I saw Madeon last week at probably one of the worst venues for an electronic artist.  Club Nokia in downtown LA is like a theater, complete with extreme stadium seating and no pit section. I will probably never buy another ticket to an event at this venue ever again because I didn’t like the vibes inside at all.

Madden surprised me.  After seeing the venue and watching the terrible opener, I didn’t really have high hopes for a good show. I mean how good could a producers live show be? However his visuals were incredible, and it reminded me of old deadmau5 or even etienne de crecy. You could tell a lot of thought went into the visuals and how they synced with what he was playing. I loved that they turned his Launchpads towards the audience so we could actually see what he was doing on stage, and actually appreciated the TV’s in the venue when I could see a closeup of his Launchpads or piano work.

Overall I had a fun night.  Although Madeon surprised me with his setup, I don’t know if I’d see him again, even in a a more suited festival setting. Maybe it was the venue, maybe it was my mood, but his performance fell a bit flat overall.

2011 was the year of Australia for me.  I traveled to Oz for the first time in February and was already pretty obsessed with any music coming out of that country (Cut Copy’s Zonoscope, Bag Raiders, Flight Facilities).  That was also the year I last saw Miami Horror live at Detroit Bar in Costa Mesa.   I Look To You was my summertime anthem, and then Tim Fuchs dropped this remix shortly thereafter.  I’ve seen Miami Horror a couple other times for DJ sets but those can’t compare to their live shows.

I caught them Wednesday night in support of their new album, All Possible Futures, and it was the biggest dance party. They were filming a video because they had professional cameramen everywhere and their performance was entertaining and genuine; a few stage dives, standing on the drum platform, having the entire crowd get low to the ground before erupting into a jumping mess.  They’ve come a long way since I saw them at Detroit Bar, and I highly recommend seeing them live if you ever have a chance.

Setlist:

1. American Dream
2. I Look To You
3. Real Slow
4. Moon Theory
5. Cellophane (So Cruel) ft. Gavin Turek special guest
6. Love Like Mine/ Strand Bar (Todd Terje cover)
7. Out of Sight
8. Wild Motion (Set it Free)
9. Echoplex
10. Summersun
11. Who Is Gonna Save Us?
12. Sometimes
13. Holiday
14. Forever ever?

The last time I was in the presence of Foals was at Coachella 2013, and I didn’t even get to see them because I couldn’t get past the hordes of people overflowing from the Gobi tent.

This time I went early to grab a good spot and caught the opener, Son Little.  After doing a little research, turns out the guy had a collaboration album with RJD2 & has worked with The Roots.  He’s bluesy and soulful with a bit of reggae mixed in and I was super impressed with his voice.

Foals were everything I wanted them to be.  They were filthy, high energy, sounded incredible, and had really sick lighting.  The lead singer leapt from the stage into the crowd a couple times with his guitar and during Two Steps, Twice, came up to the balcony level where I gave him a hi five.

Foals set list as follows:

1. Snake Oil
2. Olympic Airways
3. My Number
4. Blue Blood
5. Mountain at my Gates
6. Providence
7. Spanish Sahara
8. Red Rock Pugie
9. Late Night
10. Inhaler

Encore

11. London Thunder
12. What Went Down
13. Two Steps, Twice