Feed Me w/ Teeth + AC Slater + @ Music Box | The Henry Fonda 3/17/12
The forecast for that evening was rain and during the whole drive to the re-opened Music Box/Henry Fonda we couldn't help but think about how late we were and how early it was for a headliner to be performing. The week prior at the Palladium for Laidback Luke's Super You & Me event we arrived around the same time and we caught the second act for a full night's event that would last until 5am. So it was a surprise that as we walked up the Hollywood Blvd steps the sidewalk was completely empty. Sure it was raining, but it was Feed Me right? This show was supposed to be sold out. No matter, as Eccentric and I entered the venue we thought about how we, along with so many concert goers + bass heads, have expressed how much we've missed this venue. The rumble of the infrasonic frequencies underneath your feet is not to be forgotten. Making our way across the various festively dressed St. Patty's day attendants, Feed Me's TEETH lit the entire venue. At this point we knew we were in for a special night...
We missed AC Slater's set and Feed Me's first couple of songs due to traffic. The first song we heard was Relocation. He had the crowd's hands in the air in complete unison swaying back and forth with their cell phones as lighters lighting up the dark venue. Despite being one of the more mellow tracks off of Feed Me's latest EP, Escape From Electric Mountain [Purchase @ iTunes | Beatport], the crowd still danced their green hearts out. They danced so hard some of them thought it was their fault the sound cut off. The crowd yelled in disappointment, but being the experienced performer/dj that he is, Feed Me just restarted the track over from the build and slowly and surely drew the audience back to attention."I slithered my way through the crowd, maneuvering between the ravers in their St. Patty's day costumes (or lack thereof) and the crazed fans with their eyes and cameras stuck on to the illuminating teeth of Feed Me. Once I got as close to the stage as possible, I could not help but dance with everyone around me to the infectious beat. Just when everyone was locked into the groove dancing to the music, Feed Me chews you up and spits you out and drops his track "Blood Red", and had everyone on their feet jumping in the air.
There were a number of new young concert goers in the crowd, some of which came prepared with a chaperone just in case the topless dancers and gnawing teeth came too close." - [E]ccentric
For those unfamiliar with Feed Me's previous work, he was releasing and performing under the Drum & Bass entity, Spor. With many years of experience under his belt I was curious as to how he was going to map out the overall song structure of the evening. Under his current Feed Me persona he's created tracks spanning Drum & Bass, Electro House, Dubstep, and even Moombahton. At Music Box/Henry Fonda he started off with more of his 128-130 bpm tunes such as "Green Bottle", "Relocation", "Grand Theft Ecstasy" and later moved towards his more dubstep rhythms like "Blood Red", then into his 110 moombah vibes "One Click Headshot" and "Pink Lady".
Some of the tracks that had the wildest crowd reactions were "Grand Theft Ecstasy" and "One Click Headshot". The swing of the melody during "Grand Theft Ecstasy" got every single person in that venue bobbing their head, swaying their hips, raising their hands, or plainly just rocking out. It was the first song on Feed Me's Big Adventure [Purchase @ iTunes | Beatport] that I really took a liking to. That heavy synth line at 30 seconds into the track is so infectious. The build at 1 min into the track just makes everyone reach up to the sky in anticipation for that crazy guitar like synth lick drop to occur. You know when you have a great track when the whole crowd is jumping up and down in unison to the beat. When he dropped "One Click Headshot" he had the same reaction, if not even a greater one. Being a personal favorite of myself and many current DJs, [I heard Dillon Francis drop it at Dim Mak Tuesdays a couple weeks ago] it surely was a more recent crowd favorite.
While refilling my tasty beverage I met a DJ from Denver Colorado that was in LA for vacation and wanted to check out Spor's new creative identity, Feed Me. This DJ talked into great length of how big of a Jungle + Drum & Bass head he was and how at first he didn't understand why Spor would make that transformation in to a green grinning monster. It wasn't until he saw Feed Me w/ his TEETH live in concert form that all his tracks began to make sense. The chainsaw subtractive synthesis and the wobbling sub bass wasn't all that appealing through a pair of Apple Earbuds. Live on the other hand, with a proper sound system, with a sold out audience, with everyone dancing and having fun, it made sense. [E]ccentric made a comment on how "the powerful drums shook the venue and it reminds me of the sounds of Drum & Bass break beats and samples that shake things up."
Nearing the end of his set the next string of songs that sent the crowd in a grinning craze was his track "Cloudburn" into his remix of Robyn "Call Your Girlfriend" into another song which led into his remix of Nero "Innocence" teased with the build up from Nero "Crush On You". He had all the lady's in the audience singing at the top of their lungs during "Cloudburn" and right after he had everyone dancing like mad. With his Nero block he unified the audience with every single person singing out that classic Nero hook, "Innocence, You'll never be mine." Half the crowd picked up on the "Crush On You" lyrics and sang, "How did you know? 'Cause I never told. You found out, I've got a crush on you." Everyone was going absolutely insane during the build. The energy was at it's highest point during the whole night and Feed Me played a few more tracks before he took some a moment on the mic to personally thank everyone for coming out to his LA show. The crowd hungered for more and yelled for an encore. There was no denying it, Feed Me needed to leave us with one more. "Packed up and I walked today because I won't be here no more. Left my keys and I'm on my way finally out the door. Ohh ooo! I've seen these screams before. Ohh ooo! No stressing anymore." is what the crowd sings as the song builds. They erupt and scream, "I won't fall down your Trapdoor!"
Comments + Suggestions:
1) Alcohol selection: No Jameson on St. Patrick's day?! That's just crazy right there. I wasn't expecting green beer to be served, but they could of at least put in an order with their liquor distributor earlier that week. Also, I understand that it was the re-opening of the venue so they might have played it safe just to come out even on their alcohol expenditures.
2) Visual aids: "Although I was not exactly impressed with the visual set up at first due to a handful of deadmau5 extravaganzas under my belt and a special plastikman experience in the middle of the desert, I do applaud Feed Me for keeping up with his persona and adding a new dimension to his performance. At the end of the day, NOBODY was clever enough to create something so simple yet unique. The razor sharp visuals were the perfect thing to compliment his diverse catalog and keep the audience engaged with jagged electrifying visuals as they danced the night away." - [E]ccentric
3) Number of artists performing: "I would have preferred if there was at least one more opener to build up the crowd and bring some tension into the room before the crazed Feed Me that everyone had come to see would take stage. The long trek from the beach in the rain didn't help us either and I would've liked to get a little more dancing in before the night was over. The show ended way too early and it felt like I was a teenager again going to shows and having my pops pick me up immediately after the event was over." - [E]ccentric
Postscript: Many thanks to Ben @ wantickets.com for facilitating press access.
Nativity
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