INT. Henry Fonda Theatre, Hollywood, California. Night.A huge mass of sweaty bodies stand huddled together coming down from the previous act that graced the stage. In a booth to the right a "haircut hipster type kid" DJ spins many an obscure tune from years past, surprising many when he chooses to put on R.Kelly's Step in the Name of Love, play it in it's entirety, and legitimately groove to it from start to finish, as if to say fuck off to the largely too cool for school crowd familiar only with Kel's Ignition [Rmx].
MUSIC FADES. LIGHTS GO DIM. CROWD ERUPTS INTO HOOTS, HOLLERS, AND APPLAUSE. THE HOUSE BAND APPEAR ON STAGE, PLUG IT IN, CROWD ERUPTS INTO CHOREOGRAPHED MOVEMENT...So that may be a little too
She's All That, but it wouldn't be far off, and I wouldn't be too far off by saying that a Presets/Rapture bill is God's gift to hips, toe tapping feet and dancefloors everywhere. For nearly 2 1/2 hrs the music was non stop as I found myself immersed in the groove laced euphoria provided by the block rocking beats of Sydney's keyboard, synthesizers, and drums playing duo The Presets who's shit was definitely B-A-N-A-N-A-S. Hits such as Are You the One? and Down Down Down transfered well from the studio to the stage. And when songs stretched on well beyond versechorusverse, no one cared or even noticed. More often that not, the audience was more like a dancefloor at a club, with the Presets as your house band. Allowing yourself to look away from the stage and just close your eyes and boogie was allllright! and I'm sure the lads from down under wouldn't have it any other way.
Said set was not too brief or too long and managed to perfectly set the stage for one of my new favorite bands The Rapture.[always been an avid listener but after last night's show and the tasty dance floor rhythms of their latest effort
Pieces of the People We Love I am down for the cause for good.]
The set? All killer no filler, filled with confidence, light hearted,
you just happen to be watching and dancing along as we jam in front of you vibe, and bold moves, such as placing big hits Get Myself Into It and House of Jealous Lovers [that tune which gave them fame]early and deep into the sets, setting up a smoother, strong minded set, as opposed to offering them up as encores. Yeah...it was a good time. And I haven't even gone on to describe Gabriel Andruzzi, [third from left in the pic] the saxophone/backing keyboard/cowbell playing dance machine who, when waiting for his cowbell or sax part to ring in would actually groove and not in some Ironic Hipster or nod to old school b-boy stylings of yesteryear, NO, brotha would go back, back, forth and forth like the best of them. [Picture the electric slide done right, but in place, inside a personal box, with a cup in your hand, and a whole
"what you know about this right here" vibe.]
And though I couldn't keep my eyes off the kid when I wasn't dancing to the underground, I gotta give props to Matt Safer, [first from left]the bass wielding co-vocalist and keyboardist, who tore the roof off the sucka on W.A.Y.U.H. and Pieces of the People Love, amongst others. As is the case with the rest of his bandmates homeboy simply looked like he was having a good time, and could also, groove. I mean pardon the subtle Michael Richards like opinions on young anglo saxon males who hipster and boogie, but it's so rare that I see it done right and genuinely so. And for 2 1/2 hrs last night, the Rapture plus opening duo the Presets got everything right, to which anyone in the audience can attest by saying,
"boy, you ain't never lied"...
