When I first walked into Necto nightclub to see one of my favorite bands of the last several years, I didn’t know what to expect. It was the first night after an unprecedented election that left many, myself included, reeling. As I had expected, the audience was small, only a few people lingering around the edges of the dance floor at my time of arrival, and while more people trickled in as the night progressed, it certainly never felt busy.
The opening act was none other than Chet Porter, who despite battling a cold was able to impress the crowd with his unique remixes of popular songs. I shamefully admit that I had never heard of him or his work before the show, but I was instantly struck by the distinctive calming and dream-like sound of his work. His unique style allowed each song to seamlessly blend into the next. I’ve since looked up his music online, and found that he has no small share of popularity himself. Below is his original song, “Stay” featuring the vocals of Chelsea Cutler.
When Lemaître finally took the stage, the energy in the room ratcheted up several levels. What the audience may have been lacking in numbers was more than made up for in enthusiasm. After the band members themselves encouraged the crowd to pack in around the stage, the performance started in earnest. Despite having listened to almost all of the songs on the set list tens if not hundreds of times, I was amazed at how the band was able to breathe new life into each and every song, never letting their energy flag.
There was a large sculpture of Lemaitre’s logo behind them, and it was lit up in flashing lights and colors that were synchronized with their songs, further enhancing the energy of the performance. During one of their songs, “We got U,” they even projected a picture of Bernie Sanders onto the sculpture, as a response to the recent election.
If you are interested in hearing more, I highly suggest checking out the band on Spotify or YouTube. Just yesterday they released a stunning new live version of “Playing to Lose.”
