Gather round for the tale of Lotus’ magical two-night Halloween dance party which made the city of Buffalo glow a little brighter this weekend.
It became the hottest ticket in town overnight, and after I learned my lesson, I hope you head my cautionary tale: go both nights.
I had never seen Lotus live before last night. I was a noob, with some more experienced people, including a few die-hard followers, and got a bit of an education on what the recommended dose should be: drink it all, to the last drop. I had not thought I would want to go for two nights, but after the first set on the first night, I felt very differently, and ended up buying scalped tickets for the sold out show. It became the hottest ticket in town overnight, and after I learned my lesson, I hope you head my cautionary tale: go both nights.
The opener for the first night was a DJ called Pizza Pizza who seemed to be performing a disjointed assault, but worked the crowd, dropped a few deep bass tracks, and evaporated. When he left the stage, I took account of the set up. Bongos, a drum set, a mixer, a bass guitar, a lead guitar, and a keyboard. Whoa, live instruments? This was a jam band after all…
Lotus took the stage in silence, beginning our journey gently with a groovy, bass-ed up opener that felt like a good deep stretch down your broadside. As the set progressed they built up steam, collecting energy as a storm does over the prairie, and traced our outlines with lasers carrying melodies, riding high on gulp-worthy bass bring downs. Tranced, drenched, traversing the liquid lusciousness that filled the spaces between guitar rifts and bongo bang-outs, periodically I took in the scene of happy faces, and boogey-down booties around me.
When they brought it back around for some slow jams, I was reminded of a cool summer night around a festival campfire while a sexy psychedelic took its effect over the crowd in the middle of the forest. The funk was so fresh and sustained us through the languid, laid back nature of the bass, as puncturing electric synths, erupted every now and again. It was exotic, sensual, but still flirty and light-hearted.
As Lotus crafted jamtronic remixes, they payed tribute to some of the music industry’s most genre-bending, transformative artists. After sherpa-ing their dedicated fans through every softly-mossed meadow, and plushly-placid forest of their eclectic dance, electro-rock, funka-freak, laser-synth-harmonizing feat the clouds parted for the anticipated “Disco Set”.
As each night’s performance unfolded before me, I realized that every set is its own diorama of a scene, or a sensation. It was like being served different dishes of the same ingredients. Each song highlighted a characteristic of the finesse and fitness of Lotus’s genre shattering style, and brilliant musical skill.
When Lotus dips low and get into it, a lot starts to happen. The pace quickens, dissonance ramps up, and there is a feeling of fluttering, and simultaneous shuttering. The mellow dance tunes are kept spicy with psychedelic rhythms. As Lotus crafted jamtronic remixes they payed tribute to some of the music industry’s most genre-bending, transformative artists. After sherpa-ing their dedicated fans through every softly-mossed meadow, and plushly-placid forest of their eclectic dance, electro-rock, funka-freak, laser-synth-harmonizing feat the clouds parted for the anticipated “Disco Set,” their very last set of this two-night Halloween weekend event. It was here that they seduced us with David Bowie’s ‘Man on Mars.’ After that heart-walloper, Madonna’s ‘Like a Virgin’ sexed it up, and we felt so blessed to have Daft Punk’s ‘Get Lucky’ to inspire our after parties.
This makes for an experience that is totally musically emotive: you are not going to be told how to feel about the song, instead its up to each individual listener to feel it as they would the currents of the wind or tide.
Lotus has very limited use of its members’ vocals; if they do sing they use a distorter, but for the vast majority of the show, the sing-song parts of the music were all carried by instruments, or laser synth effects (except for their covers at the end of their second night). This makes for an experience that is totally musically emotive: you are not going to be told how to feel about the song, instead its up to each individual listener to feel it as they would the currents of the wind or tide. Lotus allows for maximum musical absorption, and the focus is on the audience drawing on the band’s power – the whole show goes beyond jamming out thanks to their elaborate LED set up that visually ignites off the fumes of the instruments. If you get down on their album Eat the Light you will hear plenty of vocals, but they are gentle and blend in with their dance-rock backdrop.
After the creepy-eerie Theremin jaunts, the succulent whirl of screeches, super staccato snares, budding and boisterous bongos, I decided there is no one word to tell you what this band does, or properly describe the sound they create. I think their choice of artists to cover illuminate the type of aesthetics their style encapsulates: dynamicity, or the inability to be static. What is truly wondrous is their ability to translate consistently, and keep fans guessing and on their toes, but always coming back for more.
Another way to understand this stem of new music, is to look at the dedication of their fans. Some have been going to shows since the band’s conception back in 1999. Others, like me, just happened upon them some where in our search for something soulful to move us. Being part of an audience that appreciates music on the same level, within the same wavelength is refreshing, and invigorating.
I had the time of my life, and hope that I will have the chance to see them again soon. Perhaps maybe even in Boulder, Colorado. For upcoming tour dates check out their website, and listen to their album below.
