Sunday evening I witnessed short sets from two great bands, Active Child, and M83. It was a sold out show, the first of two the bands would play that night.
Up first were Active Child. The lights went down, and three men came out, one sitting before a harp. I remember thinking: “OK, a goddamn harp. This should be interesting.” Then the guy opened his mouth, and the essence of pure beauty poured out.
Active Child is primarily the solo project of Los Angles’ Pat Grossi. To a guy who has seen entirely too many god-awful opening acts in the last few months they might seem horrifying on paper: inspired by days as a choir boy, synths, drums, harps and… oh shit, another guy with a laptop. Live it’s an entirely different story.
Active Child plays otherworldly music that dredges up the old cliché of being almost indescribable. Grossi knows what he’s doing, and he’s picked his sidemen well. The crowd around me seemed as impressed as I was. It was synth pop, in a way, but it was influenced by natural instruments as well, a lush, almost hallucination inducing blend of strings and machines.
If you get a chance to see Active Child, do so. They sound great on record, but to truly do them justice they must be experienced in person.
Up next was the headliner, M83. I was a bit late to the party with this band, as I only came on board with their new album, Hurry Up We’re Dreaming. I was impressed however, because how many bands sell out two shows in one night?
The band opened (not surprisingly) with “Intro” off the recent album. They then tore through a set that was designed to get the crowd pumped. The highlight was “Midnight City,” which immediately turned the room into a dance floor.
The set was vibrant, exciting, and occasionally brilliant. It did seem like a bit of a cheat, though. It seemed more like a warm-up for the later gig, than an actual performance. Though I enjoyed the set, I probably wouldn’t go see M83 again. Active Child, however… you’d have to fight to keep me away.
