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Last Wednesday - Halloween - I went to Nectar Lounge to see Freezepop. Also on the bill were Solvent, who unfortunately were delayed by weather in Amsterdam and couldn't make it, novaTRON, and Electrosect, none of whom I was familiar with. Electrosect turned out to be the between-set DJ for the evening, playing a mix of classic and obscure songs from the early '80s. Unlike the previous show at Nectar, there was not an extra-long delay because of the missing band; the doors opened at 9, and novaTRON went on just after 10, as you'd expect. Freezepop had been scheduled to go on at midnight, but with little stage prep necessary, rather than keep the audience waiting they went on at 11:30 after a short set by Electrosect.
novaTRON is an electronic artist who plays breakbeat dance music live on synthesizers. Appearing with him was DJ Shapeshifter on turntables, adding scratches and samples. They played over an hour of heavy electronic dance music. The music was more for dancing than listening, and quite a few audience members were actively dancing, not just bobbing up and down. After a while, though, the relentless heavy loud sound started wearing me down and made me feel claustrophobic - or perhaps that was just a combination of my cold and the spectacle of all the club-goers costumed for Halloween. In this case I'd have preferred a more typical band with regular songs - I'd love to see Freezepop appear with Beehive or IQU - but still novaTRON wasn't bad and would be great at a dance night.
( novaTRON and DJ Shapeshifter )
Freezepop are the synth-pop trio of Liz Enthusiasm (vocals), The Other Sean T. Drinkwater (keyboard and vocals) and the Duke of Pannekoeken (programming, keyboard and vocals). I know I said this about the last Freezepop show, but it bears repeating: Freezepop were real troopers, and despite flying out from Boston early that morning and going onstage at the equivalent of 2:30 AM, they put on a high-energy show that had the packed club screaming and bouncing with enthusiasm. This time I got my wish for a longer set, as they played for over 90 minutes. Although touring in support of their new album Future Future Future Perfect, they played an even balance of songs from their three albums. Both Sean and the Duke were sporting keytars for this show, indicative of their music growing beyond its origin in exploring the capabilities of the Yamaha QY-70 sequencer. However, the QY-70 has not been left behind, and the Duke brought it out twice, for the older songs "Plastic Stars" and "Get Ready 2 Rokk". The Duke also had a theremin with his gear, but I never actually saw him using it during the show, and I forgot to ask about it afterward. I'm not sure all the new songs are as strong as the older ones, but there's no denying the power of "Less Talk More Rokk", which brought the house down as the final encore. I also really liked the other encore song "Afterparty", which featured Sean and the Duke exchanging keyboard riffs and Liz doing spoken rather than sung lyrics. All together it was a fantastic set that left me giddy with joy, just the kind of show I'd been needing to see for a while. Afterward, Liz said they want to come out to Seattle more often and hope to be back next spring, which would thrill me no end.
( Freezepop photo, also the full set list )
Still to come, a review of Tunng from last Friday, also at Nectar Lounge. Unfortunately I missed the Battles show at Neumos last Saturday, as it sold out; however, I will be seeing Annuals at the Crocodile Cafe this Saturday. I haven't done a full look through the calendars for December yet, but I'm sure something will turn up.
novaTRON is an electronic artist who plays breakbeat dance music live on synthesizers. Appearing with him was DJ Shapeshifter on turntables, adding scratches and samples. They played over an hour of heavy electronic dance music. The music was more for dancing than listening, and quite a few audience members were actively dancing, not just bobbing up and down. After a while, though, the relentless heavy loud sound started wearing me down and made me feel claustrophobic - or perhaps that was just a combination of my cold and the spectacle of all the club-goers costumed for Halloween. In this case I'd have preferred a more typical band with regular songs - I'd love to see Freezepop appear with Beehive or IQU - but still novaTRON wasn't bad and would be great at a dance night.
( novaTRON and DJ Shapeshifter )
Freezepop are the synth-pop trio of Liz Enthusiasm (vocals), The Other Sean T. Drinkwater (keyboard and vocals) and the Duke of Pannekoeken (programming, keyboard and vocals). I know I said this about the last Freezepop show, but it bears repeating: Freezepop were real troopers, and despite flying out from Boston early that morning and going onstage at the equivalent of 2:30 AM, they put on a high-energy show that had the packed club screaming and bouncing with enthusiasm. This time I got my wish for a longer set, as they played for over 90 minutes. Although touring in support of their new album Future Future Future Perfect, they played an even balance of songs from their three albums. Both Sean and the Duke were sporting keytars for this show, indicative of their music growing beyond its origin in exploring the capabilities of the Yamaha QY-70 sequencer. However, the QY-70 has not been left behind, and the Duke brought it out twice, for the older songs "Plastic Stars" and "Get Ready 2 Rokk". The Duke also had a theremin with his gear, but I never actually saw him using it during the show, and I forgot to ask about it afterward. I'm not sure all the new songs are as strong as the older ones, but there's no denying the power of "Less Talk More Rokk", which brought the house down as the final encore. I also really liked the other encore song "Afterparty", which featured Sean and the Duke exchanging keyboard riffs and Liz doing spoken rather than sung lyrics. All together it was a fantastic set that left me giddy with joy, just the kind of show I'd been needing to see for a while. Afterward, Liz said they want to come out to Seattle more often and hope to be back next spring, which would thrill me no end.
( Freezepop photo, also the full set list )
Still to come, a review of Tunng from last Friday, also at Nectar Lounge. Unfortunately I missed the Battles show at Neumos last Saturday, as it sold out; however, I will be seeing Annuals at the Crocodile Cafe this Saturday. I haven't done a full look through the calendars for December yet, but I'm sure something will turn up.
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