Digitalism
Data Romance
Anna Lunoe
Wednesday, Dec. 14th, 2011
Mezzanine
Better than: Sitting in a plastic rocket and pretending to go to the moon.
While a typical midweek party at Mezzanine might see the opening DJs playing an indulgent set to a small group of friends and a room full of bored bartenders, it was a different story last night when Digitalism made the last stop on its U.S. tour.
Local DJ Eli Glad began warming up the stage around 9 p.m., playing tracks from Cassius and The Weeknd, much to the delight of the already ample crowd gyrating on the floor. Despite an atmosphere of snowflakes and Christmas lights in the background, the thumping house music served to remind concertgoers that this wasn't some horrific company Christmas party, but rather a sold-out Mezzanine show with some excellent indie-tronica Germans.
Scratch Acid
Thee Oh Sees
Dec. 14th, 2011
The Fillmore
Better than: The "Rowdy" Roddy Piper fight scene in John Carpenter's They Live.
Last night, Scratch Acid's frontman, David Yow, took the stage at the Fillmore and immediately informed the crowd that his set was going to be "so good it'll change the way you shit." But he ended his introduction with the sarcastic and self-deprecating quip: "So welcome to the Scratch Acid reenactment tour."
Yow reformed the Jesus Lizard in 2008 and toured extensively, so it is not surprising that he decided to give the same treatment to his even older group, Scratch Acid, which pioneered the angular '90s post-hardcore sound. Although the room was not nearly full, the attendees were an eclectic mix of leather-clad youth and outsider art-damaged eccentrics. Many parties knew the words, and fired as much frenetic energy back at the stage as they were receiving from it.
The holidays are rapidly approaching and, if you're anything like us, you're probably getting pretty stressed. If that's the case, take some time out for yourself and decompress at one of this weekend's many offerings. Here are four solid options for going out on the last weekend before Christmas. Live it up while you still can!
Friday, Dec. 16
What: As You Like It with Slow Hands
Where: BeatBox
When: 9 p.m. - 4 a.m.
Why: As You Like It returns with its latest installment featuring New York underground house producer Slow Hands. An affiliate of the tasteful Wolf + Lamb imprint, Slow Hands has a style that's been described as "make-out disco." It's a slowed down take on dance music that AYLI promises will "fill the air with sexuality and dancing late into the night." For a better idea of what that means, check out "Fast Tongue," "Rough Patch," and his cover of Sade's "Sweetest Taboo." For an idea of his DJ style, check out some of the podcasts on his SoundCloud. Support for the evening comes from Secrets, Michael Tello, and Briski.
Jay-Z and Kanye West
Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2011
HP Pavilion, San Jose
Better than: Absolute monarchy.
Between the rising, screen-sided platform stages, the frequent spew of fire jets, Kanye's skirt/kilt thing, "99 Problems," the ineffably proud gleam in Jay-Z's eye, the repeating "Niggas in Paris" of the encore, and the fact that two of the best rappers alive were alone onstage for more than two hours playing many of their best songs, it was, let's say, a seriously regal throwdown in San Jose's Shark Tank last night. Cray, you might even say. (Sorry.) So as our befuddled mind recovers from the spectacle, all we can do for you is collect what stood out as the night's 10 most Maybach-driving, Basquiat-collecting, gold-plated, opulent-beyond-all-reason moments and/or trappings. Prepare to feel impoverished.
1. Two (yes, two) "thrones."
Each began the show on their own black square separate from the main stage. These turned out to be rising platforms, whose sides turned out to be giant LCD displays, which turned out to be amazing throughout the night. Kanye West performing "Runaway" bathed in the red gleam of his own glowing cube was eerie enough -- then the lights below him shifted into blue for "Stronger," and his statuesque visage became frigid and terrifying. But Jay-Z got the best use of his cube-screen platform for "Big Pimpin'": Illuminated only from above by a spray of laser, the platform under his feet showed just the barest outline of the rapper moving in near-dark -- one of the night's most striking visuals.
