Last Night Digitalism @ Chop Suey
posted by on October 23 at 12:21 PM
Digitalism photo by Donte Parks
Of the handful of electronic shows I’ve seen in the last couple weeks—Justice, Modeselektor, Matthew Dear—Digitalism was by far the most fun. The show had a few things working against it—Monday night, lots of other shows going on, terribly mismatched opening bands, some apparent technical difficulties at the beginning of Digitalism’s set—but none of that could deflate the duo’s ecstatic, crushing electro rock show.
A quick word about those opening bands. I can’t imagine that these were the most fitting local opening acts available for this show—if they were, there would be something seriously lacking in Seattle right now. Jerry Abstract would’ve been a good opening act. Hell, even a righteous rock band (say, Pleasureboaters) would’ve made more sense than Beehive. I skipped their set after checking their demos on myspace, because what I heard there was just awful—mellow, armchair electronica built on weak production and abysmal “soulful” crooning; it was like a Starbucks version of electronic music.
The Long Ranger are a band that friends of mine who don’t really like dancing or electronic music, but know that I do, have always recomended I check out. Recorded, their songs are okay—they’re cute, bubble gum, roller-rink electro pop tunes in the vein of Figurine (Jimmy Tamberello’s lap-pop band, not the Danish indie rockers). Live, though, the band turn up the cute—lead singers Ted and his sister Sylvia bust shy dance moves while Seth plays guitar over pre-programmed backing tracks. It’s fairly charming to watch, but the sound wasn’t quite right. The vocals were echoing beyond comprehension, and the guitar and backing tracks sounded muffled. It seemed like the kind of act that might make for an awesome house party, but that just wasn’t the scene last night.
The crowd seemed thin during the Long Ranger’s set, with the people that were there mostly hanging back in the bar, but in the long break before Digitalism (there were apparently some technical issues that delayed their scheduled start time), the room filled up with more of a crowd than I’d expected. And it was a good crowd, too—from the first Digitalism’s first distorted beat to their scrambled fade out, the whole audience seemed to be dancing, jumping, and pumping fists. It was so nice to see a Seattle crowd on a Monday night freaking the fuck out for a change.
Digitalism’s deserved all the energy Seattle could show them. The duo had kind of a Junior Senior thing going on—there was one kind of bearish big dude playing drum pads and synths, and one cute, skinny, blonde dude playing synths and doing most of the vocals (the exception being big dude’s goofy Germanglish boasts—”I have the biggest party ever”—on an extended take of “Home Zone”). They played most if not all of their tracks from their stealth missile debut, Idealism, and none of their remixes—this was strictly a Digitalism live show. Highlights included 12” singles “Zdarlight” and “Jupiter Room,” the Cure mangling “Digitalism in Cairo,” “Idealistic,” the New Order echoing “Pogo,” and the aformentioned “Home Zone.” What’s really impressive about Digitalism is how, for all their gnarly distortion and bit-crunching, their sound design remains totally precise. More than anything, Digitalism’s live setup, sound, and the energy reminded me of last Spring’s amazing Soulwax live show. I can’t wait for them to come back.
I was a bit disappointed by how short their set was and the lack of an encore... but you're right - it was pretty decent for a Monday night.
Here are a couple of videos from last nights set. The room was dark, but the sound and performance was excellent! Enjoy:
http://www.jasongrimes.com/jg/default.asp?ID=703
Jason
Ohhhhhh.I bought tickets to this show as soon as they went on sale but then ended up having to go out of town and missed it. They were GREAT at Coachella this past spring.
Digitalism is mad fab. Yay for Seattle showing 'em some love.
I think you are way off base about the opening acts. The Long Ranger and Beehive were pretty amazing and complemented the evening nicely.
I am from San Francisco and I have to say I am completely disappointed with the scene in Seattle. Very apathetic and negative. There is apparently no support for local bands- and rags like the stranger just bash rather than support- and its too bad. It just shows that the Stranger is a small town rag --
The Long Ranger had great stage presence- There music is light hearted and fun and you can dance to it. They were great and I would love to see them again for sure.
Beehive pretty much rocked the house. What's funny from your comments is that you bash a band without even seeing them. Typical and lazy reporting from the Stranger.
Eric you are an example of what a music critic should not be. How did you get the job at the Stranger anyway? If this is an example of you report-- how can you give an accurate review on something you have never seen.
I checked out The Long Ranger and Beehive on their myspace pages too and you really do not have a clue--
I bet the bands that you said should have opened for Digitalism are friends of yours anyway--
If you look at Beehive's myspace page they are making a living making music -- I bet that's something that every artist would dream about--
I doubt from your tone in this article -and your previous articles that you are very happy person-- I doubt that you are living your dream-- That's why you carry such a bad attitude.
The Long Ranger and Beehive are great Bands- Digitalism was Awesome-- It was a great night-- fully worth the 10 dollars -- and that's from someone who saw the whole evening!
I only wish that Digitalism played an encore-- and that more bills like this came through town more often.
There is apparently no support for local bands- and rags like the stranger just bash rather than support- and its too bad.
Are you fucking kidding me? There's almost TOO MUCH support for local music in the Stranger. Read the damned paper before you start throwing around ill-informed generalizations.
Are you fucking kidding me? There's almost TOO MUCH support for local music in the Stranger.
The support in the stranger is only for local bands that are friends of the reporters. It is not objective, but rather a clique.
The Stranger is a Rag
The support in the stranger is only for local bands that are friends of the reporters. It is not objective, but rather a clique.
Amazing how you know who all the Stranger writers' friends are. Mad research skillz, bro.
The Stranger is a Rag
Which you read very closely, apparently. Which makes you, what?
Which makes you, what?
better than you!
That's pretty shitty to comment on a bands performance when you didn't go and see them. I happened to be there for all of the bands and I felt all the bands rocked.
If anyone is reading this and wanted an opinion from someone that was there, I 'd definitely go and see Beehive. Dave's slide guitar tore it up.
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