Jon Hopkins - Live @ Mezzanine
Recently I went to see Jon Hopkins at Mezzanine with
my buddy Shingo. I’ve
been a fan of Hopkins for about a year and a half now. His music has a
wonderfully natural way of building up and entrancing the listener, taking your
mind far away to a different place and time, or perhaps, to a difference place
and time within your own mind. I find
it excellent for long runs. Very deep, advanced stuff. So to say I was excited
to see him live is an understatement.
We got there pretty early, a little bit after doors opened
as not to miss anything and also grab a good close spot on the main floor. It’s
fun to see all of the people enter the club and feel the energy and
anticipation build.
Teebs, the opener, was ayt; I’ve heard some his stuff on his
soundcloud so it was cool to catch
him live. The floor was a little empty during the set, with lots of people
still filing in and getting their drinks at the bar. He happily played a few
tunes (he seemed like a nice and happy dude) and then the stage went dark for
an interlude. This is when people started packing the dance floor in
anticipation of the headliner.
Jon Hopkins came on to much applause and palpable eagerness from
the audience. As the stage lights lit him, a young man standing near me said “oh
my god he’s so handsome.” It’s true, Hopkins has cut features and dashing
looks, but electronic music isn’t about how hot you are, it’s about how hot you
sound.
Hopkins did not disappoint.
He started out kind of mellow, letting the audience settle
in at their own pace. Slowly things accelerated and like a waking dream my mind’s
eye started to create imagery for what I was hearing. I gently rocked to the
rhythm, eyes closed, and Shingo leaned in and said “a woman walking down a hallway
in a fluttering dress, except instead of walls there are trains moving in
opposite directions.” This was a pretty spot on way to describe what I was
seeing and hearing: layers of consistent movement around a central set of drums
forming a structure that moved like curtains in a light breeze. Fluttering,
developing, deepening…
photo by Instagram user yungpeng
All around me everyone I saw was on the same level. Hopkins
was making magic, entrancing us, and just as we began to settle into a singular
groove, he began increasing the energy level. Before you knew it everyone was
moving along with the beats, with some of the more enthusiastic audience
members jumping around a little bit. The beats became more austere, pronounced,
powerful. It felt more like something you could move to, and so I moved. Shingo
leaned in and said, “Fog over trees with bare branches.”
Carefully Hopkins began to build his masterpiece right
before our eyes and ears. With incredible detail and technical prowess he
started a long crescendo. Tempos increased, samples got wilder, layers
thickened. I felt somehow taken by this music, energized and hypnotized and captured
by it, at one moment in a trance and then without realizing it jumping for joy.
I have only experienced this specific sensation once before, back in March when
I saw Shpongle at the Regency.
The performance was thrilling to witness and by the time his
encore was done Hopkins had played for a perfect hour and five minutes to the
delight of the crowd. After high-fiving some fellow enthusiastic audience
members, we got the hell out of there, in an awed state of disbelief of what we
had just experienced. I love having my mind blown.
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If you liked this blog entry, check out World Cup Thoughts
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If you liked this blog entry, check out World Cup Thoughts