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Amon Tobin ISAM @ Opera House

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mrtunes

TRIBE Member
I am home in record time, so I owe it to the board to start this thread quick.

I didn't make it for the opener, but I was a little sluggish from a great night out on Saturday.

Tobin was on by around 11 I think, and was off by 12:15. So it was a little short, but the show is so intense that I don't think it needs to be long anyways. The real problem is that for the majority of the show, I couldn't see much. It was a lot of tippy toes, and seeing the top third of the projection.

The music was fantastic - very dark and surreal like his last slew of albums starting at Foley Room. Great use of sub bass in contrast to the atmospheric sounds on the top end.

And of course, the last part of the show featured some classic jungle/drill n' bass.

I think this show could've easily been in a seated venue where people are garunteed to see the stage. I was a little disappointed by this visibility problem.
 
S

sianspherica

TRIBE Member
My girlfriend and I realizing that the show was sold out decided to get there quite early.

After a bite at the Real Jerk (Amon and the entire ISAM visual team was there too), we got in line at Opera House at 8:15, 45 minutes before doors opened. What a bloody good idea that was. We got front row centre tickets on the balcony and what a view. I've never sat in front row up there for a show. Incredible view, a seat, room to move around. The best, will never go to a show at Opera House and not get front balcony again.

Anyways, the show was utterly incredible. Best visual performance I've ever seen in my life. By far. The DJ Shadow "Shadowsphere" show I saw in Montreal last year was amazing but THIS was just in a whole other league. I've gone to hundreds of concerts but I've never SEEN music like this.

If you were not there you missed the most incredible and awe-inspiring visual performance with electronic music this city has ever seen.

Sound was an incredible too, a lot more bass than the standard Opera House system. To those who had a bad view I say get to shows earlier, it's not complicated.

I got a lot of amazing quality HD video and will post it up tomorrow.
 
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R

rentboy

TRIBE Member
Without a doubt one of the craziest visual spectacles i've ever witnessed.

My only gripe is that it was held at the Opera House when it should have been held somewhere with better sight lines. I've never really been big on that venue (i've been countless times). No matter where i stood i seemed to have some 6ft 3 guy in front of me (i'm 6ft). We headed up to the balcony and managed to nail a good spot, so things worked out. Although the sound isn't as immersive up there.

I should have taken a leaf out of Sianspherica's book and shown up early bird. My error and a lesson learned.

That being said, it was still a visual and aural treat that really needs to be seen to be believed. For a static construction, it worked wonders at tricking you into believing that it was shape-shifting. The work and detail put into this by Toronto-based design company Derivative is truly remarkable.

I love how the pod that Amon was in would periodically light up and then revert back to being one with the chaos.

My hat's off to Amon Tobin and Derivative for coming up with something as ground-breaking as this. :)

Check out the screenshots from the Derivative site:

http://www.derivative.ca/Events/2011/AmonTobinVSquared/
 
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E

erika

TRIBE Member
Amon Tobin is a genius
This work was a symphony: a symphony for a magic virtual orchestra in a post-nuclear world (which is sort of what we live in..): the depth and intent of the composition of all the parts, musical and visual, was utterly amazing.

Some parts were atmospheric and melancholy (I could actually picture images of Von Trier's Melancholia showing up against that), others boppy, others yet evocative of a war-industry machine.

The stage set looked like a paper cut out that Frank Gehry would have done. And yes, seeing him appear from time to time in that centre cube like the mad wizard was just an added blast.

The richness of the whole experience was like nothing I've experienced: something that does merit the word AWESOME :).

Sightlines were definitely an issue: man, the number of BIG pylons who kept pushing forward was astounding. Agree that this could have been in a seated venue: why not Convocation Hall or one of the TIFF rooms?

We gave up on the main level and wound up way at the top which was much better.

I have no idea who was on when we got there, a woman playing stuff that was interesting, but bordering emo-ish at times and definitely "solemn"; listening to it I somehow felt I should feel guilty about something, but wasn't sure what. Interesting though.

PS. The visuals were so nuts that at times it felt like watching 3D without needing glasses - that's the way to do it!
 
M

mmm

TRIBE Member
Amon Tobin’s live performance of the Isam album was nothing short of spectacular.

I was one of the first few people there and got comfy with the floor speakers lined up all along the front of the stage. The fact that I was up against a speaker the whole time really enhanced the experience. Visually and aurally, I was on sensory overload, and the reverberations from the speaker made the experience even more intense.

