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Review Mon Nov 11 2013
Review: Kavinsky @ Metro 11/07
As I walked towards the Metro on a chilly Thursday night, I was greeted by the bass. A loud pulsing beat vibrated the air around me as I smoked a cigarette and walked closer to the building. The sound grew more intense as I made my way inside. Bodies were thrashing rhythmically in tune with the beat I as I climbed the stairs. As I approached the main room, the creators of this controlled mayhem became clear; Simian Mobile Disco.
Simian Mobile Disco is a duo of electronica producers from London who have recorded several albums of original material and have worked with bands such the Arctic Monkeys and Klaxons, either producing albums or remixing singles for them. Thursday night was a DJ set from them as they played a mix of mainly Chicago / Detroit house and UK garage. Samples of Julio Bashmore and Falty DL met samples of Green Velvet and Jimmy Edgar throughout the night as the crowd grew both in size and in anticipation for the evening's main event.
Beneath billows of smoke and behind an elaborate visual setup, Kavinsky appeared on stage, smoking a cigarette and wearing a pair of sunglasses with lenses that turned a bright and piercing shade of bloodshot red in the dark. His large screen of visuals were decidedly retro, at times looking like a gloriously bad infomercial for a video game console you'd see on TV around midnight.
Neon colors which operated in direct contrast of brilliant white lights exploded over the crowd as Kavinsky started the opening notes of "Blizzard." This arena ready level of lighting continued throughout the night. Bright neon blue strobes manically moved around the stage as Kavinsky played "Testarossa Autodrive." The crowd kept dancing and declaring their unwavering adoration as they were bathed in lights of various colors and treated to increasingly surreal imagery.
Doing his very best Serge Gainsbourg impression to look debonair, Kavinsky lit another cigarette and let it dangle precariously from the edges of his lips as he started to play "Odd Look," the collaborative single he recorded with The Weeknd.
Throughout the night, I started to notice something; Kavinsky sounds a lot like if Daft Punk soundtracked parties in the mid-2000s. His work is a decadent blend of 80s Miami Vice-esque rock, house music and escapism, sounding like a spiritual successor to where Cross-era Justice left off.
Surrounded by minimal lighting and visuals of a metropolis being driven through at night, Kavinsky wrapped up his set with "Nightcall," the single he recorded for the Drive soundtrack. The audience went fanatical as the opening notes of synth were heard and religiously sung along to the chorus as the recorded sample of vocalist Lovefoxxx (from Brazilian indie band CSS) crooned, "There's something about you. It's hard to explain."
The house lights turned on and Kavinsky bowed before the crowd, taking in their praise for a brief moment before heading into the night he so clearly admires.
NXTCLASS / January 7, 2015 2:49 AM
Thanks for this report, really like everything where is Drew involved.