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INFUSION live review from Resident Advisor, sweeettt
Infusion Live with Steve Porter
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It had been over two years since Infusion had played a gig in New York. Last year the closest show was Boston, this year Miami. Fortunately, the people of this city were once again given the opportunity to hear the live sounds of one of the best electronic bands in the world. Luckily, with their album, “Six Feet Above Yesterday” soon to be released in the States, they were back.
The night was held at Rothko, a small live performance space on the lower east side. More and more events are being held there and although the space is painted bright red, it still has a very dirty, grungy vibe. Things got kicked off at nine with Steve Porter, whose everywhere seems to be everywhere that matters these days! Unfortunately, I did not get down to the party until half eleven (thanks to a massive traffic jam on a Thursday night- where the hell are people going on Thursday night!). Anyway, I got in quickly, boogied a bit to Steve's groovy opening set, said hello to some guys and gals, and settled in up front. It was nice to see a very solid crowd out on a Thursday night. There were enough people that it the space was filled, but not so many that you could not dance.
Rothko has a very utilitarian feel to it with the stage located as one end of the room. The members of the band had their equipment spread across the stage- Manuel stage right, Jamie manning the mixing board in the middle, and Frank doing his thing on the far side. Things got moving quickly as they launched into "Better World" as their opener, followed up by "Do To You (in '82)." As soon as the opening note rang out one could tell that they were on form. As soon as Jamie did his first pogo things started heating up- both figuratively and literally. It felt as if the red walls were radiating onto the crowd and band. As the set carried on the temperature rose and the boys from Melbourne were drenched- and loving every minute it!
Although there are quite a few bootlegged Infusion sets floating around, nothing that I have heard could match the sonic boom that emanated from Manhattan that night. Manuel’s voice sounded stronger than ever, Frank’s backing vocals strengthened the choruses, and Jamie’s quarterbacking kept the pace constant and free flowing.
As the performance carried on, the tempo dipped a bit in the middle, and I believe some new material was tried out as Jamie took a piece of paper out to assist him with some lyrics. However, the night went out with a bang as my favorite tune off the new album, "Love and Imitation," got a thorough working. It first made its appearance on their Essential Mix last year, and this version was even mightier as a vocal was laid overtop.
It seemed that as quickly as the whole event had started, it ended. The band was spent, I was exhausted, and everyone was smiling. The night marked a triumphant return to Gotham and it made me realize that there is so much more to dance music than two turntables a mixer. Luckily, according the band, I get to be reminded again in August!
Rating: 9 / 10.
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Will be an awesome party.