He started off with the 40-or-so minutes of Isam. The music was interesting, but amplified by the fact that it was coupled with the incredible visuals that went with it. Amon Tobin sat inside of a big white cube, with a somewhat translucent screen in front of him, while he DJed. All around him were a bunch of other white cubes, stacked together Tetris-style. A projector from above the sound guy plastered the cubes with incredibly visually stimulating images, for which the music laid the soundtrack. I couldn’t move while he played Isam because I was awestruck and paralyzed by what I was seeing. I wasn’t dancing to the music because the on-screen visuals were that fascinating.

Once he was done with the Isam album, the wizard came out from behind the screen to take a bow. He then returned to the cube and proceeded to drop some grimy drum n’ bass rollers to scare the kiddies with. Once he dropped something harder, the crowd really started to move. I don’t think he was on for much more than an hour, but his show was so intense and satisfying, that I wouldn’t have been able to handle any more. I honestly don’t remember the last time I felt that way about a show. I wasn’t sure how I wasn’t drooling down my arms or peeing myself from excitement. It was that incredible of an experience. I’m not sure that I’ll be left this mesmerized by a DJ performance ever again. Yes, the bar is set that high. It was the most spectacular electronic musical performance I have ever seen, and will probably ever see for a very long time.
 
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nonlocal

TRIBE Member
Pretty heartbroken to have missed this and signed on to tribe (for the first time in forever) only to read that it was as good as I would have hoped. Ah well, 2500km is a long way to go for a show...

erika said:
Amon Tobin is a genius

I have no idea who was on when we got there, a woman playing stuff that was interesting, but bordering emo-ish at times and definitely "solemn"; listening to it I somehow felt I should feel guilty about something, but wasn't sure what. Interesting though.
Click to expand...

Was this Emika? *Really* feeling her shit right now but maybe solemn and emo is just where I'm at? Haha. With ridiculous bass pressure!

 
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erika

TRIBE Member
^
Not sure because she didn't look like that and I can't listen to this at work - Elliott do you know? There was definitely a lot of bass in what she was doing.
 
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R

rentboy

TRIBE Member
Yeah, that's her. I didn't realize she was on the bill. She drops some nice beats and bass.

p.s. you couldn't even see her due to the ultra tall pylons in your way :p
 
glych t.anomaly

glych t.anomaly

TRIBE Member
Cannot say anything that has not already been said.

goddamn that was the 5th time i have seen him, since the mid to late nineties and wholy fuck, and he has consistently set the bar, and this was beyond any expectation.

i managed to get a decent vantage point down on the floor, and am so happy i did so, and that no pylons were in my way.

wow.
 
E

erika

TRIBE Member
rentboy said:
Yeah, that's her. I didn't realize she was on the bill. She drops some nice beats and bass.

p.s. you couldn't even see her due to the ultra tall pylons in your way :p
Click to expand...

Sadly true: she also had more hair and clothes than in that clip:)
 
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D

docta seuss

TRIBE Member
^what all of them said^

I thought the sound was a tad light for total immersion, but otherwise it was a near-perfect evening. (except for the Sunday night part)

oh, and put down your fucking iPhones when you're standing in front of people... which is pretty much always, or at least hold it directly in front of your own face.

haha, Niko nearly ripped some heads off for this very reason, and he's the freaking least confrontational person ever.
 
glych t.anomaly

glych t.anomaly

TRIBE Member
docta seuss said:
^what all of them said^

I thought the sound was a tad light for total immersion, but otherwise it was a near-perfect evening. (except for the Sunday night part)

oh, and put down your fucking iPhones when you're standing in front of people... which is pretty much always, or at least hold it directly in front of your own face.

haha, Niko nearly ripped some heads off for this very reason, and he's the freaking least confrontational person ever.
Click to expand...

Least confrontational person ever unless your in the dark and hes looming behind you ...

dunnn dunnnnnnn dunnnnnnnnnnnn.

Also he had already seen Amon Tobin, and had footage of his own from the show, so ' slightly hypocritical ' but i let it pass cuz my phone is huge, so it was warranted ;)
 
R

rentboy

TRIBE Member
nonlocal said:
Pretty heartbroken to have missed this and signed on to tribe (for the first time in forever) only to read that it was as good as I would have hoped. Ah well, 2500km is a long way to go for a show...



Was this Emika? *Really* feeling her shit right now but maybe solemn and emo is just where I'm at? Haha. With ridiculous bass pressure!

Click to expand...

The chorus line in that tune is sexy. You can tell she's living in Berlin.

I wish i'd caught more of her set at the show.
 
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T

Taro

TRIBE Member
tobin is sooo good....I really want to see the ISAM tour - last time I saw him was at phoenix? totally can't remember what year that was - like 03 maybe? he did a remix of 'into the darkness' by player 1 into dnb ...it was mad
 
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