Simian Mobile Disco Live/Vancouver
Techno Duo James Ford & James Shaw's DJ Set at Richard's on Richards
Vancouver, April 23 2008: Electro wizards Simian Mobile Disco play humdrum live set, complete with enormous light show, frantic knob-twiddling and not much humanity.
Take one eagerly awaited club night, 500 amped-up dance fans, a lighting rig brighter than the sun, heaps of dry ice and a hard-core techno soundtrack mixed by two esteemed UK DJs and what do you get? If you’re Simian Mobile Disco playing Richard's on Richards in Vancouver, well, not a whole heck of a lot. Disappointingly, all Simian managed to create on this night was a recipe for indifference, with side order of retinal damage.
It wasn’t for lack of trying, mind.
"We Are Your Friends"? Or Just "Hustlers"?
SMD have mixed and released some pretty bangin’ techno in their time. In 2005, one couldn’t move in the UK without hearing the anthemic club-floor classic “We Are Your Friends” or other tricky remixes blasting for miles around. And in 2007, they hit the ground with Attack Decay Sustain Release, a full-lengther filled with fairly okay Aphex Twin/Daft Punk/electro/hip-hop-beats and the obligatory stuck-in-the-headers like “It’s the Beat”, “Hustler” and the synthy groove of “I Believe”.
The tag-team of James Ford and James Shaw did seem hell-bent on creating some sort of live spectacle: floor-to-ceiling digital light pillars and super-powerful strobes towered over a small round table holding an analogue keyboard, sequencers and two dull-looking effects boxes. Volume cranked to 11,000, Ford pumped his hand in the air once to indicate that the party was about to begin and then they were off, James² twiddling their knobs with such intensity that they at times appeared as if diffusing a bomb or re-calibrating missiles, 24-style. So where did it all go wrong?
Bright Lights, Dull DJ Set
For one thing, the lighting show and smoke prevented fans from seeing what they were actually up to on stage (which wasn’t a lot, but executed with great conviction). “I feel like my eyeballs are being raped” expressed one fan in the crowd unhappily. While impressive had it been used in a stadium, the burning lasers were utterly ridiculous for the small, bricks and mortar Vancouver venue. Full-bright strobes were positioned directly at punters’ eyeball-level and flashed constantly without respite. Most of the crowd had to dance with their heads down or flee to the rafters – just to keep from imploding from the heat or collapsing into a famed, epileptic seizure.
Further, without microphones to remind the crowd that there were humans behind the haze, or any live singers/MCs to boost the sense of occasion, the gig seemed exactly what it was: a slightly absurd DJ set driven entirely by sequencers. Not a live show with real (!) instruments – which many had expected – but a DJ set. Orbital could get away with this because they were Orbital, but SMD aren't so fortunate. Perhaps more “Simian” and less “Mobile Disco”, chaps? This really was a case of smoke and mirrors.
Techno Set Hard to Handle
Finally, to the point about it being a live "show". There was no crowd interaction; Ford and Shaw spent most of the night with their backs to the audience and the music, while mixed well with a variety of tight, poppy electro breaks, was quite unrelenting. The pounding set offered no variety, no groovy down-time, no party atmosphere, no chance to gurn at your mates, no soul. Unlike Hot Chip’s earlier-in-the-week jubiliant Vancouver gig, Simian’s fizzled in the lightshow. Fans were chomping at the bit, but the whole experience felt more like an Iron Man race – a case of “just get to the end to say you’d done it”. In reality, one could have slapped the disc on at home, cranked up the bass and shone a big Megalite in one’s pupils to have had experienced much of the same effect. Which is a shame, really – SMD’s techno is pretty decent, but gigs are expensive these days and fans expect a bit more of a connection.
For SMD at Richards, there really was something missing from the mix.
Simian Mobile Disco at Richard's On Richards, Vancouver, BC on April 23 was put on by Sealed With a Kiss Presents.
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