Sound Check Sunday: M83 Enveloped
posted by on May 27 at 18:10 PM
M83’s Anthony Gonzales stood barefoot on the edge of the sold out Neumos stage Sunday night and wafted cycles and patterns out of his guitar. He curled his toes over the edge, leaned back, and was enveloped by the cinematic swell.
The band was sharpened and smooth. They shimmered. Gonzales rotated between his illuminated glass tweak-box and guitar. He was joined by Pierre-Marie Maulini on bass and guitar, Loic Maurin on drums, and Saturdays vocalist Morgan Kibby on keys. Kibby’s voice was especially angelic and fitting for the songs. She was completely absorbed in the music. So was the crowd. Maurin at times, seemed a bit too heavy handed on the cymbals. He seemed a bit too rock. He played behind a plexiglass divider for separation.
The show rode on prolonged build-ups and teardowns. Momentum built then crashed and cut back. Emotive synths colored and stabbed. Gonzales delivered the finer moments of Saturdays = Youth and the audience soaked every drop.
Oui, oui! Here’s Anthony for you now:
so pissed i missed this
awesome... that's the first time i've seen drum soundproofing for a live show.
thanks for posting that trent!
I added a few more photos from the show on the flickr pool. They were definitely fantastic onstage. And based on some of the observations about The Cure at Sasquatch, I think I made the better judgement call to pass on them and see this one instead. It was such a religious experience, to say the least.
I'm kind of pissed that I missed this show for something as stupid as my birthday. :/
i may be alone on this, but the show didn't meet my expectations, which were, albeit, very high. the sound was not sharp, the drums sounded muffled and the guitar and synth lines were not distinct. the initial build up into 'run into flowers' at the beginning is awesome on paper, but sounded like a mess. i saw sleepy eyes of death at dante's 30th party at neumo's, and the sound was ten times better (and, my god, LOUDER) during their performance. i don't know what happened. m83 were on point, but the entire show sounded really distant; and not in a good, shoegaze way, in a bad 'i don't know what these knobs do' way.
ps. to the asshole who kept screaming 'what is the blue thing?', it was obviously two modular synths in a clear rack case.
I have to say...this was the most BORING show I have ever been to in my life, I’ve tried to come up with some interesting and positive points...but I can't think of any.
They didn't sound anything like their album; the keyboard player looked like she was rocking out- and in the band Bachman Turner Overdrive, the drummer was wayyyyy too loud and kept played VERY repetitive tom fills. Seeing this show was as exciting as watching paint dry. I am so000 glad i had a free ticket and didn't have to pay for this crap!
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