Death is in the room walking around. He isn’t looking for souls to take into the afterlife, on this night he came to Terminal 5 to party.
Death, a 7 foot tall gentleman in a grim reaper costume, was one of the many elements of Flying Lotus’s Wednesday day night performance of his new album You’re Dead.
The vibrations of the bass and drums paired with a cube-esque on stage structure featuring projecting lights, made it clear that we were witnessing an artist performing on a higher level of creativity and originality.
But before the sensory overload that was FlyLo, let me tell you about a few peeps that took the stage before him. First we were entertained by Hannibal Burress, who would really like to outlive Will Smith. “Imagine the Fresh Prince of Bel Air marathon, and all the movies on TNT…” This was part of a quick 15 minute bit that he performed on death and how some celebrities will definitely out live him, “Like Lebron – he can dunk…I can’t so he’ll out live me,” said Hannibal.
Then from the depths of funk land emerged Thundercat and his mystical bass wearing a piece from his ever growing collection of head dresses. His set was as soulful and experimental as you would expect from the frequent Flying Lotus collaborator – in fact it was their messing around in the studio that lead to what is now You’re Dead – if you don’t know his music here listen to THIS. The perfect compliment for what was about to come, Thundercat and the bass are one, it’s hard to tell where the instrument ends and the man begins.
And then…
The lights go dark, there’s an energy in the air that consumes you, the lights flash, sounds blast out of the speakers and now you’re in his world, a trip into the subconscious. The cube which lay dormant has now come to life with a light and visual show that compliments the music perfectly.
I could try to explain it best I can, but honestly at some points the music was so good and the lights so bright that it was overwhelming in the best way possible. Part of me wish I had taken some drugs but looking back, I didn’t need them at all, the music were the drug – a sonic hand that grabs you by the chest and doesn’t let you go.
My favorite part was towards the end, when FlyLo played “Never Catch Me,” the song featuring Kendrick Lamar which everyone was waiting for. The crowd began to clap and we all became one.
If you’ve been sleeping on Flying Lotus, Thundercat, and all the other dudes on Brain Feeder, don’t worry, they are going to wake you the fuck up.
Photographer | Rick “Plantano in Gotham” James
