squarepusher Squarepusher 2012 Tour

[TechDiff]

Went to see him play in Berlin last night.

 

I havent yet listened to the new album, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect. I've heard odd little snippets, but have been trying to avoid hearing too much until I can sit and listen through it properly.

 

Anyway, slowly worked my way to the front as the warm up DJ wrapped up his set. Found a nice location beside the front right stack. Good view of the stage, and not right in front of the speakers so my hearing will survive.

 

House lights went down, Rear LED wall shows the squarepusher logo. Fuck me those LEDs are bright!! Should have been more worried about my retinas!

 

He starts off with this feedback sounding piece, heavy low phasing sub and what sounds like a physical modelling synth squawking violently. Very dark sounds, I like this. Screen stays static though, just displaying the logo, I guess this is his intro, like a wrestler.

 

He walks on stage with his fancy hat on, does a little bit of setup and then off we go.

 

Would be too long to try to do a breakdown of every track, besides I dunno what the tracks are called. I didn't recognise anything so I can only assume it was al new material.

 

The LED walls work pretty well, I think there was a noticeable delay sometimes between the music, and the response of the visuals. Hard to decide if the video content is all pre fabricated, or real time response. I'm inclined to assume the former though. That said though, there appeared to be a couple technical issues. Sometimes the rear wall would drop out, sometimes the visuals would finish while Squarepusher is still gnarling the poop out of a granulizer finale. Regardless though, visually they're pretty impressive and although very limited by their nature, who ever put together the patches for them did a great job.

 

Musically, like I said, was the first time I'd heard any of this material, and it was a really cool surprise. There's still a lot of the trusty squarepusher tricks, but delivered in a pretty new kinda of way. I guess some bits are quite dubsteppy, some more elctro ish, quite a nice mix tbh. I ducked out a couple times to rest my eyes (really photosensitive in my left) but still, sounded cool. Not totally my cup of tea, some bits more than others. Even so, it all sounded really great through the system, really well put together.

 

I think the one bug for me is the same one as when I saw him last time, maybe 8 years ago. Playing one track, then playing the next track. No mixing or anything. A track would come to the end, noise would stop, visuals would stop. His face screen would display a sort of screen saver type pattern, and then everything would launch up again. Made the show feel a touch disjointed. Strange thing is that since mixing is well within his abilities, I could only guess that the idea to work this way was an aesthetic one.

 

Anyway, it's pretty apparent that the album and the stage show are sort of meant to be part of the same project. The music is pretty obviously written with the live context in mind, even the artwork mirroring the visual of the live show. It's one whole package. So I guess that would be the best way to experience those tracks, and possibly also why he doesn't play any older tracks in the show.

 

Maybe it's a bit of a sign of the times, albums don't sell anymore, not really. Seems like a lot of artists are having to figure out a new way to perform, so I guess this is Squarepushers show, just as Amon Tobin has Isam, Aphex has that weird core dude. I thought it was pretty cool, not amazing, but really enjoyable, nice music, smart stage show.

 

So yeah, I guess the main thing I got from tis was that the new tracks are rally maybe meant to be heard live, while having your retinas burnt out by a massive wall of ultra bright LEDs. Really worth checking out the show if you can, might give you a different opinion on the album.

 

For some reason, it really reminded me of the end of 2001, "My God, it's full of stars!"

[markedone]

I was at the Berlin show as well. It was great to see Squarepusher for the first time, and unlike TechDiff I have listened to Ufabulum quite a bit. All in all, solid fun show that really shined when the audio/visuals coalesced, but it was a bit hampered by minor/intermittent technical problems and Tom's propensity to veer into wanky super-harsh frequencies at some key points.

 

Found a nice location beside the front right stack. Good view of the stage, and not right in front of the speakers so my hearing will survive.

Were you the guy with long blonde hair in the front right, or did you see him? Dude was so into the show, jumping everywhere

 

I'll spare describing each track and just hit the highlights

 

The intro started off with just the logo and 40.96a. The bass was massive at Astra, I remember the bass swells making my throat vibrate. But the harsh frequencies were borderline unbearable. Definitely felt like he was testing the crowd, indeed like an idm wrestlers warmup, because I could tell some people around me were uncomfortable with how fucking harsh this track gets. But it got me psyched.

 

He kicked off his appearance onstage with Angel Integer. This track really gets the crowd moving and I he has extra fun re mixing and glitching it to hell. Ever since I saw the video from the show in NYC, I wanted to hear this live and it didn't disappoint.

