DJ Shadow at the Majestic Theatre, Madison WI, 5/4/13
DJ Shadow (Josh Davis) is one of the most eclectic and talented DJ’s I have seen in awhile. He generates all sorts of music mainly deriving from an instrumental hip-hop sound, all without a laptop on his side. At this day and age, an artist like DJ Shadow that scratches vinyl is refreshing from all the electronic artists we see just “pressing play” and twisting some knobs. His music features an abundance of sampling with bass-filled beats. DJ Shadow came to Madison at the Majestic Theatre on May 4, 2013. This was actually his second time coming back to the Majestic within 6 months, since he was last in Madison on December 6, 2012. He sold out his December show, and the May show was packed with a crazy crowd after the Mifflin Street Block Party. When I first saw that it was an “All Basses Covered DJ Set”, I wasn’t exactly sure what that meant, but afterwards, I knew exactly what it meant. Within the few hours I was there, DJ Shadow went from instrumental hip-hop to trip-hop to even a harder-hitting dubstep-ish sound. It was awesome to see such a versatile set. It was also awesome to see the reaction of the crowd and to hear how excited DJ Shadow was to be there. DJ Shadow repeatedly took the mic to tell the crowd how he hadn’t seen such an interactive crowd in awhile and you could tell that he was having a great time playing on stage.There were numerous people in the crowd literally just jumping up and down with the biggest smile on their face, and that is a huge part of why I love live music. Now listen.
He closed with a classic:
And another popular one from Tokyo Drift featuring Mos Def:
The University of Wisconsin-Madison hosted the 2013 Biennial Neon and Light Exhibition on April 19-20. Held at the indoor Stock Pavilion, the exhibits illuminated the entire building. Dozens of exhibits were scattered about the room, done by artists from UW-Madison as well as other schools. The idea was to use neon light as a medium and many of the art exhibits were done with recycled materials. I’m glad I had the chance to check it out and I was very impressed with the variety of ways that neon light can be transformed into art. Many of the designs were simple, and some were incredibly complex. If anything like a Neon Light Show heads towards your town on April 20th, I advise you to check it out ;).
The sun was shining brightly early on this Saturday morning, April 20th, 2013. We wanted to start out the day with another one of our favorite “epic” breakfasts. We needed to eat a balanced breakfast before we embarked on a day long scavenger hunt. Allie and I decided on 4 different dishes: Fruit Parfaits, Sausage, Pancakes and Filled Croissants.
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Fruit Parfaits:
Fruit Parfaits
Sliced Banana’s
Diced Strawberries
Blackberries
Vanilla Yogurt
Cinnamon Raisin Granola
Croissants:
Croissants with 4 different fillings
(clockwise from top left)
2 with cooked maple syrup sausages topped with cinnamon
      STS9 opened the second leg of their tour in Minneapolis, MN at First Avenue on Thursday, April 11th, 2013. The band hadn’t made a stop in the Twin Cities since 2008, so this was a special show to have them open their spring tour there. I don’t believe First Avenue was sold out but being slightly smaller than the average venue Sound Tribe plays in, it sure was packed. They came out firing with all high energy hits. You could tell they were ready to rage on their first night back on the road. One critique I had of the first set is that it was very very similar to their first set in Milwaukee not more than a month prior. In fact 7 of 8 of the first set songs were played in the same exact order in Milwaukee Great set, but a little disappointment for regional fans hoping to hear a bit more variety. However, they did throw out Hubble, a song they hadn’t played in more than a year. The second set brought more hard hitting  songs like, Beyond Right Now and Dance but slowed down for a chiller song in Monkey Music, that was introduced by a solid drum duet between Velmer and Lerner. The encore of This, Us followed by Four Year Puma was a great way to end a rockin’ first night.
Set 1: Golden Gate, Instantly, Arigato, Blu Mood, TWELEVE, Rabble, One A Day, Hubble
Set 2: Vapors, Beyond Right Now, Dance, Kabuki, Monkey Music, Simulator, March, Inspire Strikes Back
Encore: This, Us > Four Year Puma
The crowd is loving Saxton and Tribe during Dance in the second set:
Vapors opening the second set:
The second night of the Spring Tour was at the Orpheum Theater in Madison, WI on Friday April 12th, 2013.
