Justice and Fun Fun Fun Fest : Araabmuzik

The last time electro dj’s from France had this kind of impact in the U.S. they came wearing space suits and motorcycle helmets and had entire festivals dancing to Around The World. While Justice isn’t as big as Daft P, they still wreck shop while wearing track suits and smoking slim cigarettes on stage. I waited almost 6 months for this show and of course I got sick the day of.  But I decided to power through it and of course the one time I decided not to care about how I look when I went out I run into everybody who I have ever met in this city; including every cute girl imaginable. I was rocking beat up jeans with a whole in the crotch and an old man light coat that Mister Rogers would wear. Strangely enough, I kept getting looks from the young gay men in the crowd. Not sure what young gay dudes would want with an old black Mister Rogers but hey, to each his own. 

So the show was pretty amazing. They opened with Genesis of course and the crowd went nuts! They had a huge screen behind them for their pretty elaborate light show along with 20 speakers on stage which produced their own lights as well.  In the middle was their trademark white cross and behind that was their computers, turn tables, organ, and whatever other instruments they used  to get Mister Rogers and his kids jumping. While their second album is good, you could tell that everyone was there to hear Cross and to Justice’s credit, they played the majority of that album. They had Superman crystals rise from the ground for DANCE and brought the house down with Waters of Nazareth and We Are Friends.  It was like being in a giant nightclub as everyone was dancing and throwing around glow sticks. I was a bit confused on what to do with my glow stick as I have evolved to the invisible glow stick ball that you throw around but I made do. And even though someone yelled “You French Bastards!” behind me, it was really cool that after the show they hung around and crowd surfed for about 10 minutes, showing that they enjoyed being here as much as we enjoyed dancing to Frenchie disco. Here is my preview for these guys.
http://onlyfreshness.blogspot.com/2012/04/phd-in-hating.html

A new artist you should check out at FFF Fest this weekend is Araabmuzik.  He is a dj from Providence, Rhode Island of all places.  I guess there was nothing else to do there so he perfected his skills on the Super Nintendo and that translated over to the skills he has on an MPC. I have lived with a dj and have many friends who make beats but I have never seen anyone do what this kid can do on a beat machine. Check out his videos on youtube; they really look fake as he rocks the crowd with his dub step but once he breaks it down and goes nuts on the MPC, you will see what sets him apart. This show will be as much of a visual phenomenon as it will be an auditory experience. If you missed out on Justice don’t miss Araabmuzik Sunday on the Blue Stage at 7.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tt3dgVmhghE

I also did a half asleep preview of FFF here
http://onlyfreshness.blogspot.com/2012/07/fun-fun-fun-fest.html