- It was like a party in your living room, except with two international headliners in charge of the tunes for the night. After ten years of living here, I have never understood the Seattle electronic music scene less. I'm not sure whether I'm happy to be able to be able to see such amazing talent in such close quarters (for $5!!), or disappointed that such musical talent is going unnoticed, despite positive promotion and a long-time and talented Seattle staple (Eva) as an opener.
Even though Jones' Don't You Remember the Future and Lazarus' Smoke the Monster Out artist albums didn't get great reviews across the board, anyone who has listened all the way through to them can feel the vision and passion that went into their construction. And even though neither are super recent releases, the idea that the two people who built those audio fortresses were going to DJ at a show should have at least brought the techno heads out to rumble, even if it was on a Tuesday night.
Or is everyone still recovering from the sold out Paul Van Dyk show?
Not take anything away from Van Dyk's talent, passion, good vibes or historical value, but where have all the forward-thinkers gone? I hear constant chatter about how Seattle is stuck in an EDM time warp from seven years ago and how nothing new or exciting is happening here, but when new and exciting things do come through, the people who want something new have to come out to see it, or nothing will change. If not for the five people who drove up from Portland specifically for this event, the dance floor would have been empty at times during the night. The music, nonetheless, was spot on almost the entire show. I caught Eva's last few warm-up records before Jones came on, and she'd set the tone nice and deep.
Photo credit: Tim Wilson
A little tight when he stepped on, Jones quickly chilled out into a controlled, easy-going house set that had heads nodding and feet happily shuffling, occasionally stripping the music down to his signature bare bones beats, bass, and sample hits. His mixing style has always intrigued me, often pushing the hard emphasis around a few beats back or forward to keep you thinking.
It seemed like Damian started a little late for a show that was closing at 2 (he jumped on maybe around 12:30), but right away you could tell he was having a good time. It was actually the most relaxed of all of the times I've seen him live. I've heard people say that he doesn't do as well in front of larger crowds, and I've heard people say that he's arrogant or distant. Well, this was a small crowd, and he talked to everyone there who took a minute to sit down and talk with him on the couches near the DJ booth. It was a great experience to see him getting down with the rest of us.
And he played a lot of really great music. Housier tunes at the beginning, and then moving into some darker, more broken and technical stuff later. Probably his peak track of the night was Christian Martin's remix of "Monster Island," when every person in the place was dancing and digging in, engaged to the point where there wasn't a single person at the bar getting a drink.
The Rebel Rave tour had just been at Mighty in San Francisco and then Avalon in LA, so I can't imagine what it was like to go from those type of epic venues to See Sound, but Jones and Lazarus solidified themselves as some of my favorites, both in terms of attitude and ability to throw a great party for a handful of the hardcore.