M83 in London

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  • M83's "Midnight City" recently made the A list on BBC Radio 1, and along with "We Own The Sky," it's currently tipping six million plays on YouTube, a testament to Anthony Gonzalez's immense popularity. You would also have noticed the results of this if you left it too late to get tickets for this final UK night of the support tour for his Hurry Up, We're Dreaming full-length at Shepherds Bush Empire, as they were decidedly sold out a good while before the gig, and going for north of £50. Considering M83's heavily electronic sound and the fact that, on paper, the act consists solely of Gonzalez, the appearance at Shepherds Bush Empire turned out to be a lot more of a gig than I expected. You know, with guitars, and mics on stands and all that. The lights, vertical striplight fixtures and sweeping LED arrays in cool neon shades of magenta and teal, went well with their synth-y 80s influences, but the show wasn't heavily produced and they largely remained a band, on stage, playing their hits, roughly in order of magnitude. That magnitude started big, and only escalated. There was plenty from Hurry Up, We're Dreaming—"Steve McQueen," "Reunion," and "Wait" were all, happily, present, and of course "Midnight City" was too. "Kim & Jessie" was played quite early on, and there was a charmingly re-balanced arrangement of "We Own the Sky," which added fuzzy processed vocal sound effects to the intro courtesy of a VoiceLive Touch from a TC-Helicon fixed atop of a mic stand. There was even an encore, which finished on "Couleurs," a fitting final jam. Their style was definitely visible, though. They gave pride of place to a modular synth at front centre, which Gonzalez played. Someone in the wings was also operating an armada of five MacBooks, perhaps treating or layering the others' instruments, and Morgan Kibby to the right also stood behind a keyboard. The set opened with the bassist dressed in the costume on the front of We're Dreaming, raising his arms as the lights pounded around him. Watching music in a live setting is, broadly speaking, about observing an artist or band's attitude towards their craft. And rarely have I seen a band play with this much genuine, introspective passion. The bassist was seemingly being washed around the stage by his own music, reeling off bass licks as he jived, bucked and shuffled with a natural spontaneity. At one point, Gonzalez spent a minute leaning against the side curtain, with his head back, just absorbing it all. At another, he threw his cup of water against the back of the stage, apparently overcome with emotion. If he'd thrown it towards the audience, it would have looked like rock stars showing off. Rather, it just seemed to be an intensely personal experience, echoing the sensitivity that runs through their music.
RA