With Shiba, Marcus Whaley, Omega
10.28.10 | The Other Side
Typically, Thursday night shows tend to be hit-or-miss. Sometimes you get so-so acts that are not quite ready to headline on the weekend, and sometimes you get lucky and catch a show like the one last night at the Other Side. The pre-show build-up had me thinking this was going to be just another dub-step show. Instead, DJ Omega blasted ears out, Marcus Whaley slayed his first live set -- and then Future Simple Project hit the stage and absolutely threw down.
Shiba opened the night just after the doors opened at 9 p.m., but the floor didn't really fill up until around 10:30, right as Marcus Whaley came on. Although this was Whaley's first live gig, he came out with guns blazing and got the crowd sufficiently warmed up for a ferocious set by Omega, who dropped a crowd-pleasing sample straight out of Star Wars toward the end of his set that he paired nicely with a deep ass, rapid-fire, saw-toothed bass line.
Future Simple Project closed the night on a high note. The group has put together an impressive live show, with dancers on hanging ribbons and a guy spinning/dancing with mini-hula hoops on stage with the act. It all makes for quite a spectacle. And that violin, man, it just works. Clad in this unmistakable headdress with some ram's horns curling down the back making him look like a pied piper, the violinist sawed away on his electric violin with palpable intensity, ripping, plucking and flicking each string with forceful abandon. All together, Future Simple electrified the crowd. Over the course of the set, the floor was the typical sea of bobbing heads and rolling arms. It was a hell of a good way to kick off an undoubtedly party-filled weekend. If only every Thursday night were this good.
CRITIC'S NOTEBOOK Personal Bias: I'd only heard Future Simple Project through some random cuts and the new stuff that's on their MySpace page. The violinist is dope to watch play live; he just has so much fun. By The Way:Future Simple Project will be back on November 12 at City Hall. Random Detail: Family Moon Productions, the company that put this whole evening on, was holding a canned food drive and matching the donations. People helping people is great. Kudos.
