After Digitalism’s I Love You, Dude record release this year, I was kindly invited by the German duo to hear them live and “bust a move” at the 9:30 Club Friday night during the HARD Summer Tour (as mentioned in my previous post). Being the most popular act on this tour, Digitalism has their recent single “2 Hearts” featured in the promotional video for the HARD Summer Tour.
I typically lean toward “instruments,” but isn’t music, especially live music, about breaking with convention? Friday night, I left my folk bias behind and arrived early to “get the lay of the land.” And as I stood in a freezing cold, nearly empty club I felt intimidated and nervous. What would fill this space; who would fill this space; how could they fill this space!? So, like we do when the show hasn’t begun, we drink!
Excited about the night’s events, I strolled down the stair to the bar, tossed back a few beers, and when I felt a little warmer, a little less timid, I submerged onto the dance floor.
Destructo was playing “Technology” as thin adolescents wearing thick wrist bands toting backpacks full of glow sticks and menthol made their way to the edges of the room and waited. A few happy hour extensions trickled in to grind on each other in the center of the floor as the song faded from “Technology” and burst into “Supa Freak Remix”; in their defense, one cannot be blamed for what happens when Rick James’ broken speech patterns are assisted by ambient electronic beats.
That being said, one couple stood out (thank you!), and they know who they are, an extremely tall woman, definitely over six feet tall, probably in her thirties, and a much shorter professorial-looking man in his forties. They softly batted at each other’s faces as they argued and danced their way across the floor, taking sporadic breaks to hydrate at the main bar, slinging back a beverage only to continue humping one another through the night’s performances.
He slapped her ass as she shoved him aggressively away while laughing and blowing kisses in the air. He pulled her to him, forcefully sticking his tongue out (prior to a kiss, might I add), then digging for something inside her mouth until she had no room for air. They repeated this psuedo-violent, fascinating, playground-like behavior while switching positions, one in front, one in back, grinding during their favorite songs. (I adore people watching.) By the time Digitalism graced the stage, my ears and my eyes were at capacity.
As the waiting adolescents (mentioned earlier) unzipped their packs and made ready their glowing tools, the floor light show began, as did Digitalism’s set. They played most of their singles, and I loved “2 Hearts” as expected, and adored “Echoes.” “Echoes” has the same happy build up as Stardust’s “Music Sounds Better With You,” and the charisma of Dirty Vegas’ “Days Go By”—it just felt good.
Digitalism makes dance music for people of the indie-rock persuasion, in my opinion, with pretty lyrics floating atop solid baselines. Unfortunately, I did not get the chance to sit down with them on this go ’round, but maybe next time. And although Digitalism says they want to do “what the ladies do” as far as their dance moves are concerned, I believe the men outnumbered the women 2:1 that night.
Future tour dates: Although the I Love You Dude world tour is now over, if you are not ashamed to dance, and you have the chance to see them, definitely do so. They are brimming with energy; some is bound to rub off.
