l-r: Gabriel Andruzzi, Luke Jenner, and Matt Safer. Not pictured: Vito Roccoforte.

The Presets did their best to warm up the crowd for the Rapture, but, as vocalist Julian Hamilton observed, it was very, very cold in El Corazon last night. It was also 8pm on a Monday night. The Presets played more or less the same fantastic set as they did a couple months ago at Chop Suey, but the all-ages crowd was decidedly more reserved. Even their interpolation of Daft Punk’s “Da Funk” barely got a response. Hamilton mentioned how weird it was to see faces in the crowd instead of just a dark room, and drummer Kim Moyes occasionally struck a mocking cross-armed pose (aka “the indie rocker”) to better fit in with the Seattle stiffness. Despite this, the Presets absolutely killed it. The live drums/synth thing makes for a great show, lending some real force to their fist-pumping electro. It didn’t hurt that El Corazon had their PA dialed to “rave”, with the bass physically overwhelming for most of the Presets’ performance.

By the time The Rapture went on, the place had filled up (although it thankfully never reached that over-sold point where the show becomes no fun) and the crowd seemed considerably loosened up and enthused. The band kicked things off right with the crowd-pleasing countdown of “Heaven”, but something seemed a little off, and it became clear during the next song (“Get Myself Into It”) that it was the drumming. Roccoforte played sloppily throughout the set, tempos sped up and slowed down within songs, and he had to drop the occasional fill to get back on the beat. This was most apparent during Andruzzi’s usually triumphant “more cowbell” moments, when the bell and the beats just wouldn’t stay in time. “Killing” felt rushed, “Out of the Races…” was too loose, and the tempo was all over the place on “Pieces of the People We Love”. The band didn’t seem too perterbed, though, and the set was generally a success. The band was having fun, especially Jenner, who struck guitar-god poses, threw a sweaty towel to the crowd before their encore, and encouraged everyone to kiss their neighbors on the cheek during the breakdown of “Echoes”, which a lot of people did (sorry, Ari). The band wisely avoided playing “First Gear”, despite some dude’s repeated, shouted demand that they do so. It was a fun show overall, and the band seemed happy with it. At the afterparty, the Rapture’s Dj sets kept the party going for a small but energetic crowd.

This was their live set:
Heaven
Get Myself Into It
Sister Saviour
The Devil
Out of the Races and onto the Tracks
I Need Your Love
Killing
Pieces of the People we Love
Whoo Alright Yeah Uh Huh
House of Jealous Lovers

Echoes
The Sound

Encore:
Don Gon Do It
Down For So Long
Olio