By: Jon Behm
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| Photo by Jon Behm |
For one thing Gonzales has a new cast of touring musicians, most notably the gifted vocalist Morgan Kibby whose soaring pipes are a wonderful added touch to the overall sound.
The new band is also quieter. One of the things that I love about M83 shows is the wall of sound that envelopes the listener – piercing your core with soaring synthesizer, pounding beats and subtle guitar. While this show had a few songs that rocked me to the core – a powerful "Don’t Save us from the Flames" and a fantastic full version of "Coleurs" – this aspect of their shows now seems to be more the exception than the rule. This doesn’t necessarily mean that the rest of the songs were bad. The rest of the set, particularly those songs culled from this year’s Saturdays=Youth, was thrilling in its own way. While the sonic booms were mostly absent, there were some more complex arrangements of rocktronica that pitched and flowed like the ebb of the tides. Songs like "Graveyard Girl" and "Kim & Jessie" are excellent examples. They also show that not only is M83’s sound more subdued; now you can actually dance to it.
Though the band wasn’t exactly dancing, they did have a good amount of energy that quickly infected the sold out crowd. Gonzales was a great showman, switching back and forth between Fender Jaguar and his homemade-looking synthesizer contraption (a large clear box stuffed with wires, dials and knobs). Throughout the set he looked almost surprised at how well the band was received, and continually smiled and waved at the crowd. At one point someone shouted out “we love French people,” prompting Gonzalez to chime back “I love Americans.”
“Yeah right,” was the crowd’s good natured response.
Though our two countries (
Setlist
Graveyard Girl
Moonchild
*
We Own the Sky
Gone
Kim & Jessie
Highway of Endless Dreams
Don’t Save us From the Flames
Skin of the Night
A Guitar and a Heart
Coleurs
Location Info:
Triple Rock Social Club
Artist Info: +/-
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