Major Lazer

O2 Academy, Oxford
2nd May 2013

MAJOR LAZER MAKE SOME NOISE! A thwunk as I am hit in the face by sweaty naked torso. Repeat. For me, that’s how tonight ends. And starts. And it’s pretty much what happens in between too.

Seemingly a collective since American producer Diplo shed his original partner, British producer Switch, tonight Major Lazer comprises two very enthusiastic dancers, an MC who loses his top very early on but not as early as a good part of the audience, another DJ, and Jeremy Renner lookalike Diplo, whose clambering over the DJ booth/set looks precarious at best.

Their most recognisable collection of beats and squealy top line, Pon De Floor, the one sampled by Beyoncé, gets at least two airings. Some of their other collections of beats and squealy top lines may well have had more than one airing too, but my attention span is too violated by the frenetic activity to have caught them all. The overexcited mixes are carefully composed from stuff that was often originally far more mellow, like the new album’s first single, Get Free.

I’m pretty sure that DJ sets used to consist of longer tracks than one per minute and reminders of the act’s name far less often than every three seconds. This is a rampaging melange of toasting, horns, dancehall, dubstep, flags, horns, samples, “Everybody touch the roof!”, Harlem Shaking, drops, reggae, throwing shirts on stage, reggaeton, soca, crowdsurfing, “A message from Snoop Lion!”, a dripping ceiling, confetti and ska.

I leave not quite believing that they’ve finished and feeling I’ll be unable to do anything but build myself up to a drop every thirty seconds for at least the next few days. Or maybe I’ve been doing that all my life already. It’s hard to tell.

OXFORD HOW YOU FEELING? Pretty exhausted, thanks.

 

From Nightshift, June 2013