Kevin Bronson on August 25th, 2014

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Reviews: Darkside, Daniel Avery, Les Sins, Jessy Lanza

DARKSIDE

You Should Have Been Here Because: Anticipation always builds when you’re watching a band set up and sound check before they’re properly ready to perform, so by the time that Dave Harrington and Nicolas Jaar took their places amid their instruments, the Arena was bustling with excitement. Beginning with “Freak, Go Home,” they played the bulk of their phenomenal 2013 album “Psychic” engulfed in smoke, with the material taking on a new form live, percolating and buzzing with energy and subtlety. If you threw Dire Straits, Muddy Waters, Tangerine Dream and Vangelis in a blender, you’d have a Darkside concoction, like funky blues meets “Blade Runner” soundtrack, with a beat that’s often pumping your blood for you. A 7-foot circular mirror mounted at center slowly rotated, flipping light through the steady haze of the stage with glorious effect as Harrington’s guitar riffs and Jaar’s production dazzled the crowd, especially on “Paper Trails” and “The Only Shrine I’ve Seen.” By the time they began the slow burner “Golden Arrow” to close the set, the Arena smelled like sweaty sex and grape blunt wraps. Was it good for you? Nope, it was great for me, and one of the best sets of the festival.
Downside: A week ago, they announced they were “coming to an end, for now,” and have one remaining date scheduled in Brooklyn before calling it quits … for now?
– Andrew Veeder

DANIEL AVERY

You Should Have Been Here Because: The rising London-based DJ and producer Daniel Avery delivered a 75-minute, ever-morphing set of textured electronica with some club-ready tracks from his 2013 album “Drone Logic.” I went in knowing very little about the man and was caught off-guard at how engaging the set was, reverberating with a dynamic instrumental unst-unst-unst. I don’t know if I’d call it “progressive underground house,” but it was progressive insofar as constantly pushing forward, it was underground because I was on a dark subterranean floor, and it brought down the house.
Downside: I was far too sober for this. Asking for a friend, I was told drugs made it even better.
Postscript: Getting in over an hour in advance to see Darkside for the first and last time was more important than seeing Built to Spill for the first time, or just something I’ll be telling myself should it have been the last time for that as well.
– Andrew Veeder

LES SINS

You Could Have Missed This Because: As much as Chazwick Bundick’s main project Toro Y Moi is enjoyable for the breezy, danceable chillwave, his dance side project Les Sins is simply a bore if you’re not into watching a DJ set. Although Bundick is very adept at dance music – he’s done numerous great remixes for other artists like Odd Future, Falty DL, Disclosure and even did a take on a Billie Holiday tune – the lack of instruments and his own silky vocals made one use his set in the Arena as an excuse to recharge the soles, take in the air conditioning and stare aimlessly into the light show.
Postscript: It was interesting to see how the Arena shows were once they opened up the upstairs seating to prevent capacity disasters that occurred the previous night. Many people chose to sit upstairs instead of stay on the floor. The change of view almost made one forget that this was an outdoor festival.
– Seraphina Lotkhamnga

JESSY LANZA

You Could Have Missed This Because: Arriving with plaudits from those in electronic orbits and boasting a collaborator in one of our other favorite Canadians, Junior Boys’ Jeremy Greenspan, Lanza did a solo 35 minutes in the Arena that was ripe with interesting, booming beats and textures and absolutely famished for melody. Her voice, a wispy thing, suggested an angel was breathing down from the constellation of blue lights that backdropped the stage. Her swaying, hair-tossing presence in front of her console and laptop suggested a co-ed who is having trouble with her homework. If you needed a dim place with background music to check your FYF itinerary for the rest of the day, it was ideal.
Upside: Owing to the gates having opened early and the welcome rush of air conditioning, Lanza drew a robust early crowd.
Postscript: Melody is never overrated.
– Kevin Bronson

Photos: Darkside by David Brendan Hall; Les Sins and Kelea by Zane Roessell; Daniel Avery, Daphni and Jessy Lanza courtesy of Concert Photography by Scott Dudelson