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Review Fri Oct 15 2010
Review: Four Tet, Matthew Dear, John Hopkins @ Metro 10/14
Triple bills on a weekday night are always a tough lot for the opener. Once, a Canadian rap-rock group named Kazzer opened for The Roots at the House of Blues — the audience was stone silent through some uneventful rapping and pseudo-breakdancing, causing the lead singer to shout "Who likes beer!? Who likes the Roots!?" in between songs. The audience declined to answer.
Luckily for Jon Hopkins, he held the fortunate advantage of some lead-in popularity (collaborations with Brian Eno on a score and album) as well as being a fine match to the performers following him. With tunes displayed Pet Shop Boys-pastorality to the thwomping bass of MSTRKRFT, Hopkins utilized three KAOSS pads to great dramatic effect, showing the energy of a drummer instead of a man squinting at a laptop.
Matthew Dear (photo by Steve Stearns)
Matthew Dear and band came up next — their Black City logo had been hanging behind Hopkins forebodingly, but they looked all smiles and blazers upon entry. Dear's blazer and cropped hair looked Chris Issak, but his sexy was tinged by sinister. "You Put A Smell On Me" found Dear channeling his best Sign O' The Times-era Prince — a goofy synth line and 4/4 high-hat acting as background for the lustful sneer of "little red nightgown" ad nauseum. Tracks like "Monkey" showed more Bowie-like pop, and a trumpet and double cowbell came out for a spirited rendition of "Little People", which the crowd danced to with approval.
Four Tet (photo by Steve Stearns)
Crew cleared the stage of Dear's banner, the drums, the synths, everything but one DJ table and two towers of speakers pointed right at the spot where Kieran Hebden would finish the night. He came out swinging, starting the audience right back up where Dear left them. Toy piano over club beats woven together with some trance, and Hebden liberally reworked pieces as he moved through his catalog. The ten-minute-long EP cut of "Ringer" made a particularly special appearance — the oscillating, hypnotic beat drew many cheers, and Four Tet chopped and screwed it into dust towards the middle, only to bring it back in full force for it's big drum-break conclusion. "Angel Echoes" brought more cheers. the crowd as appropriately as anyone can to Four Tet's music — one couple transitioned from shaking their ass to a slow-dance embrace in the same song. "Love Cry" brought the crowd back to club mode, and then a bone was thrown to old fans in the form of "Spirit Fingers" before Hebden took his bows. Naturally, he returned for one more — a very dreamy version of "Plastic People" that stopped even the early-departers in the doorways for one last dance party.
Four Tet's dance party (photo by Steve Stearns)
