DJ Shadow

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:

And here you can see his skills in action:

2013 Biennial Neon and Light Exhibition

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 ;).

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