Diplo and the
rest of Major Lazer returned to metro Detroit this past Friday night with one
of the most energetic and visually stimulating live EDM shows in existance. The
sold out Royal Oak stop was the first US date of Major Lazer’s new “Free The
Universe” tour, a prelude to their album, Free The Universe, due out on April 15, 2013. Major Lazer were last in the Detroit market while playing last years Movement Electronic Music Festival. Major Lazer delivered
much more than the traditional DJ at a laptop set, instead they provide 2
choreographed “booty” dancers, MC/hype man Walshy Fire, Dj’s Diplo and DJ
Jillionaire, vuvuzelas, and all
kinds of madness and insanity. Major Lazer brought a multi-genre assault
of music in their set including their signature reggae-influenced moombahton music
interspersed with hip hop, rock, edm, dubstep, and trap music. The show was similar
to an edm show meets a cruise ship party with guided fun from the mc and
dancers. They even guided the audience in dances to Caribbean rhythms like “Suavemente”,
though it was not cheesy like it sounds.
At one point
during the evening’s performance, the group played Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen
Spirit” and utilized the music videos signature gold lighting that Kurt Cobain
and company were famously illuminated in. Diplo briefly made his way through the
audience using the same inflatable zorb spheres made famous by The Flaming Lips
during their live show, rolling over the audience, while unable to maintain his
balance enough to stand up in it. The staging was a mock set up of a plethora
of speakers, lasers, and other lighting. The entire show was completely
different than any other big budget edm performance that I’ve seen as of late,
instead of most of the attention being paid to a dj at a laptop or trippy
graphics, the true visual element was everything else happening on the stage.
.jpg)
One of the
highlights of the show was the performance of Diplo’s “Express Yourself”, in which
they pulled a few attractive females from the audience to dance upside down in
headstand mode (check out Diplo’s twitter for a better description with pictures).
They made their way through the night with Major Lazer songs “Bubble Butts”, “Jah
No Partial” and “Pon De Floor”, which Beyonce famously sampled in her 2011 hit “Run
The World (Girls)”. The concert was one huge animated performance after another
huge animated performance, there was no lack of energy, crowd hyping, flags, or confetti
throughout the performance. If you’re looking for one of the best times you’ll
ever have make sure that you see Major Lazer next time they come around.
Opening the
show was the Detroit debut of Canadian electropop band Dragonette. They powered
through their hits “Pick Up the Phone”, “Let It Go”, and “Take It Like A Man”.
The band seemed to get the biggest reaction though when playing hits on which
lead singer Martina Sorbara lent her vocals to including Kaskade’s “Fire In
Your New Shoes” and the inescapable “Hello” by Martin Solveig. Dragonette made
the best of the evening’s performance as it was plagued by multiple sound problems.
The Major Lazer audience seemed to enjoy Dragonette’s set regardless of the
sound issues and it seamlessly set the tone for what was yet to come.