 

The he set off into Ufabulum. 4001 was absolute class, top knotch Squarepusher, and a highlight of the show for sure. When the synths bust out at 2:00 in this track, it felt like a classic rave, everyone was going mad to the strobing light and sound.

 

I wasnt a fan of Unreal Square on the album, and its live bit didnt convince me otherwise. Also why is the track with square in the name the only one with circle visuals? Next 2 tracks and their visuals were excellent. Red in Blue was a great interlude in the live setting, syncing color nicely with the feeling that youre in the purgatory of Squarepusher's alien world. As with 40.96a, it has tons of bass live which I don't 'feel' at home.

 

The Metallurgist was just mind blowing in all senses, a highlight. The intro reminds me of 2001 A Space Oddysse soundtrack which I never noticed (though seems an obvious comparison now). The whole track just felt like you were being sucked through a portal, yet the rhythmic breaks in the beat gave it a sense of groove that you could dance to. That pause in the bassline just gives the track a propulsive energy that was super powerful with the live visuals.

 

Drax and Dark Steering are great tracks that I love, but unfortunately this point in the set there were some technical problems. Twas most apparent when he riffed on a remixing a bit of Drax, and the lightshow was totally dark. Happened a few times in Dark Steering too, which I think just confused people (intentional?)

 

At TechDiff's question, I think they are live-responsive within limitations (set patterns for different segments of a song), and they just werent responding correctly to his playing at these parts)

 

Anywho, along to 303 Scopem Hard, another highlight for me. I appreciated it even better live than on the album. This gives a danceable context to the squaks in 40.96a, so it was cool to see everyone get into such harsh noise at this point. Ecstatic Shock was a great closer, but I was a bit sad to know that it was the last main track, being the last on the album. Truly a downfall of knowing the album is that you know the setlist and aren't as surprised.

 

Tom comes out for an encore and picked up the bass.. for the worst bit of the set IMO. He wanked on the glitched out bass, playing impossible to follow licks of harsh frequencies for maybe 20 minutes. The visual show here was super responsive, hooked directly into his bass. So that was fun to see.. but I literally couldnt take the noise and had to back far away.

 

All in all, super fun show that definitely had highs and lows. I was hoping it would be more progressed from the earlier-tour-videos I'd seen, maybe mixing tracks as TechDiff suggested. But if you dig the album, it'll be a great time. Wow.. that was longer than I expected sorry, but I mostly wrote it to remember things myself anyways.

[beerwolf]

I can't wait to see this on cheeky dose of MDMA. I haven't dropped for about 3 or 4 years, but I will when Mr Pusher rolls into town. Not too much, so I'm dribbiling, just enough to add some zest to the proceedings

[Guest the anonymous forumite]

you lucky guys. I have the top notch MDMA, I don't have the 'pusher.

[markedone]

i had a just a zesty spliff

[Aphex_Squarepusher_Twin]

Yeah this evening at le bataclan from Paris! Excited!

[Aphex_Squarepusher_Twin]

"Excellent concert"!!! it was just fun & incredible the squarepusher's show! take some photos & 3 videos. ;-)

[Guest bUUhUU]

Went to the Berlin show as well and I agree with Marked x One for the most part.

In general, the crowd didn't went completely crazy during the songs, but Squarpusher really enjoyed the applause inbetween songs.

The bass part at the end was the brainstabbing peak of his "destroying all evidance of song" mentality that he deconstructed the whole ufabulum tracks with.

 

If I'm not completely mistaken, there were one or two cranked out Shobaleader One tracks in the set, which I thought was amazing.

All in all, I was very stunned with what I saw at my first SP concert, still adjusting my eyesight on the way home...

[Aphex_Squarepusher_Twin]

Here the photos! ;-)

i'll post thr rest soon! ;-)

[Aphex_Squarepusher_Twin]

The following photos...

 

Next time is 4 my 3 videos!

[beerwolf]

looks fucking mental!

 

I don't know how anybody could not be excited about this.

[Ego]

Saw him tonight in Brussels. Wasn't super excited because I honestly dislike the melodies on Ufabulum. I enjoyed the darker tracks but the melodic tracks were cheesing me to death. Visuals were OK, a little bright.

 

He closed with a small piece from Solo Electric Bass 1, which was the most enjoyable part of the show for me. Solo Electric Bass 2 please.

[Aphex_Squarepusher_Twin]

looks fucking mental!

 

I don't know how anybody could not be excited about this.

yeah! i was really excited & enjoyed this live! Good souvenir! Thanks Tom Jenkinson! ;-)

 

In 1 of photos, we c the map of France, or we believe 2 c the map of France... Coincidence or not?

