- Apathy deeply hurt the world in 2000. In the last presidential election, a mere 16% of eligible voters in the 18-30 crowd exercised their rights. That’s 100 million potential votes, lost, with George Bush’s election granted by a mere 537 votes. In reaction, and in acknowledgement of the tremendous effect of American politics on the rest of the world, Adam Freeland co-opted the title of his hit track, “We Want Your Soul,” and partnered up with Freq Nasty, kicking off a six week tour promoting voter awareness: the irony, of course, is that neither the British born breaks legend, nor the New Zealand ex pat are eligible to vote in the United States,
DJ Robotronik started the night, with Freq Nasty soon following. Freq’s set included rousing bit of hip hop and old-skool remixes like Groove Aramada’s “Superstylin’,” Beastie Boys’ “(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party),” Josh Wink’s, “A Higher State of Consciousness,” Britney Spear’s, “Boys,” and Public Enemy’s “Bring The Noise.”
Adam Freeland, picked up the party from there. He stepped up to the decks, dropping “Burn The Clock,” a spacey-deep track awash with sweeps of melodies that calm and clear, while simultaneously inspire and gather energy.
This is perhaps Freeland’s most talented gift: instead of working the crowd, he works with the crowd. Because everyone contributes to the energy of a performance, dancers feel it as a palatable force, breaking from within and around all the dancefloor. When a DJ that understands the power of give, (and not just take) the end result is far beyond a brilliant mix.
This results in the creation of a synchronous, self-feeding effect: the power of human beings, dancing to the force of themselves, magnetized by a beat, And that’s why there are no bored faces at a Freeland show; no girls blithely sipping drinks in the corner, no guys hangin’ out on the sidelines. Everyone is pounding it out on the dance floor, and the only people sitting down are those whose feet hurt too much to keep dancing.
In the last few years, Freeland has really risen into American public awareness. And instead of falling prey to the common malady of well-known-and-yet predictable, Freeland stays true to his voice. His convictions drive his creativity, and his performances consistently smash all preconceptions of genre because he chooses music by how good it is, not what label it bears.
The highlight of the show -- and inspiration for the tour-- was Freeland’s single, “We Want Your Soul,” a track laden with samples of Bill Hicks chastising us for becoming slaves to corporate America. The video for this track, intermixed with visuals from Star Trek, Japinese Anime, and Kung Fu clips, played during most of the show,
Freeland is a gifted performer, as well. He knows how to play with his messages in memorable ways. During the parts of “We Want You Soul” when Bill Hicks says, “Go back to bed, America, your government is in control, again!” Adam puts on a George W. mask and dances up and down. People went mad. It was simply brilliant and funny, all at once. (for more brilliant-funny, go to: wewantyoursoul.com.) Freeland’s performance included a slew of amazing tracks: his funky-sexy “Supernatural,” the wispy “Nowism;” the rare-available and utterly street cred- Evil Nine single, “Crooked,” the ILS classic “Next Level,” and Freeland’s own’ “Mindkiller” and “Heel and Toe.” He also threw in The Cult’s “She Sells Sanctuary.” And by the end of the night, he had us all mesmerized.
Ten minutes before the club closed, the MoveOn.org website flashed up on the visuals, along with the reminder, “Register to Vote.” Freq Nasty came back onstage with Adam. Adam said, “The last election was decided by 537 votes. There are more than that many people, here, tonight. If all of you in this club vote for anyone but George W. Bush, and you will change the world,”
A cheer rose up, and the lights went on.