DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist
Date: January 29, 2008 Searching for the Perfect Break When DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist came together for their third collaboration, The Hard Sell, I was excited to hear that the pair would be including Montreal on their tour schedule. The strict format of their performance, constructing an entire set from 45 RPM records, guaranteed a unique concert experience, which is a rarity for me now. The resulting two-hour showcase was a treat, with the two turntablists proving how much can be accomplished within such tight musical constraints. Opening duties for the tour were given to Kid Koala, who played to an appreciative hometown crowd at the Metropolis. Koala's set was reminiscent of his headlining slot at the Bluesfest side stage six months earlier, although he did introduce a fair amount of new material. He generally kept the music on the more rocking side, getting heads nodding in the crowd, although he did detour through his deconstruction of "Moon River." A DJ set often presents a barrier between the performer and the audience, most of whom lack the vantage point to even see what the performer is doing behind the table. While this was true of Koala on this evening, he always interjects a lot of personality into his work. Seeing the broad grin that he seems to constantly have and the enthusiasm that he puts into his work helps the crowd to connect with the performer, as well as his interesting music. On this night, it added up to a very satisfying warmup set. Koala had played at the very front of the stage (on a table whose legs were disconcertingly braced with paper towels), with curtains closed behind him. Despite the fact that most of the equipment presumably would have already been set up, it was about half an hour before that curtain parted for the headliners. I was hopeful that the slow changeover meant that the crowd was being given a break in preparation for a long set. Those hopes were broadened when, after an introductory video referenced an hour of upcoming music, Shadow casually mentioned that he and Chemist would be playing for two, which ended up being the case. The opening video was a smart way to kick off the concert. Apart from detailing the history of the 45 RPM record, it also explained the pariculars of the show to follow, in the form of a 1960s style instructional video. In summary, Chemist and Shadow would be creating their entire musical output from vintage 45s, spun on eight turntables and processed through four mixers, an effects box for echo, and two guitar pedals for looping. All songs would be assembled from a clean slate, with no premarked loop points on the records. The explanation of the night's constraints helped build an appreciation and understanding of the music to follow. The video screens also helped the audience follow the DJs, as cameras tracked them from numerous angles, although the set started with an animation of the tour's signature image, a robotic jukebox firing laser beams at iPods. Shadow and Chemist started slowly, jabbing with a few sonic snippets for several minutes before moving from sound effects to structured songs. Once they started swinging, though, they kept a continuous flow of music, assembled from sources recognizable and obscure. There was a certain joy in suddenly detecting a known song in the proceedings, even in an unexpected form, such as Big Daddy's doo wop cover of "Eye of the Tiger." However, it was the end product that was truly entertaining, as the turntable embellishments and song sequencing created something more than the sum of its parts. As a result, it's impossible for a list of the source material to convey the effect of the concert. One early offering that demands highlighting, though, was Little Roger and The Goosebumps' "Stairway to Gilligan's Island," a hilariously inspired cover of "Stairway to Heaven" using the lyrics from Gilligan's Island. This selection, which I'm sure almost no-one in the crowd had heard before, illustrated the ability of the two DJs to surprise with well-chosen obscurities from their deep vinyl collections. In promotional interviews for this tour and its associated CD, Shadow and Chemist had claimed that they were covering a wider range of music, rather than keying in on soul and funk; and this night cut a large swath indeed. After the preliminaries were covered, the concert was largely divided into movements focused on a single genre or topic. A long section saw the DJs revisit classic hip hop breaks, touching on luminaries such as Boogie Down Productions and De La Soul; a later sequence examined world music percussion; while another concentrated on obscure songs about arcade games. For the most part, the two set a strong pace, maintaining a stylistic focus long enough to lend cohesion to the flow, but generally not overstaying in any one area. The pair also interjected a few touches to break the routine, such as when they came out from behind the decks to sit at a card table, clink wine glasses, and throw in their poker hands. After watching a roadie assemble the scene at the front of the stage, the fact that the payoff was a twenty-second break for the performers was amusing. Another comical moment came when Shadow and Chemist chose to focus on a single that they considered to be the worst ever, "Charlene," a tortuously warbling love ballad whose protagonist was a heartbroken machine; although they may have lingered too long on this. "Charlene" came in the second act of the night, which had been promised to build in intensity. Sure enough, what started with "I Only Have Eyes for You" ended with Shadow and Chemist coming to the front of the stage with portable turntables, which they used to scratch the riff to Metallica's "One," dropping one of the few moments of prominent scratching in the night and ending the concert on its heaviest note. DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist delivered a strong show that made a convincing argument that their live set, with their natural showmanship, interesting visuals, and energetic crowd, greatly exceeds their albums. <--Prev (Hayden) | Next (Xavier Rudd)-->Return to Concert ListReturn to Main Page |