        On Friday night, STS9 once again they brought the heat to Madison, where they haven’t visited since 2009. Saxton Waller, STS9’s extraordinary light technician, brought out their LED light board, which wasn’t seen on First Avenue’s smaller stage. The light board is absolutely mesmerizing but in my opinion it takes away from some of the skills that Saxton has in manipulating the multicolored flood lights. But it definitely adds another element to the great overall production of a Sound Tribe Sector 9 show. This show featured some funky breakdowns and a few covers, along with some classic STS9 favorites. Scheme Reprise, When the Dust Settles and Grow are three songs they have really progressed and learned to extend the jams beyond their boundaries. Some of their feature hard hitting songs included Hidden Hand Hidden Fist, ABCees and EHM. Living up to their name as a Sound Tribe, the band invited some musicians to add more layers of sound. Trombone, Trumpet (Russ Liquid) and Saxophone added some much needed organic brass sound to a synth-heavy band. They played on Tribe’s reggae dub track King Pharaoh’s Tomb, ABCees, Also Sprach Zarathustra, and Empires. Also Sprach Zarathustra is an interesting cover. It was composed in the late 1800’s for a full orchestra and the epic fanfare was later used in Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey. This song is also familiar to Phish fans as 2001. STS9 brought another cover in the second set, Robot Rock, a popular track from the electronic duo Daft Punk. They rounded out the second set with Breathe In, a great heart melting song featuring Phipps on piano, a great funky song, Grow, Rent and What is Love.
Set 1: Scheme Reprise, 20-12, Hidden Hand Hidden Fist, Kaya, Looking Back On Earth, King Pharaoh’s Tomb* > ABCees*, EHM
Set 2: Really Wut?, When The Dust Settles, Also Sprach Zarathustra*, Empires, Robot Rock, Breathe In, Grow, Rent, What Is Love
Encore: Moon Socket
STS9 with Horns
Sax
Breathe In
STS9 bringing the heat right off the bat with Scheme Reprise:
         These two nights were an awesome experience. Each night brought a different atmosphere in unique venues. The first night featuring high energy songs, in a packed, sweaty venue featuring Saxton going wild on the lights. The second night the band busted out their Mayan temple shaped LED light board in the beautifully wide open Orpheum Theater, with some funky tunes featuring a group of horn players. Cannot wait to see what Sound Tribe Sector 9 will have to offer in May when they perform at Summer Camp Music Festival in Chillicothe, IL.
     We hustled in to the venue to secure our spots close to the stage. The suspense was building as we waited, anticipating a great performance from the band we hadn’t seen since early September in Chicago.
     The lights went down, and the conversations in the crowd quickly elevated to cheers of excitement as the LEDs illuminated and so began the Activation. The five members of Sound Tribe came on stage and dove right into Golden Gate, followed by a fan favorite, Instantly. Only two songs in and they already had the crowd dancing and grooving. Clearly they were gearing up for an epic night.
     As always, Saxton’s lights were on point, a constant wave of rainbows to my eyes. Accompanied by the Great Cycles Spectacle Mayan temple shaped LED visualizer made for quite the visually  mesmerizing experience.
Check out the video of Instantly:
     Sound Tribe kept it crunchy going with Arigato. Next was Blu Mood, an old fan favorite from years ago that has recently been brought back into their live show repertoire, featuring a pretty unforgettable hook by Hunter Brown on guitar. They got the funky grooves going with T.W.E.L.V.E. and Move my Peeps, and rounded out the first set with some high energy songs, the Rabble and One a Day. Murphy of course signed off with his familiar voice “Were gonna take a short little break, have some water, meet some new friends we’ll be back!”
     The second set opened with Scheme (my guess was my favorite song Scheme Reprise) so I was pleased. Grow was another fantastic groovy jam along with Squares and Cubes, a song I haven’t personally seen live or really listened to. They slowed it down with Looking Back on Earth and finished the second set with Aimlessly.
     Breathe In is a great song that features Phipps on some beautiful piano solos. This song is a great example of a mixture of STS9’s Axe the Cables acoustic style shows and their more electronic, crunchy Great Cycles Spectacles shows. Overall a great piece of beautifully written music. When the Dust Settles is always a great song to end the night on. High Energy to lkeep you dancing and allows the band some freedom to jam a little bit. After the show I did not want them to stop playing, but we are lucky enough to be seeing Sound Tribe Sector 9 on April 11th in Minneapolis and the following night at home in Madison.
Here is the Setlist from the Riverside Theater
Set 1: Golden Gate, Instantly, Arigato, Blu Mood, T.W.E.L.V.E., Move My Peeps, The Rabble, One A Day
Set 2: Scheme, Simulator, Grow, NIN> Tooth, Squares and Cubes, Moon Socket, Looking Back On Earth, Aimlessly
Encore: Breathe In, When The Dust Settles
Click Here for a sound board audio recording of the show from STS9’s own record label 1320 Records
Stoneway Music 
