Chicago’s Congress Theater has become a beacon for the seemingly endless supply of high profile EDM tours currently traversing North America. The massive venue is grimy, unkempt, and unquestionably wild when nearly 3,000 fans decide to turn up.
Such was the case Saturday night when Diplo brought his merry gang of Major Lazer to the city for a night of sheer dance pandemonium. The outfit, originally a collaboration between Diplo and producer Switch has seen a lineup change in the last year with the departure of the latter. Thankfully, none of the high-octane madness of the live show has been lost.
After an eclectic mix of openers that most notably included east coast trap stars “Gents and Jawns,” the Philly producer promptly took the stage at 11 p.m. alongside hype men and collaborators Walshy Fire and Jillionaire.
A heavily MC’d experience, Diplo and his crew quickly took to the crowd passing out dozens of vuvuzelas while a pair of dancers clad in “Free The Universe” skirts juked like this was the end.
Moments later as the producer’s bouncey beat kicked into overdrive, a series of on stage cannons fired round after round. It was a truly visceral experience that few EDM shows, despite all their lights and grandeur, can replicate.
Diplo is an artist who demands his audience be every bit as invested in the performance as he is, and Major Lazer’s live set is a relentless testament of that attitude. Even as the adrenaline rush of the show’s kickoff began to pass, the black tied DJ and Walshy Fire were readily crawling into man sized hamster balls to attack the crowd head on, a note taken from Flaming Lips front man Wayne Coyne who’s been climbing over fans in the ball for years.
Beyond the theatrics, Diplo managed to spin an immaculate set that spanned the last year of his busy career while still teasing at the future with samplings of the next Major Lazer record “Free the Universe,” due out April 15 on the Mad Decent label. Among the new tracks came the jumpy “Bubble Butt,” including features from Bruno Mars and Tyga.
The song shows somewhat of a new direction for the Major Lazer project; whose last long runner was full of foreign supporting artists Diplo discovered in his many ventures through the Jamaican dancehall scene. That influence was certainly not lost on Saturday night, as many of the bigger audience reactions came to classics like “Pon De Floor” and “Hold the Line.”
Closing out the night, Diplo tugged at the heartstrings, dropping three variants of single “Get Free,” a slow-rolling reggae jam featuring crooner Amber Coffman of “The Dirty Projectors.” The wishful song sets a different pace from the body rocking beats that characterized the rest of the night. Waving “Free the Universe” flags, Jillionaire and Walshy Fire brought the crowd down peacefully from a joyful and sweaty high.
