Tour Dates
12/10/15 Victoria, BC Distrikt
12/11/15 Seattle, WA The Showbox 12/12/15 Portland, OR Wonder Ballroom 12/13/15 Eugene, OR Hi Fi Music Hall 12/16/15 Arcata, CA Arcata Theatre 12/17/15 San Francisco, CA Regency Ballroom 12/18/15 Los Angeles, CA Fonda 12/19/15 Santa Ana, CA Observatory 12/20/15 San Diego, CA Observatory North Park 01/03-01/06/2016 MSC Cruises "Holy Ship!" Read More
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Impossible-to-fully-describe mystery DJ/percussionist/musician Slow Magic and rising DJ/producer Giraffage headlined the So Cute! Tour, which stopped by the Varsity Theater in Minneapolis, to work off any last remaining Thanksgiving gained weight by the crowd.
Giraffage |
The crowd mostly swayed in place or head-bobbed as he worked his technology relatively calmly and easily, with the best audience response being for his de-construction/re-construction of Craig David’s 2000 radio single, ‘Fill Me In’.
DJs in particular, seem to have the whole “mystery identity thing” down – from French Duo Daft Punk, to club banger Deadmaus, the added air of a secret identity to the person spinning behind the wheels, adds an extra excitement and different ambiance to the beats and drops that they carefully orchestrate.
Slow Magic |
Horizontal rows of throbbing lights were at each side, and a screen behind him played obtuse, patterned, and trippy images that enhanced the organic and spiritual based mix, most of which was culled from last year’s How to Run Away (Downtown Records). Merging electronic DJ music with live instrumentation and booming percussion (courtesy of a pair of tom toms), the result was something sound shaped into otherworldliness.
Computer beats could easily be as serene as soundscapes from The Orb, but mixed with his full-tilt drumming, it morphed into something more raw and tribal. Part concert, part art piece, it’s no wonder the DJ admits to The Lion King being the first movie he saw in the theater, and his throng of followers weren’t hard to pick out in the crowd- wearing bought and homemade versions of his mask, donning fur pet hats, spinning lit hula-hoops, and in tribal face paint.
Slow Magic in crowd |
As the mask changed colors with the beat, he would often stare closely and intently into his computer screen, making sure everything was as synched, as planned. Vocals piped in were dreamy and heavily processed, a calmness to counter the ferocity of the drumming, with the most unexpected moment coming from his percussive version of Destiny’s Child’s ‘Say My Name’.
‘Waited 4 U’ stayed mostly mid-tempo, while ‘Girls’ ramped up the rhythm, incited by Slow Magic standing tall on his table with drumsticks at the ready, and again jumping into the middle of the crowd. As the hour ended, a final drum bashing gave way to more ethereal sounds and like the night, the mystery man vanished from the stage.
The So Cute! Tour continues on the West Coast, with the mystery DJ also spinning onboard the “Holy Ship” cruise in early January—ocean liner, prepare to meet jungle.
Slow Magic at Varsity Theater, Minneapolis (29 Nov 2015) |
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