How to Dress Well at the Echoplex on a Tuesday Night
It's tough out there for opening bands; especially on a show with a six-act lineup. It seems like these days it's common practice to skip the first few bands at a show, and this is something I'm guilty of, myself. So please forgive me for jumping straight ahead to the last three acts of the night. I am the worst.
Echoplex, Tuesday night. People are standing around, swaying and sipping cocktails while a dude in a backwards cap with a laptop and a couple of mixers provides the entertainment. Groundislava alternates between minimal, droney dance stuff and fast-paced top-40 remixes. I definitely see him as more of a weekend act, music you can't really appreciate unless you're not thinking about how you have to get up for work in the morning. Fortunately the Echoplex has two bars which seemed to help people get in the mood for dancing as the night went on. Groundislava actually made the most of Tuesday night, keeping it light by saying things like "turn up the bass on this one," or "this one's a jam," and mouthing along to "somebody please tell 'em who the F I is" in the Nicki Minaj song he sampled.
Next up was Born Gold, who used to be known as Gobble Gobble last I saw them in Irvine, which was a couple of years ago. They've since traded in their Glo-Worms and tutus for a darker cyberpunk aesthetic; onstage lighting used sparingly, one guy with a laptop setup on a table overflowing with gadgets and cables, and the other in LED-array equipped jacket performing gestures in front of a mic-stand-mounted Kinect. The coordination of dance moves, lights, and music served as a mode of reactive expression reminiscent in principle of David Rokeby's "Very Nervous System" from the eighties/nineties (look it up!). The crowd got denser and dancier, and Born Gold delivered on equal parts synthy techno dance music and showmanship.
As 1am grew near, the composition of the crowd changed as women at the venue migrated towards the stage in anticipation of How to Dress Well. Singer Tom Krell was apologetic for going on so late and warmed up the room with constant appreciation for the crowd, the other musicians, and the visuals provided by a friend of his. With backing music provided by a keyboard player and violinist (as well as the requisite laptop or two), Krell performed the set in his trademark falsetto and left some of the audience wondering what was a his own writing and what was cover, sample, or lyrical allusion to the nineties R&B songs that heavily influence him. You could tell his set was going well when some guy shouted, "Encore!" right after Krell announced that the next song would be his last. Walking out of the venue, I overheard one woman say "Did you see him? I almost cried like eight times." I think How to Dress Well is welcome back in LA any time.
How to Dress Well
Born Gold
Groundislava
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