Opener was OK. Thought he was going to end off strong as he started building up well at the end, but then brought it down...I think too far down for Ferry...and then ended up with some remix of a crap commercial song which made me want to hurl. I woulda given his set and overall thumbs up if it weren't for that....maybe. But think he ended a little soft either way. (Funny, usually I complain about openers playing too fast/hard for the headliner, if anything. :-p)
I was expecting the place to be slammed and it really wasn't. Never had trouble walking around, not even through the middle of the dance floor. That said, I think we are really starting to see the economy wreak havoc with club attendance. But who knows, maybe people were just staying in this past weekened considering this upcoming weekend is Memorial's Day weekend.
I was expecting a whole ton of energy from the crowd, but there really wasn't. I have a feeling that this wasn't the type of crowd you'd typically see at Ferry for some reason....when upstairs and looking down at the crowd, the front 10% were into him pretty well, there was a little corner fo people swaying, then the rest of the crowd were like zombies, or at least they just weren't dancing. I good 2/3rds of the crowd I'd say.
Just not a lot of energy with the crowd overall, and I thought you could feel that lack of energy within Ferry's set too. I almost want to say his set was oddly "mellow." (Thoguh if you every wanted to hear Ferry played REALLLLY mellow, find his big live set from Avalon New York from a few years back...though that set is AWESOME!). At least for the two+ hours of his set that I heard before I had to head out...I don't know if the crowd just wasn't up for the night, or they just didn't feed off the opener well (as I think an opener can really put a stamp on how the crowd is going to be with the headliner).
I was a bit surprised to hear him play so many tracks from his Twice in a Blue Moon album (which I love) within the first two hours of his set....
Call me crazy, but that's just how I saw it. For all I know, he could have really kicked it into gear the last two hours of his set and the crowd could have kicked into gear with him. That said, if neither heppened, I just think it was one of those odd nights you run into every once in awhile. Every DJ, promoter, club, crowd has his/its off nights when you aer used to expecting complete madness. I know last time Ferry was down in LA, he kept talking about it the next night while he was playing up in SF...how the crowd was dancing up the walls and was completely insane. I just didn't seen anything like that last night...on all aspects of the evening.
But it won't keep me from seeing him the next time he's in town. Just about every time I've experienced a night that's lacking overall like last night when you're expecting pure madness, you get that and then some the next time that DJ comes to town......which prob means the next club gig he has in LA is going to be insane!
My final verdict: The jury is locked and can't come to an agreement. Will have to have a new trial. New ruling after the next time Ferry comes to town. :)
DT
PS. BIG BIG BIG thanks to the local TA lawyer for basically being my tour guide last night, lol.
mar46017
quote:
Originally posted by DaveT
My final verdict: The jury is locked and can't come to an agreement. Will have to have a new trial. New ruling after the next time Ferry comes to town. :)
DT
PS. BIG BIG BIG thanks to the local TA lawyer for basically being my tour guide last night, lol.
I thought I made it clear that there is a HUGE difference in crowds with trance vs. house crowds in LA.
So I'd like to hear the verdict on a Saturday night when a house DJ is in town.
Personally, I think Ryan is one of our better openers, maybe the house DJ opening for a trance/progressive DJ wasn't the best match, but I turned into a house fan vs. a trance fan after my trip to Europe and the crowd comparisons in LA.
PS. Your welcome! Lemme know next time you make it out. (and don't forget to check out a Sunday night to see a super loyal, dedicated and almost professional dancer house crowd)
DaveT
a house DJ can do just fine for a trance headliner, imo. You see it a lot.
That said, about 30 minutes before he finished I thought he was really setting up the end nicely...he was playing some good prog/prog-trance (bassline heavy), but just as he was wrapping up, the last couple track selections caused his set to finish a bit flat, IMO, and the energy that was building up was lost.
That all said, he wasn't bad at all. I've heard much much worse openers in my time....not to mention those who open in a completely unprofessional manner.
