PRINTConcert recap: Major Lazer
May 31, 2012 | 1:42 p.m. CST
If you’ve heard Beyonce’s hit single "Run the World (Girls)," you’ve heard Major Lazer. The reggae fusion DJ duo made it to Columbia this week performing live at The Blue Note on Wednesday.
Opening the performance was Flosstradamus, a Chicago based glitch-hop group comprised of DJs J2K and Autobot. Pumping the crowd with their dubstep hip-hop beats and gangster rap rhythms, this dynamic duo got the audience ready for the feature presentation.
Soon Miami DJ Walshy Fire took the stage as the emcee for the night. Lights dimmed, the crowd rumbled and the concert hall was exploding with energy — Major Lazer’s Diplo and new co-member Chris Leacock appeared in a tight black and white suit, hands ready to spin at the DJ booth.
As a rowdy mosh pit of concertgoers climbed on stage bumping to the electro bass beats of reggae fusion, an outsider might think this was an underground improv performance, but technical assistant Efrem Schultz explains otherwise.
“People often think it’s just a random party on stage, but everything is actually planned out in detail from the lineup to lighting cues to dance choreography," says Schultz. "Major Lazer spends hours setting up all the logistics of the program so that each detail of the performance is synchronized accordingly with their musical presentation.”
The pair performed their popular "Pon de Floor" number and their new hit single, "Get Free." The audience swayed to a mellow Caribbean beat mixed with popular house and reggae arrangements including Enur’s "Calabria." Rocking their bodies to the sound of techno drums and a heavy bass, concertgoers left The Blue Note with T-shirts in hand spinning in the air.
Major Lazer is currently on tour in the Midwest and is set to perform next week at the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival in Manchester, Tennessee.
