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deadmau5: Micely Done

Domingo 06 de Junio de 2010 15:28 Vasco A. Carinhas

deadmau5: Micely Done An eventful evening, to undersell it, would be the appropriate paradigm for the night of Saturday, June 5. The Arena, at Pier 10, became a double atmosphere festival of electronic elucidation. The inside of the club became a hazily dim hall infected with high dosed infusions of throbbing beats that would enforce dancing. All the while, the south parking lot burst with an open air stage illuminated by constant in-synch visuals.

The night went along cathartically: local DJ’s frenzying up the crowd, stage-diving beside La Frekuencia’s performance, power surges (both literal and metaphorical). The cubic grid that dominated the main stage, upon which the set-up rested, was enclosed in a nest of gargantuan screens. Neither rain nor heat affected the spirits.

The long expected masked Canadian DJ/producer took the stage alongside his protégé Kaskade to a trance-d out mix of Tiny Dancer. The fitting warmth of the last grasps of spring’s evenings turned the event into what deadmau5 called on his Facebook profile, a “perfect gig.”

The beats grew consistently aggressive into a pseudo drum & bass approach, slightly delving into slowly modulated electro rhythms. As he removes his mask, and places it beside him on the set-up, the electronic crescendo drives the crowd wild in step to synthesized drumbeats. In every lyrical intervention, the audience burst into harmony with it.

The intoxicating visual schematics of his digital spectacle infused early Super Mario Bros.’ graphics with a Disney pastiche on late ‘90s electronica color patterns. A borderline minimal approach, that gets betrayed as it limits the frontiers. The visuals’ moods changed accordingly to the musical bed it lied on, with the (Canadian?) red and white taking precedence over the occasional blue.

The crowd became a carnival of glowstick-nunchuks, hula-hoops, and homemade masks. The essence became a retro chic reminiscence of the PLUR era. As if in salute, deadmau5 mixes the Legend of Zelda’s theme song into an abysmal synthesized strumming beat.

deadmau5: Micely Done

Arguru received an encore. Faxing Berlin drove the multitude into a ecstatic climax of raised palms. Later on, rocked out beats herded into a hip-hop-ish bed, as the lyrics of Rage Against the Machine’s Killing in the Name of spewed in anxious release from the speakers. The 128-bpm playlist, was modified briefly to 70-bpm to show a glimpse of deadmau5’s newest lab creatures with Led Zeppelin’s When the Levee Breaks, filtered through dubstep into the exhibition.

The liquid ambience gave way to synthesized keyboards intermissions that grew into an increasingly deeper and stronger repetitive vibe; cadence necessary for the buildup and long awaited drumbeat and harmonic bass to have their aggressive release. The visuals go supernova as the electro beat turns subversive on itself.

deadmau5: Micely Done

As the virtual red mouse starts playing into Tron’s alternate universe, the beats acquire Latinized effervescence with the interplay of electrified timbales into the mix. Cherry poppin’ visuals battle into symphony with the now jammed up thump and hump. Blue dominates the screens as the rhythm gets briefly laser-ed; with red reclaiming its throne as the song delves into its bridge.

When deadmau5’s set came closely to an end, he walks center stage and takes a bow with[out] his mask on. Answering to the screams of encore from his audience he walks back up to the set to comply, only to be dismayed by finding out that the set-up switch to the closing act had taken place. With a two fingers to his forehead salute to the audience he says goodbye to Puerto Rico, as drum & bass beats took over the close to daybreak sky.

Exclusive photography by:

Chiny Vázquez Rodríguez

Thanks to:

Michael Maya Román

Esteban Echeandía

Billy Larsen