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.
Matt Marks’ The Little Death: Vol. 1 (May 25th, New Amsterdam), began in Marks’ quiet Brooklyn bedroom with a catchy beat and no intention of becoming the nihilist post-Christian pop opera that it is. Experimenting with just a laptop, a collection of dusty Christian pop records and deep love of hip-hop, Marks chose DIY over classical notation to make the first-ever self-produced, sample-based opera. Marks uses hypnotic lyrics, catchy hooks and classic breakbeats to tell the story of two characters, Boy (Marks) and Girl (vocalist Mellissa Hughes), and their exploration of Fundamentalist Evangelism in an attempt to keep their relationship pure in the eyes of the Lord. The Little Death, although at times silly and droll, is ultimately a sympathetic portrait of two lovesick teenagers and their religious certainty set to splices of 1970s gospel, classic hip-hop and soul. Marks is also known for his recent performance and arrangement of the Dirty Projectors’ live realization of “The Getty Address”. -
On opening track “Stranger” Scott McMicken sings “I do believe that there’s no more tricks up my sleeve/oh, the good ole’ days have past…” But the tracks that follow on Shame, Shame prove that Dr. Dog haven’t ran out of ideas just yet. And after the underrated excellence of 2008’s Fate, the Philly band could have quite easily exhausted their brand of throwback rock n’ roll.
The retro indie poppers have never been touted for their originality, finding it hard to escape the frequent Beach Boys, CSNY, The Band, and (insert likeminded 1960s outfit) comparisons. The band largely sticks to the sound that endeared them to fans in the first place (as they do on “Shadow People” and ‘I Only Wear Blue”). But the album sounds like a band realizing it is time to branch out (as they do on “Later” and “Shame, Shame”). While Shame, Shame is Dr. Dog at their melodic and melancholic best, it also suffers from lyrics that are still lazy, if not obvious, at times. The catchiness of tracks like “Mirror, Mirror” are betrayed in part by uninspired lines: “things ain’t what they used to be/I got a devil after me.” Dr. Dog seem intent on proving that it is not always what you are singing as much as it is how you sing it. And, per usual, they sing it well—terms like “pop sensibility” were invented for bands like Dr. Dog. If Shame, Shame is still Dr. Dog tweaking, tuning, and searching for their very own sound, then they need look no further into the past than their very own Fate. Sure Shame’s new direction will be touted as progress for the nostalgia-rooted band, but lets not stray too far off the course guys.
Featuring new songs by these bands: Avi Buffalo – What’s In It For
Dr. Dog – Strange
Echo & The Bunnymen – Proxy
Fang Island – Daisy
Fang Island – Life Coach
Future Islands – In the Fall
Future Islands – Tin Man
Gil Scott Heron – New York Is Killing Me (featuring Nas)
Karnivool – Set Fire To The Hive
Lodger – Back Of My Mind
Trans Am – Apparent Horizon
True Womanhood – The Monk
Woven Bones – Alright
Featuring these great new songs: Alvin Band “Mantis Preying Ate Single”
Beach House “Norway”
CFCF “Monolith”
The Dead Trees “Rayna (demo)”
Fredrik “Locked in the Basement”
Furcast “Greyls Old”
Holly Miranda “Forest Green Oh Forest Green”
Letting Up Despite Our Faults “In Steps”
Mean Creek “(OrTheUnderground)”
Midnight Masses “Walk On Water”
Miracles of Modern Science “Bossa Supernova”
Summer Dregs “Bones”
Tape Deck Mountain “On My Honor”
Tape Deck Mountain “Scantron (remix)
Technoir MA “Roundabout”
The New Loud “Dont Dance”
Toro Y Moi “Blessa”
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