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arts 4 Monday, October 28, 2013

Empire of the Sunbrings life and innovation

BY KELLY TROM PHOTOS BY DAVID JANG

Halloween came a little early this year when the Australian electronic music duo, Empire of the Sun, took over the stage with its hypnotic, dance-induc-ing beats that were accompanied with Vegas-style costumes and special effects.

The crowd was a sea of costumes, some mimick-ing Luke Steele’s elaborate, ornamental, fanned-out headdress. There were minions, little red riding hoods, full dog costumes and togas all dancing to the music, illuminated by the huge red and orange lights that occasionally made their way over the crowd.

Basic Vacation started off the show with “You’re In My Head” from its self-titled EP. The indie-rock band played the majority of the songs on that al-bum after indulging in an ‘80s cover of “Everybody Wants To Rule The World” by Tears For Fears.

The crowd became impatient as Empire of the Sun’s entourage took half an hour to set up the would-be dazzling effects, including a large LED screen, smoke machines, countless lights and a disco ball.

Finally, smoke blew across stage and the show be-gan. Drummer Tony Mitolo appeared, decorated with a huge black feather mohawk. Four accompa-nying dancers crawled on stage with clear shells at-tached to their back, calling to mind hermit crabs and other creatures of the deep.

First and foremost performers, Empire of the Sun put on a show that did not disappoint. An in-describable mixture of Cirque du Soleil, Star Wars, Tron, mystic religion and underwater sea creatures breathed life and inspiration into the concert.

Energy surged through the crowd as Luke Steele sang the first lyrics to “DNA.” The audience swayed together as multiple crowd surfers made their way on top of the sea of people.

The synthesized beats pulsed through the venue as a hodgepodge of scenes including ice, mead-ows, brains, DNA strands, skulls, galaxies and eyes flashed on the LED screen. The four dancers wove their way across the stage in multicolored outfits with out-of-this-world accessories, including large flashing guitars and headpieces.

see EMPIRE, pg. 5

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arts 5Monday, October 28, 2013

One of the most memorable moments of the show was a huge, imposing figure that came out of a cloud of smoke. The figure boasted a massive skull mask and two smoke ma-chine guns that were pointed toward the crowd.

“Walking On A Dream” was the next song on the playlist; the whole crowd sang out “Is it real now?” together.

Empire of the Sun closed out the show with crowd favorite “Alive.” Steele left the stage via a trapdoor that lowered down as smoke spewed onto the stage, the duo disappearing from sight as quickly as it had appeared.

Civil engineering sophomore Graham Goodwin compared Empire of the Sun to famous ‘80s musicians, enjoying the referential music and perfor-

mance style.“I don’t really go to this type

of show very much, but it was very similar to David Bowie,” he said.

Aerospace engineering sophomore Nathan Kniffen enjoyed Empire of the Sun’s showmanship the most.

“It was unexpectedly theat-rical,” Kniffen said. “I hadn’t heard of them before this, but they were really good. It was like one song, continuous. They are really progressive in their music.”

Recreation, parks and tour-ism administration senior Kaya Rader enjoyed the vibe of the music but also the Avila Beach Resort venue.

Boasting a wide open grass lawn with views of the ocean, it is hard to beat, she said.

“I love these Avila Beach concerts,” Rader said. “I come out no matter what the band is. I love being outside.”

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and the appropriately sleazy “Porno” could have been a single for Murphy’s newly-de-funct band LCD Soundsystem.

Reflektor grabs the listener’s attention immediately with the explosive, danceable seven-minute title track and never lets up. From the short punk intro of “Joan of Arc” to the dreamy “Supersymmetry” to the paranoid Pixies-esque “Normal Person,” Arcade Fire remains endlessly creative and exciting. The group’s ability to remain flexible under an overarching tone is something we’ve come to take for granted with this band, but it becomes especially necessary during the course of a double album.

There’s no getting around Reflektor’s daunting size. Weighing in at a hefty 85 minutes with a surplus of six-minute songs, it’s a monu-ment to uncompromising am-bition. But like so many great

authors late in their careers, Butler could probably use a more judicious editor with the courage to trim the fat and whittle down to a collection of truly magnificent songs. Even so, Reflektor is an absolutely essential album. Like Yeezus

earlier this summer, it’s a re-cord that demands you listen to it and form your own judg-ments. Ultimately, Reflektor is an album so massive and dense that its gravitational pull draws you helplessly into its orbit.

EMPIREcontinued from page 4

For more photos from the show, check out MustangNews.net