Recognize this picture? Well you should, because although I took it last week it’s reminiscent of Feed Me‘s last U.S. tour (and yes that was also called the Feed Me With Teeth tour). If you need a reminder check out our photos from April 2012, which is the last time Feed Me (Jon Gooch) last visited Boston’s Royale Nightclub.
By the time last Monday night’s show (2.4.13, the first show of back-to-back nights in Boston) wrapped up at Royale I felt like I had a slight case of déjà vu – at least due to Feed Me’s set. As already stated, Mr. Gooch was using the exact same stage setup he had on his tour less than one year ago (and I’m almost positive he was wearing the same t-shirt as last year), which begs the question why should I come out to see you this time around if the title of your tour seems to be the main draw (the “With Teeth” part)? Having seen him on more than just one occasion I also know he has a tendency to play sets comprised of greater than 90% of his own songs. Sure, I’m a HUGE fan of Feed Me’s productions, as you can tell by reading my review of his most recent release Death By Robot EP, but I also knew exactly what to expect during this show and I don’t like knowing what to expect from a DJ. Feed Me is an extremely talented producer, DJ, and artist and the mixing was flawless during his set. But when DJs play mostly their own productions it leaves for very few surprises, save for the order in which they play their songs and/or the unveiling of some unreleased material. One of the things I value most in live DJ sets is the ability of the DJ to surprise me and to introduce me to music I hadn’t heard previously. Again: I love Feed Me’s music, but having only been around for a few years, he doesn’t exactly have a deep collection of tunes to dig in to and I felt like he was just zipping through his material for the hour and a half he spun.
Another artist who mostly stuck to his own stuff was the tour opener Mord Fustang, who is hands-down one of my favorite producers. His set, musically, excited me much more than Feed Me’s. That’s probably because if I had to choose either of these producer’s music to listen to it would be Mord’s. Here was my problem, however, with Mord Fustang’s relatively short set (only an hour??): he had absolutely no stage/lighting show. Fustang played on a dark stage that housed his DJ setup on top of a fold-up table with a black tablecloth over it. You have to figure that with Feed Me’s incredibly elaborate “Teeth” stage setup, Mord Fustang would at least get some kind of way to show off too, but he merely let his DJing do the talking. I did like bopping around to Mord Fustang’s set but I’m not sure I’ll ever see him play a better one than he did at Electric Zoo 2012.
So I think I need to back up here…
and just explain that to the casual fan, or to someone who had never seen Mord Fustang and/or Feed Me before, this show probably blew him or her out of the water. Both guys absolutely rocked that crowd and that’s a challenging thing to do on a Monday night in Boston. Granted, the crowd was comprised mostly of college students, many of whom were fucked up in typical candy raver fashion. But there were very few bodies that weren’t moving, very few hands that weren’t in the air, and very few faces that weren’t smiling. I did have a good time – how could I not with two of my favorite artists touring together? – but it did leave something to be desired for the more passionate fan. Maybe I’ve been to too many shows, or I’ve seen artists like Rusko or Laidback Luke too many times (amaze me every time I see them with new and different tracks but still play the crowd favorites and still leave me searching to figure out what tracks they’re playing), but if I’m leaving a show wishing some more things out of the ordinary occurred then I think it may be time to consider the repetitive nature of DJ sets (I reference this editorial in making my point). I urge DJs out there to yes, flaunt your own productions as much as you can, but do us fans a favor and mix up your sets; create unreleased edits or simply play some of your favorite songs that you didn’t produce!
Some Tracks Mord Fustang Played:
Taito (my current favorite and a Beatport chart-topper)
Electric Dream
Some minimal song with wobbles that I really liked
Fussy Boy – Gold (MF Remix)
Bobble – Zefix (Shameboy Remix)
We Are Now Connected w/ Martin Solveig – The Night Out (Acapella)
Champloo
A New World
Lick the Rainbow (closed the set)
Some Tracks Feed Me Played:
To The Stars (opened)
Feed Me & Crystal Fighters – Love Is All I Got (Feed Me’s Matilda Mix)
Relocation
Strange Behaviour
One Click Headshot
Feed Me & Kill the Noise – Thumbs Up
Pink Lady
Cott’s Face
Green Bottle
Trichlitomania
Feed Me & Gemini – Whiskers
Bro Safari & Space Laces – Fang Banger
Cloud Burn
Gravel & other songs from Death By Robot EP to close