-
The Glitch Mob, May 8th 2010 Baltimore MD
written by Lancifer
Showing up at the venue, I expected an opening show from Free The Robots, followed by the main event, The Glitch Mob. What I got however was something completely different. I was still able to experience the show that I have heard so much about over the past several months from online reviews and friends who have witnessed the show first hand at festival settings. I can’t help however, but think the members of The Glitch Mob got screwed.
As I arrived at what I felt was a reasonable hour in advance to see the show, cars lined the streets taking up all parking in every direction for several blocks of the venue. This alone had me questioning the size of the crowd that would be in attendance. At the door was a list of stages and artists performing on each stage throughout the evening, consisting of Kill The Noise, Dieselboy & Dara, Donald Glaude, and the list goes on and on. Most important for me however, was that The Glitch Mob was listed, and for a prime time slot finishing up the evening. Being somewhat new to the east coast, I had no idea how the rave scene was out here in the DC/Baltimore area, but soon realized it was similar to that of the west coast. You know, annoying kids running around with pieces of candy, waving glow sticks around in circles, spreading peace and love in a way that only kids rolling on ecstasy can. I recalled very quickly how much I didn’t miss the rave scene from the west coast, as even the smallest things were quick to bring to surface my annoyance. I guess it’s mainly one of those things where individuals make a stand to be unique, and they end up being just the same as everyone else around them. I’m all for individuality, or doing whatever you enjoy doing, but can’t help but want to grab one of the girls wearing furry knee high boots, ass hanging out of their beach attire, sucking on a pacifier, waving around blinking lights, wandering around in their ‘rolling’ state, to ask them if they’d take a step back and look at themselves. I didn’t always get irritated at this kind of stuff, so maybe it’s just a sign of me getting old.
Enough of the ranting, and on with the show… Given the hour time slot that The Glitch Mob was allotted, I was very pleased with the way they performed. I have been following The Glitch Mob for a couple years now, and was quite surprised to hear the shift from dubstep and hiphop, to something completely different and even original in their own sense with their new album. It wasn’t something that blew me away in the first listen to the album, but a greater appreciation was gained with each listen. Hearing the songs performed live was another experience all in itself. There’s just something about the live performances of the trio that brings a sense of energy that can’t be achieved in the studio. Performing a selection from Drink The Sea, their tribute to East/West Coast, and other tracks I didn’t recognize, I was left with a feeling of satisfaction, dispelling all doubt that I may have had before the show. Being that the crowd in attendance at the venue was spread out all over the place on several dance floors, it’s hard to say how their response was. Obviously the people there to see The Glitch Mob stuck around to the end of their set, though I have to wonder how many wandered off to check out other dj’s due to the overlapping scheduling on other floors. I was surprised overall by the lack of enthusiasm from the crowd compared to what I expected. Maybe I wasn’t in the best spot for gauging the crowd’s reaction, but it just seemed that there was less of an applause at the end of the tracks than I would have expected and hoped for. Did The Glitch Mob deserve a better turn out? Most definitely. Did they deserve a better reaction from the crowd when it came time to show appreciation at the end of each track by applause? Not only yes, but hell yes. And this is just based off of the reaction that I’ve seen from other crowds on video of course, but I guess I just would have expected more from the Baltimore crowd. I’m going to go ahead and place the blame on the promoters who pulled the party together. Not only did they schedule this amazing act for a rave amongst big name dj’s on several dance floors, they only set apart an hour of time for The Glitch Mob to perform, on what normally would be an hour and a half long performance, as explained by the guys after the show. This in addition to the type of crowd that frequents raves, didn’t live up to par as one would hope for a group deserving a better response.
To The Glitch Mob, you guys were great. Given the circumstances in which you performed, it couldn’t have been better. But you deserved so much more in regards to the crowd and their response. Hopefully that doesn’t detour you from making your way back to the DC area in the future.
