The Social Service's Brainfeeder Showcase Surpasses Expectations
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| Artwork by Teebs. Holy shit this dude rules. |
Shows are rarely impressive anymore. That’s not to say everything sucks; it’s just that in the past two years the bar has been raised so high that the few complaints people have are about things outside anyone’s control—like too many gnargnaring, no-shirted bros on molly, which comes with the territory of any fun party.
So when a show comes along that exceeds our expectations, it’s worth writing about. The Social Service’s production of Lorn, Teebs, and Mono/Poly was just that kind of show. Le Maison Musique or whatever—The Maison is what people call it—always had potential; but it never really lived up to it. There were about 8 or 9 shows last year where you had 150+ people crammed into the literally apartment sized upstairs while some shitty brass band occupied the mainstage and played in front of 10 tourists. The upstairs was eventually renovated, but it was still just a slightly bigger version of the Dragon’s Den without a balcony.
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| Lorn is terrified of buttons and knobs. He almost literally did this the entire time. |
Well, the Social Service fixed that up. The Maison’s main stage is gorgeous now and is finally being used the way it should be. The city’s electronic scene now has an acceptable home other than the Republic and its $7 shots. Two years ago kids would have to pile into cars and drive to Atlanta, Austin, and even Colorado in order to see a show with that kind of sound and professional atmosphere. The Social Service themselves were actually not that happy with the work. Apparently the Maison wouldn't give them enough time to set up a lot of their lights, but I still enjoyed the visuals--Patrick Leiser's come a long way from Planet Earth clips.
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| This is Teebs, who I don't think even looked at his laptop once, FlyLo style. |
As for the actual music, all three main performers were phenomenal. Teebs was the favorite going into the night by far, and even now he’s still the one I would label the best producer of the three. His set was tame, cautious and the mood of the entire thing echoed his opening Trish Keenan tribute (who died the day before). It was nice; however, I wouldn’t bet that any more than 10 people in that room knew who Broadcast was before that morning. He was still great, but still third to a high-energy set by Lorn—one of the few producers in world actually pushing forward boundaries in accessible dubstep—and the black horse, “what the fuck this is amazing” performance by Mono/Poly.
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| Mono/Poly laying his hands on what was mostly an unappreciative crowd. He didn't give a shit though, obviously. |
It’s always great when a label’s B-teamer shows up two of its most buzzed about acts. Mono/Poly’s stage presence was truly unrivaled, even by noted stage-ragers like Bassnectar and MartyParty; doubly so considering the place wasn’t really raging with him. He had a shit-eating grin on his face the entire time and kept giving the room these crazy spirit fingers. Most of all, he played 100% original material (according to Lorn who shouted that information into a headset at the end of the set) of what sounded like perfect mix between the bass giants Tipper/Heyoka and general Brainfeeder hip-hop beatmath.
We can expect a lot from The Social Service in the future, with an upcoming free show (if you friend them on Facebook and RSVP) by Samiyam, Diba$e, Computer Jay and Dj Centipede/Mophono at the 12 bar--which you might remember as the sight of a 6 a.m iLL gATEs set during Jazz Fest. The company is run by PJ Horrigan and Whitney Joliff, both Louisiana natives, who are excited to expand New Orleans' electronic events by introducing our city to LA's thriving beat scene.
For more info on upcoming shows by The Social Service check out there Facebook page at
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/socialservicenola.
-Article by Jeffery Silberman
-Photos by Donovan Fannon
-Interview conducted by Aaron Saltzman
For more photos, check out Donovan's site
