest pace moment of the set, with tense melodies and the use of the Amen Break sample underneath, quickest BPM we saw, and for the first time the fairy lights took on multiple colours at once. It's cheesy, but I wrote a note at this point that the lights are like rapid fireflies of emotions darting across my vision. The transition was so beautiful, and light and sound were so well connected that the feelings being communicated were so vivid. 'LA Trance' comes on, and the warm, intermittent beeps, like some sort of space station emitting signals, fit the lights just as well as the chimes and plucked strings we've heard earlier. 'SW9 9SL' provides further ambience. At this point I moved to the back of the crowd so that I could look at the set as a whole, standing behind the cube formed by the lights and watching from an outside perspective. It doesn't have the same immersive feel, obviously, but it reminded me of watching shooting stars on the canvas of the black sky. He played 'Locked' next - similar vibes with high pitched melodies soaring over the top of the vibrating bass, which then built into a section of intense, industrial crashes. The lights were literally going mental, and all peace in the music at one point was completely lost; a storm of sound was shaking the walls of the palace. Just as your wrapped up in the chaos of it all, silence falls, darkness fills the room. You take a moment to breathe, and 'Teenage Birdsong' suddenly explodes from the speakers. The lights shine out, the crowd loses it, you get the idea. It's such a peng way to create a contrast between the expectation for him to play his most recent release and the way he handles it.

At this point, I thought it had come to a close, Kieran was taking applause from the crowd and we were all already blown away. I started to hear something murmur out of the speakers, and as I recognised the laid back kick beat I was legit thinking 'surely it can't be' but as the vocal sample crescendo'd, it became clear he was rounding it off with 'Daughter'. It's an absolute favourite of mine from 'New Energy', with its serenity and simplicity, I've listened to it hundreds of times and hearing it live was an absolute blessing. The lights shone a warm yellow, gently illuminating people's smiling faces in the crowd, and it brought such a sense of resolve to the set. As the outro of calming arpeggios sung out, I genuinely felt lucky I'd had to chance to witness that set.

Four Tet is groundbreaking in terms of what live electronic music can be, can mean, can make people understand. It was 100% a performance, and seeing how proud he is of these two shows at Alexandra Palace on social media since makes me so happy.  The melodies of his music are often atonal and angular, but there was nothing dissonant in the way that performance made you feel. His music has certainly changed my life, and the way he understands sound is constantly inspiring to me, from moments such as the combination of 'Only Human' and 'Lush', to the vision of the lighting itself. I've seen how intricately he can build a set for multiple different settings, but seeing his pure live show was the most incredible yet. In any case, I'm excited to see how this calibre of performance will inspire other musicians to come up with new and more inventive ideas, and I'm sure we're only seeing the beginning of what could be possible. I took some pictures on film and iPhone, and also some videos, although unfortunately they're not great quality. Sorry there was such a delay between posts by the way, I'm hoping my next one will be up much sooner. xxx