shimweasel

Last night, I saw DJ Shadow at the Hordern Pavilion with Andre, Michael, Damien, Phil and Zen. It’s one of the better big venues in Sydney, I think: you’re never going to see an artist like DJ Shadow at a more intimate venue like the Metro, and the Hordern is streets ahead of vast, sterile refrigerators like the Entertainment Centre. The lines coming in were pretty intimidating, though: by the time we got to the end, I’d practically walked home.

We got in eventually, though, and managed to catch most of Mos Def’s support act. I hadn’t heard much of his music prior to the gig, so his set was a pleasant surprise: he’s a skilful rapper, but can shift gears and sing at the drop of a hat. All night, he dropped in and out of other people’s songs, borrowing them, reshaping, and handing them back - I don’t know whether it’s a common thing, but I liked it a lot. (Michael’s comment as always: “He’s very good at what he does”, translated as “I don’t like this even a bit”.)

By the time Shadow was due to come on, the tension was palpable.

Big curtain, eerie blue lights… he was milking it pretty hard, but the crowd was lapping it up.

I’d heard of his light shows previously, and how integrated the visuals and music were, but I still wasn’t nearly prepared for the reality.

Not entirely sure how much I can add to the visuals… he played a few tracks off Endtroducing early on, sending the crowd predictably bananas. The early visuals were also very, very slick, and even had a little political comment: pictures of Marine recruiting videos collided with a cartoon of George Bush with a chainsaw.

After that was some of the new stuff. Honestly, I can’t say I’m much of a fan: he had a singer called Chris James, who was very competent, but the songs just never really gelled for me. Hopefully, he’ll work out the kinks as he gets further into his tour.

Thankfully, though, he moved back into the songs everyone knew and loved. “Mashing on the Motorway” from the Private Press was a standout for me. Energetic, propulsive, and compulsively danceable. The accompanying visuals looked like the bastard offspring of Magnum PI and Grand Theft Auto… absolutely perfect.

There was one encore: a very strange take on “Rabbit in your Headlights” with Thom Yorke’s vocals. He left us with another track off Endtroducing (to my shame, I can’t remember which), and the swirling orange vista below.

All in all, another top night out. Andre assures me that the “In tune and on time” concert series was better, so I’ll be trying to pick that up at some stage, but I left the Hordern exhausted and exhilarated.