The Glitch Mob at Royal Oak Music Theatre on October 22 blew my expectations away for what an electronic music concert can be. As a fan of them since high school, I was excited to get a chance to finally see them live. I discovered upon attending my first show last year (at the same place for a Krewella concert) that electronic music with heavy synthesizers, beats, and oscillators, is a far better listening experience when seen live than when listened to in your headphones or on loud speakers in your house’s basement. There’s so much to take in with regards to what sort of visuals an artist’s visual team will throw up to accompany the music and make your time in the few hours they have with you a total body experience. All senses are activated for the duration of the set, and tonight was an exceptionally well done production all around by the Mob.
Before I go into the main act, I wanted to give a shout out to openers Chrome Sparks and The M Machine. One of the three percussionists of Chrome Sparks gave a big shout out to Ann Arbor as a Michigan grad and noted how cool it was that he was back in the area again. Additionally, they all wore white turtlenecks and white pants in front of their performance stands, reminiscient of the ways in which Kraftwerk uniformly dressed at their shows when they were performing (and they stil do). However, unlike Kraftwerk, they really got into their playing with head bangs and enthusiasm, a large contrast to Kraftwerk’s deadpan stares. The only reason I know about this group who pioneered electronic dance music in the 1970s is because I am taking a class through the RC on electronic music and they have been an integral part of our study.
The M Machine was fun as well, who performed a DJ set while mixing for a dance vibe. I picked up on the beginnings of a track I had heard at the Dirty Bird BBQ in Detroit during Labor Day weekend that is very deep house sounding, but they mixed it up in their own way by adding more layers and complexity to it. My friend mentioned to me during the show that they likely played it as a homage to Claude VonStroke, the owner of Dirty Bird label, who hails from Detroit.
This class has also managed to help me listen more closely to the music I love, and tonight was full of learning opportunities in listening in to how the music is made. I was able to recognize whenever they would open or close a note, or make a note darker or brighter. The common use of oscillators and synthesizers was ever obvious as well, as we have played around with different devices in class to get a sense of the many ways in which to produce electronic sound.
The music off of their new album Love Death Immortality has a musical theme of triumph and victory, which fits in well with their style overall. I couldn’t help but smile and look over at people all around me having a good time swaying to the music. Their stage, called the Blade, featured kick and snare drums they played live while they triggered songs through their manipulation of MPC instruments. While it was difficult to pick out tracks by name because they rarely use vocals, I felt the concert did an awesome job of showcasing the big tracks from this album as well as sounds from their previous work.
I was really glad to take the time to get out of Ann Arbor for a few hours and listen to some great, entertaining music. Thank you, Glitch Mob, for an amazing time!
