Michelle Shiers on November 17th, 2014

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The Wiltern was very much alive on Friday night during Flying Lotus’ performance behind his fifth studio album “You’re Dead!” (released Oct. 7 on Warp Records). FlyLo, born Steven Ellision, gave a show that was like falling into the black hole of a beatsmith’s bizarre subconscious. He took the stage wearing a mask with glowing eyes and stood behind the pedestal (and MacBook) in his perception-bending cube, part of the 3D stage show conceived by visual artists Strangeloop and Timeboy. Flying Lotus’ His off-kilter rhythms and visual displays seemed like wizardry – chaotic yet still cohesive. He prophetically held out his arms reveling in his position at the center of attention and moved by the grandiosity of his own sounds like a maniacal conductor. Fans pumped fists and danced as his fusion of hip-hop, electronica and jazz flowed seamlessly. As his visual display shifted shape from celestial to geometric to artistic to anatomical, he mimed the violin let out ghoulish laugher. A grim reaper accompanied him on stage and then joined the audience who couldn’t help but take endless selfies with the towering character. Toward the end of the set, Flying Lotus came off his perch saying “Hi everybody, so nice to see you from behind the curtain.” “Between Friends” was the catalyst for the rest of the more rap-infused tail-end. He beat-boxed with eerie, layered vocals, interacted with the front row, and thanked his grandmother (in attendance) who bought him his first drum machine. Thematically, his music brings a new twist to the common rap and hip-hop motif of mortality. Crowd favorite “Dead Man’s Tetris” boasted dark melody and lyrics “Hold up, hold up / I bet you thinking that we dead / Hold up, hold up / I have this bullet in my head.” Despite a lack of encore, fans left the Wiltern totally satisfied and dazed by Flying Lotus’ spectacle and command of his fervent audience from both behind and in front of his laptop.

Photos by Michelle Shiers