It's tough to describe the difference between listening to a recording of M83 and seeing them live. On headphones, their albums have a way of cocooning the listener from the outside world. They flow seamlessly between tense synthy pop and epic orchestration, with a cinematic quality that often feels like a soundtrack as they progress. It's as though M83's control of album pace and layers of keyboards create dense insulation that block out everything else.
In a live setting, the music is no less enveloping, but in a completely different way. Louder, faster, and more intense, when their songs fill the room the reaction isn't so much personal as a collective gut reaction. The crowd moves in unison as though Anthony Gonzales is pulling thousands of puppet strings instead of playing the keyboard. A lot of credit goes to a near perfect setlist; by getting rid of nearly every atmospheric "filler" song, M83 create an anxious energy that seems to peak over and over again throughout their shows.
I was a little late to arrive, coming from Tampa, and expected to miss a song or two by opening act, Active Child. By 9:30 p.m., I was getting anxious about how late the show was going to run and experiencing that "damn, the opener hasn't even started yet" feeling. Suddenly, the humming familiarity and piercing synth of M83's "Intro" filled the venue. Pretty disappointing to find out later that Active Child played promptly when the doors opened at 8 to an empty venue.
Regardless, "Intro" was the perfect opening song for M83, the faces of the crowd turning expectantly towards the stage lights as though hypnotized by their tangerine glow. A slow collective sway gradually turned into bobbing heads as the song's intensity grew. By the time it exploded at the end, nearly everyone was bouncing to the triumphantly crashing cymbals, as lights flashed across the wave of bodies. Though I expected a sense of theatrics, this reaction couldn't have been choreographed any more perfectly.
Rather than blast directly through the Hurry Up, We're Dreaming tracklist, the band transitioned into two of their most Brat Pack influenced songs, "Reunion" and "Kim and Jessie." No other band does 80's new wave synth so authentically, and M83 has been doing it long before it was the hip thing to do. The live version of"Kim and Jessie" also had echoes of a harder edged Air, circa Virgin Suicides. The similarities between the two French bands was also evident in their control of stage lighting, in perfect sync with the music and often used as an element to energize the crowd. Throughout the night the glow of an array of multicolored led tubes in a retro mix of teal, purple and fuchsia lit up the stage, occasionally interrupted by punches of strobe lights.
Morgan Kibby absolutely dominated a funked up, bass heavy "We Own the Sky." As she sang the verses, the crowd held palms upward and swayed as though at a church revival. At the end, fast-paced clapping started as Kibby thrashed over her keyboard repeating "it's coming on, it's coming on." The pure physical reaction of the crowd was surprising, as boys nearby started fist pumping with energy I usually see at punk shows.
With anticipation already this high, the slow building tension of the previous song exploded all around with "Steve Mc Queen." The room was pure euphoria and sweaty energy as everyone pushed closer trying to be a part of the the mass of energy at the foot of the stage. By the time the glorious final chorus hit, arms were flying, frat boys jumping, and girls screaming the words ecstatically.
M83 gave us a momentary tempo break with the pretty, soft, "Wait," and slow teasing intro to "This Bright Flash." Its deliberately building synth lulled the crowd back to a calmer state, making its sudden explosive punch feel like hitting a wall of sound. It also made the groove that followed in "Claudia Lewis" feel like a relief from some of the harsh tense energy with its bouncy bossa nova bassline.
At this point, the crowd was perfectly primed for "Midnight City." The saxophone was thankfully missing, and more than made up for by actual laser beams shooting out with the sound effects at the chorus intros. They instantly took what might be the best pop song of the year and made it pure musical crack; I've been addictively playing it on repeat ever since. They closed out the the set with the instrumental "A Guitar and A Heart," one of the hardest rocking songs in the vast M83 discography. On this night, the crowd clapped along as though it was disco until it faded out to silence.
They returned for an encore with a pair of songs from Saturdays = Youth, the hauntingly beautiful "Skin of the Night," and "Couleurs." If any one song of theirs can be singled out for it's sheer "epicness," it's this one. Dripping with the clubby energy of Gonzalez's native Antibes, it's like pure adrenaline.
Perfection.
SETLIST
INTRO
REUNION
KIM & JESSIE
YEAR ONE, ONE UFO
MY TEARS ARE BECOMING A SEA
TEEN ANGST
WE OWN THE SKY
STEVE MCQUEEN
WAIT
THIS BRIGHT FLASH
CLAUDIA LEWIS
MIDNIGHT CITY
A GUITAR & A HEART
SKIN OF THE NIGHT
COULEURS
