- Mexican crowds have a lot of love for Nicolas Jaar—a reciprocated affection, it would seem. Since Darkside split up in September, his few solo performances have included a New Year's Eve gig in Tulum and a tour through the country in April with his full live band. The Mexico City show happened at 360e, a huge space with a high domed roof that made for good conditions in terms of both sound and temperature. The event was nearly sold out, despite an entry price that was unusually high for the city's standards.
Like Jaar, the opening acts were both experimental and club-oriented, though Smurphy was a bit too dry for the half-seated crowd. Los Macuanos followed and satisfied the audience's urge to dance, leaving little space for Jaar's slow build-up. Jaar adapted to this with evident pleasure, giving the crowd almost no rest in their dancing till the end.
The only thing that did stop Jaar was the power blackout, which occurred in the beginning of his set and lasted for quite some time. This actually gave the band an opportunity to take a new, rather theatrical start, well-served by the great light-work. The set unveiled a few new songs within an otherwise familiar formula. In this sense, it recalled Jaar's earlier performances, such as his appearance at Sónar 2012, rather than the more ethereal sets he's been doing recently.
With the end of Darkside, Jaar seems to be getting back to his traditional live routine, something you also sense in the new material he played that night. He's developed a more dance-oriented show, with a band dynamic that revealed its full worth in the final thrusts of the act: after giving the frontman a moment alone to play more of his edits, the band came back onstage to close the show with Jaar's first hit, "Mi Mujer," displaying a showman's potential we might not have expected from him.