Digitalism @ Club Firestone 03.26.08 - Review by MGAP

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WMC Spring Training Day 3:,Digitalism, Summerbirds in the Cellar, Guns n Bombs March 26, 2008 - Orlando, FL
by Melanie Gapany

On day 3 of spring training in Orlando, obviously tired and beaten already, I arrived at Firestone a little late. An inside source let me know that that night’s headliner, Digitalism, wasn’t going on until later in the evening, around 11:30 pm or so, so I wasn’t too worried about getting there early enough to listen to the opening band that I had never really heard of.

Almost immediately upon walking in, I regretted my decision. Summerbirds in the Cellar is an amazing little trio hailing from our very own O-town and definitely deserved more of my time and my attention. They had a minimal set up on the lower stage at Firestone. It wasn’t even really the stage, to be honest, but more just a roped off area of the floor. It was relatively unexpected to see a dj group that played events as big as SXSW and WMC open their show with a three piece band based out of the southeast United States, and even more so surprising that the band be really really good.

But they were. Their moody, atmospheric lighting was the perfect accompaniment to their ‘The Cure’ meets ‘Placebo’ with a dash of ‘Volta’ sound. And as they performed their set, lead singer Brad Register wooed the crowd with his droning, heart felt delivery. They are a far and much needed cry from the world of Mickey and family fun that made Orlando what it is today. If their emergence and popularity can be taken as a sign of things to come, Orlando’s cultural music scene is in good shape. Which is nice, because opening for International super group Digitalism is kind of a big deal.

As soon as Summerbirds finished their set, Johnny Love from Guns n Bombs took over from the makeshift DJ boot set up in what is usually the heart of Firestone’s VIP area. The Guns n Bombs’ sound can be compared to a lot of DJs currently in circulation, but at the same time remains uniquely distinctive in many ways. Their sound is dirty, edgy and bassy. Although often compared to Justice, they use fewer catchy hooks and a significant amount of samples. Having just come off the rock trip that Summerbirds had sent them on, the audience didn’t immediately jump on the bandwagon for this one. It took a good portion of his set before anyone really took notice of Johnny love, but as the crown grew for the main act, more and more people could be seen dancing and enjoying the performance.

Then the lights dropped and the curtains opened. A giant screen lined the front of the dj set-up, the microphone and electric drums; stacked one on top of the other, two more screens lined the back of the stage. The word ‘digitalism’ in that patented digital display font suddenly formed across them, and two men walked onto the stage. They went right into it. The German duo played all their greatest hits, including their single "Pogo" which is featured in the official soundtracks for Need for Speed: ProStreet and FIFA 08 video games from Electronic Arts as well as Idealistic.

Now, it is well known that what makes a live performance a success is not only the actual musical performance, but the visual impact is has on the audience. Successes such as The Rolling Stones, U2, Tool, Gwar, hell, even wrestling, excel in the live arena because they put on such memorable shows, and Digitalism, though not as big as the aforementioned groups took a page from their books when putting their live set.

With a laptop as their main tool, Jens "Jence" Moelle and İsmail "Isi" Tüfekçi, the two members of the band layered their performance with live vocals and drums. Jence’s distinctive voice is only more powerful heard live, and the drumming was a nice touch to get the crowd moving. The electro house gods definitely made their mark in Orlando, and the show was definitely not one worth missing.