[cear]

Saw him tonight in Brussels. Wasn't super excited because I honestly dislike the melodies on Ufabulum. I enjoyed the darker tracks but the melodic tracks were cheesing me to death. Visuals were OK, a little bright.

 

He closed with a small piece from Solo Electric Bass 1, which was the most enjoyable part of the show for me. Solo Electric Bass 2 please.

 

caught the final notes on camera :p

 

[media]http://vimeo.com/50883999[/media]

i guess we got an exclusive here! :D

 

anyways, general consensus about the show: too impersonal, not live enough (figures when it's backed by a full-on electronic album and visuals are sticked very much together with the tracks) rather having him go mental over his bass for two hours on the ufabulum beats than what i saw.

also; god forbid repeat and gate fx buttons please. cringeworthy moments, never expected that from the daddy tbh. :p

 

FAV moments: beginning, red in blue, stadium ice, 303scopem and dark steering (wouldve loved to hear the race sound go on longer) and the end bass rumble stuff was pretty lolz too.

 

(worth noting i like the album)

[Aphex_Squarepusher_Twin]

yeah, i filmed this moment there also. i had felt that it was the end of the concert & i wanted 2 film that in good souvenir. It's in the whole box. Yes, i am crazy, lashed or all that u want, but i took pleasure 2 attend this concert and wanted memories. I filmed the beginning of the concert, a piece of ufabulum (that i shall not reveal & no, it's not "dark steering") & the 1 that Vincent filmed but in full...

 

The beginning is a track from Shobaleader One album.

 

I shall put the video of the end of this concert (with his bass), if you want...

[TechDiff]

Screen stays static though, just displaying the logo, I guess this is his intro, like a wrestler.

FLOL

missing one part then I reckon

 

haha, right before he elbow drops the retrigger button

[Hautlle]

I'm currently getting all my travel details in order. It's much cheaper to take a train than to drive with the gas prices nowadays. Can I crash with a Chicago WATMMer? Just need a couch or floor to sleep on Fri. and Sat. night .

 

Chi-towners, pm me so we can exchange numbers and stuff!

 

 

 

 

[mcbpete]

 

Damnit, it looks like he's now doing a bit more (A little bit anyway) to the tracks than just playing back the studio album. Should've gone to last weekend's London performance...

 

The volume levels seem a bit wonky - it sounds like an AGC keeps randomly kicking in.

[Diabrotikos]

Random VSTs thrown over the track... Meh.

 

FFS he should call back his drummer, give him an electronic drum set, hire one, maybe two keyboardists, and play all those tracks live, with himself playing bass, you know, like the time he said so in an interview during the "Just a Souvenir" period. What is holding him back to do it ?

[phudoshin]

Now that's a good version of Scopem Hard!

 

How come all these live clips are missing Exstatic Shock... I wanna hear that live in good quality tweaked to fuck!

[Hautlle]

Last night's show was amazing. He tore it up and completely ripped apart those tracks. No "random VSTs thrown over the tracks", the man knows what he's doing and is The Fucking Daddy for a reason. Add in a gabba/freestyle bass solo session and an encore of Journey to Reedham and it made my night.

 

 

 

 

[Guest moirahhhh]

I was at last nights show in Chicago pushing squares all night. Mount Kimbie played a real sweet set, but the delay between tracks was a little awkward. Mr. P started his set with a ~10-15 ambient piece which was really nice, then leading into his tour set which was scrambled and fucked to hell. His solo bass stuff was no doubt the best stuff he played all night. Thought maybe this is where he is heading after this era.

 

Only downside of the show was that I guess, in Chicago, nobody knows how to dance to some snarerushes/dnb/braindance/squarepusher. I heard some people saying "it's too fast" and maybe one or two people (from my eyes) left during his bass time.

[cloud capture]

So bummed I missed the Chicago show. My old truck is acting up and didn't want to risk the 3hr drive to Portage train station near Madison.

[Guest EleminoP]

Last night's show was amazing. He tore it up and completely ripped apart those tracks. No "random VSTs thrown over the tracks", the man knows what he's doing and is The Fucking Daddy for a reason. Add in a gabba/freestyle bass solo session and an encore of Journey to Reedham and it made my night.

I agree with this. The show definitely exceeded my expectations.

[Guest moirahhhh]

Anybody by chance have a spare poster print they would be willing to sell? Kicked myself after not realizing they actually had a print for the show, and it looks quite good!