FREE Download: Pretty Lights – A Color Map of the Sun
Over the past three years living in Colorado, Pretty Lights @ Red Rocks has been the can’t miss event of the summer and each year ‘he’ (Derek Vincent Smith) manages to deliver a show that sticks to your bones for the whole next year. There is a certain ‘je ne se quoi’ that occurs when the Colorado born and raised visionary of dance music brings his game to the best outdoor venue in North America as it fills your soul to the brim each and every time. This unparalleled multi-sensory experience that transcends space and time is something that every music fan should experience. The only difference this year was that he managed to take the total package to another level altogether…something that in and of itself is impressive.
Arriving at Red Rocks on the heels of the his brand new album ‘A Color Map of the Sun’ released earlier this summer, Derek unveiled his new sound and style with the full live band used in production of the album. He always had an incredibly unique electro soul vibe with classic samples, hip hop, and heavy dub drops that force you dance like a madman but this new sound is some of the most exciting music I have heard in a long, long, long time. With five world class musicians in toe, including Grammy nominated drummer Adam Deitch, he set about completely altering my perception of what dance music is – hows its created, delivered, and most of all how it can feel.
As the stage crew scampered about putting the finishing touches on preparation for the show an electric vibe could be felt by every soul in the venue. Then, as the first notes were played the whole venue erupted into one of the most fantastic dance parties I have ever been a part of. With Derek behind the decks armed with a Bass and Moog Rogue, Adam Deitch on Drums, Brian Coogan on Wurlitzer/Clavinet, Borahm Lee on Fender Rhodes, and last but not least Eric Bloom & Scott Flynn taking care of horn duties – they set about delivering well over half of the brand new album in grand fashion. Immediately any lingering doubts that they could deliver a high quality dance music performance in LIVE fashion was put to bed as each and every component came together in a final product that was unlike anything I have experienced. It was so much more than your A-typical DJ going up there and pressing play – it was alive and had soul that effects you on a totally different level while still encouraging you to lose your fu#%ing mind when the thick basslines dropped. Everything from ‘Color of My Soul’ to ‘So Bright’, ‘Yellowbird’ and so on sounded as good or better than the recorded versions spurring the 10,000 strong in attendance to dance their asses of in true Pretty Lights fashion.
Now as with anything new or untested mistakes can happen and there were two hiccups that I noticed – first in the middle of the opening live segment the power seemed to have been cut. Not sure if this was Derek or the sound engineer but that is neither here nor there. The second hiccup occured when the various moving parts of the performance just lost their connection noticeably breaking what was an otherwise impressive and unwavering flow that lasted the entire performance. Both times Derek and crew gracefully made their way back into the groove and continued on like professionals. Such is life sometimes…especially when you are pushing the boundaries and doing something that has never been done before. That being said I dont hold the mistakes against anyone and im sure in their eyes were just two of many small things that will continue to be improved upon as the show continues to progress, getting better and better with each performance.
After the first segment of the show playing alongside the band, Derek proceeded into delivering a classic strictly ableton DJ set with many of the harder and more electronic tracks that may not necessarliy be the best fit for a live performance. Nonetheless you could feel the energy and intensity get turned up a notch as he progressed through many classic tracks like ‘Hot Like Sauce’, ‘Sunday School’ and ‘Keep em Bouncin’ poising himself for a big finish with the band. After an adequate break the band came back out to finish the night off in style as Derek and crew began playing new live renditions of hit after hit giving each song a new breath of life that took the show over the top in my eyes. Some all time favorites like ‘High School Art Class’, ‘I Can See it in Your Face’, ‘Total Fascination’, ‘Out of Time’, ‘So Much in the Dark’, ‘Forever Lost’, ‘I Know the Truth’ and the quintessential ‘Finally Moving Remix’ exploded out of the speakers and touched each and every person in attendance in a way that no Pretty Lights fans had ever had the pleasure of experiencing.
Derek put the final touches on the evening with the groovy ‘We Must Go On’ you couldn’t help but feel privileged to have been privy to such an impressive display of music alongside hypnotizing and world class light production that words simply cannot do justice. As I noted earlier this progression of dance music is some of the most exciting work I have ever experienced and Derek as well as his whole band deserve endless praise for taking the dance music game to places it has never seen, I am already on the edge of my seat to hear what they all have in store for us in the future. Huge thanks go out to everyone involved in putting the whole package together and if you have yet to have your first Pretty Lights experience do yourself a god damn favor, find the nearest upcoming show and go see him – you won’t regret it.
FREE Download: Pretty Lights – A Color Map of the Sun