2562 + Martyn + Deadbeat Live in Vancouver 2/19/10

Being a huge fan of all three headliners is a rarity for me, but the lineup (2562, Martyn, and Deadbeat) + the city (Vancouver) made it too good to pass up.

I'll start by congratulating the people responsible for the sound system. It was the best system I've ever heard in the whole entire world. The room size was perfect, the bass was outrageous, and the mid-range and treble were very clear and panoramic. I always stand in the sweet spot, usually about 10 feet in front of the sound mixing desk where the sound is in perfect stereo (you should try it some time, it really works).

After a few opening acts, Deadbeat set it off. The bass that poured out over top of his signature evil plucks and skanks was unreal. He was on a laptop dropping what must've been unreleased material. The cavernous space in his tunes is overwhelmingly large on a club system, and it was thoroughly enjoyable.

Next up was 2562, a little nerdish man with an infectious smile and a funny haircut. He was on 2 CD turntables+mixer and a laptop. I was kind of skeptical of this setup until about 30 seconds into the set when I realized how fucking insane it was. I was really hoping he would swing to the more tech-house side of his sound rather than the downtempo dubstep of a few years ago, and boy did he ever. Four on the floor madness! It all had that unmistakably cold clattering hi-hat shuffle, combined with sole-of-my-shoes-vibrating bass. Plus those luscious Detroit synth stabs, which sounded great on the system. It seemed like he was mixing 30 second to 2 minute long "songs" (basically loops) that are as yet unreleased, and he did mess up a few times which would indicate he didn't have it all on some tempo-snapping serrato type deal (which gives him massive amounts of street cred in my opinion). He dropped a few tracks off of Unbalance anmd Aerial, but it was mostly seemed like he was just dropping snippets, evidence of his research into finding the perfect beat. One thing i really love about 2562 is how un-wonky it is while still having swing. The snares and kicks are all pretty much on tempo, but the hihats and synth stabs are off a little bit to form the groove, all without drifting into Flying Lotus territory (which seems to be the fad at the moment). I've been geeking out about 2562's "Unbalance" and his records under the "Made up Sound" moniker for the last couple of months, and was very excited to hear his more uptempo side.

Martyn was on stage fiddling with gear for like 20 minutes nearing the end of 2562's set, AND HE DIDN'T LOOK PLEASED. I think he was planning on using vinyl (the best way to perform electronic music), but his turntable(s) were fucked up. So he had to just play shit off of his laptop. Not ideal, but he rolled with it well enough, and it sounded great. I have no idea what songs he was playing besides a few, but they were all mind-bogglingly good. It was one of those things where I wanted to stalk him afterwards and find out his set list. Since he was in Vancouver, he had to drop "Vancouver" and the bass on that track is beastly, something I've never been able to detect on my home system. At 2:30 am, Martyn abruptly finished, the lights came on, and everyone seemed to snap out of whatever drug they were on.

I've not been to many shows where I enjoyed all of the acts, but this was one of them. Pure class, and enough gritty bass to put any big booty ho in that three point stance.