BTW, sound at Vanguard is pretty good, I must say. A little echoey even when it's full, though. I was expecting more as far as lighting (and not talking about lasers...don't need those to have good lighting!). I was so disappointed with it. Maybe I was expecting too much???. The wall behind the DJ is cool though. Place sure is damn nice compared to the the last time I was there though...when it was QTopia lol. That place was ghetto.
highside107
I totally agree with DaveT. I've seen Ferry live 5-6 times now and I was sort of disappointed with the set. He always "takes it up" the last hour of his set and he hardly did that this time, if at all. The place and his set was noticeably lacking in energy. The only "high" point of his set was around 1:30am when he played:
Ferry - We Belong (Tritonal Air Up There Remix)
Ferry - Made of Love
Ferry - Galaxia :eyespop:
Binary Finary - 1999 :crazy: :tongue3
mar46017
quote:
Originally posted by highside107
Ferry - We Belong (Tritonal Air Up There Remix)
Ferry - Made of Love
Ferry - Galaxia :eyespop:
Binary Finary - 1999 :crazy: :tongue3
What time did he play beautiful...that was when I was @ my "cool spot" and the dancefloor
HotDogWater
bummer to hear, i've always been more than satisfied when i've been out to see ferry (prob 5-6 times now).
was debating on whether to check this out or not, but in the end those $40 tickets did it for me. sounds like i wasn't the only one, either.
blakh0rse
quote:
Originally posted by highside107
I totally agree with DaveT. I've seen Ferry live 5-6 times now and I was sort of disappointed with the set. He always "takes it up" the last hour of his set and he hardly did that this time, if at all. The place and his set was noticeably lacking in energy. The only "high" point of his set was around 1:30am when he played:
Ferry - We Belong (Tritonal Air Up There Remix)
Ferry - Made of Love
Ferry - Galaxia :eyespop:
Binary Finary - 1999 :crazy: :tongue3
Yeah, I was pretty surprised at the attendance. But GREAT set. SO much different from Red. I LOVED the trance
in2muzikk
I loved Ferry's set! Maybe being up front made a (huge?) difference, as I was up front center the whole night after he came on, and Ferry was so exhilarated up there (like that chills-up-your-spine feeling when it's so good that you almost pass out!)
Was a very fun night and I thought the crowd was super friendly. :) I wasn't much into the opening DJ though, so spent most of the time outside before Ferry came on. I like the last half hour of the opener's set the most, so my review seems about 180 degrees different...but if we all liked exactly the same music, then this would be a very boring world! ;)
The sound seemed up too loud once again, happened during the opening DJ's set, and seems like it when it goes up, it never comes back down. It didn't seem so extreme as last weekend, but my (uncalibrated, but set to recommended level, C Weighted-Slow) iPhone sound meter was registering around 100-103db most of the time (that's safe for about 15 minutes without earplugs!)
More pics HERE (btw, I rotated all the pix but some still show sideways... so F*** it, just turn your head sideways... :wtf: )
in2muzikk
Was in heaven when he played K&A "Hooked on Infinity!"
DaveT
1. I didn't say I didn't like Ferry's set. I just said it was lacking energy, for a club set. It was just a bit mellow. I've seen Ferry 20+ times between SF and LA, and it was the least energetic set I've ever heard from him in person.
If I was listening to all of it on my headphones and all, I would have probably been in love. Like I always have been with his six hour set (which is far more chill than anything I've ever heard from him) from Avalon NYC years back.
2. Sage's (opener) final 30 minutes were def his strongest. I have a couple of the tracks he played dcuring that time, just that the final two tracks could have been used to better lead into Ferry. That's literally my only complaint with his set...and it's not even really a complaint. At least he didn't have to come down from 135-140bpm at the last second, or played too hard and had to tone it down, etc etc..that's so much worse!
Again, not a bad night. At all. No complaints. Just was pretty mellow. :)
blakh0rse
quote:
Originally posted by DaveT
Again, not a bad night. At all. No complaints. Just was pretty mellow. :)
Dave! Was great to see you out! Sorry I missed your Q&A session, haha. Anyways, hope to see yas again soon.
