So i had the good pleasure of rocking my socks off to Amon Tobin while
visiting San Fran on my honeymoon. The Tino Corp. show had been canceled
(i was so disappointed not to be able to see Jack Dangers perform) and
after scrambling for info on the Amon Tobin gig only to have to show up
early to the show to buy tix in order to secure my spot on the floor.
The club was massive, at least compared to where the gig would have been
held in Orlando. The acoustics were good, but the sound system was in
the front facing back... so there wasn't that total immersion feel. The
club was definitely set up more for traditional bands, that could power
their way to the back of the club. It was totally packed, but not sold
out. I'm guessing about 1200 peeps in there, at least.
Amon was DJing and was damn good. He played a mixture of drum 'n bass
influenced hip-hop, exclusive remixes of his own work, and some other
surprises. The DnB stuff was sometimes straight ahead DnB, but more
times than not it was closer to his own style, than your random DnB
producer... the mix itself was like a roller coaster, as he brought the
tempo up to a fever pitch only to simmer the crowd down to a near
standstill a few tracks later. what a ride it was! the two standouts
were an insane remix of 'Escape' from his permutation release.... as was
indicative of his set, the remix started off strong and was familiar,
but after the first time he dropped the 'i ain't going over the wall'
sample, you soon realized this was not the original version.... how can
I describe it? the beats dropped out almost entirely, and the melody
kept weaving in on itself, tighter and tighter until it literally
disappeared with a tiny bleep.... after a moment of silence his mix
began again taking us threw an ambient piece and back into more of his
dark hip-hop. the crowning moment was, and i had heard tell of this from
reports of his other shows, the slayer remix. imagine 'angel of death'
given a treatment that only he could produce that turned a floor full of
noodling aging hipsters and ex-ravers into a group of hand banging metal
heads. truly classic. and when the last riff of this remix played, his
set was over.
I've attached some pics for those interested. please excuse the
graininess, as i had to lighten them in order to make him out. the place
was packed stage to wall, and there was no getting any closer. also, the
club had a very strict no cameras policy so these were all snapped
super-ninja style without concern for composition, only to combat camera
shake and avoid blurriness. if the list strips the photos, download a
zip of them here:
http://www.xentek.net/amontobin_2.25.2005.zip
All in all it was well worth the $18, as the hole in the rug I cut with
my non-stop dancing can attest to. Anyone else attend this show?
- xenlab
---------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe, e-mail: idm-unsubscribe@hyperreal.org
For additional commands, e-mail: idm-help@hyperreal.org