Flying Lotus 

Live reviews

• Flying Lotus

  The first 25 minutes of Flying Lotus's show at Higher Ground were incredible. A revelation, really. The haunting visuals met with FlyLo's equally haunting beats- I was transported to a wonderful place. A place where an electronic artist had mastered the tricky territory of live entertainment and abstract art.

  However, at 11:29 pm, Flylo took to the mic and revealed himself to be something unexpected. The switch was drastic. So sudden, shocking, and so disappointing. As Flylo transitioned out of his jazzy-electronic-instrumental set and into Captain Murphy (his rap artist alter-ego), ushered in also was another persona: that of a crude misogynist. "Lotta dudes out here tonight. Shout out if you're a girl. Shout out if you're a girl here with your boyfriend... That's what I thought- there are like two ladies out there. All the cute girls that come to my shows will come up to me after and be like, *in dramatically softer/high-pitched voice* "oooooh flylo, your show was so good! your show was so cool! i dont really get your music but i loved all those pretty lights" All the sweaty bros around me cheered. I stood near the front of the crowd, speechless. I had JUST been SO happy, SO moved by this performer! How could he have so rapidly and drastically changed my opinion of him? So rapidly and drastically marginalized me as a female audience member? For the rest of the show I stiffly stood there, unable to fully inhabit the music. I was hurt by FlyLo's utter disregard for his female fans and annoyed by the drugged out dudes moving their wet bodies aggressively around me. Captain Murphy then went into a track which heavily featured Kendrick Lamar. I love Kendrick, so it was hard, even with my arms pointedly folded across my chest, not to bounce my head to the beat but inside I was still angry. Flying Lotus had spoken, and what he'd said had really killed my vibe.

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  by lil1234

• Flying lotus was great. Really was a great show.

  But waiting outside in the cold for an hour, coming and waiting 2 hours and watching two decent openers (who got shit on by the sound guys, who probably were just only decent because the sound was not organized now that I think about it) while watching the techs set up the LED wall was a pain in the ass.

  Then Flying Lotus came on I think around 10:45 pm.

  Awesome for about 10 minutes, but then the sound guys fucked HIM over. What a huge mistake. He had no bass in the house speakers and he knew it. I knew it. He knew that the fans knew it. He had to stop the show to scold the sound crew. It should not have happened to such a high level production and a high quality performance.

  But after that, that shit started to bang. It became the Flying Lotus I came to see, which was awesome. The 3D visuals were awesome, liquids and space odyssey patterns started reaching out towards you. His new album stuff was really great and i cant wait to hear it. I danced, almost felt it so much that i could have cried, but I didn’t. the concert ended. I think I would have been blown away if the sound wasn’t fucked in the beginning. It kind of screwed up the rhythm of the performance, because if you’re flying lotus, you should not get thrown curveballs like that.

  The universal sound brainfart almost fucked his flow up. But I also saw a musician who really cared about his fans and cared deeply about putting on an A game show. It got to be an A game show just as the show was wrapping up. He created a great mix of some of my favorite tracks and the grooves were deep, clever and funky, and thats what i came for.

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  by galileo-asher

• Experimental electronic music doesn’t normally translate from record to a live setting, but having seen California’s Flying Lotus live multiple times I can safely say that this particular artist thrives when performing onstage. Flying Lotus is arguably the most important figure in contemporary instrumental hip hop, taking the genre beyond the foundations laid by the likes of DJ Shadow, Dilla, Madlib, etc. As head honcho of LA’s Brainfeeder records and an affiliate of LA’s infamous Low End Theory club and collective, FlyLo (aka Steven Ellison) has been at least partly responsible for all the best progressive hip hop beats of the past few years; certainly all of my personal favourite beats. I have recently discovered contemporary jazz music and I fully attribute that to Flying Lotus’ incorporation of jazz instrumentation and samples.

  I have witnessed his live evolution from first seeing him at the Warehouse Project, Manchester, in 2010, where his simple show involved a small AV screen and little equipment beyond a laptop, to his storming headline show at The Troxy in 2012, which featured an incredible 3D visual show with layered screens. Musically, he has recognised the need to bring the party to his live shows, so his subtly erratic original compositions – such as ‘Until The Quiet Comes’, ‘Putty Boy Strut’ and ‘Computer Face//Pure Being’ – are expertly mixed with rap, trap, trip-hop and dubstep, everything from Jay Z and TNGHT to Portishead. Arguably the most inventive IDM producer working today and the best live electronic artist I’ve ever seen.

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  by cliverozario

• This show definitely was memorable and came with a handful of surprises. Really loved the first opener, Salami Rose Joe Louis and her band. PBDY- not my favorite, as it was just a dude behind his laptop headbanging to a bunch of harsh industrial noises (was still entertaining though). Spacetalker was fun and groovy. I enjoyed the flugelhorn/trumpet player, he really was carrying the set.

  Flylo came out before his own show to jam with them, which was fun. Hannibal Burress also showed up and gave us 15 minutes of laughs before Flylo started up his show. I was a little underwhelmed by the 3D element of the show (the glasses made a good memento though), but appreciated the creative vision and liked being able to get some visuals while he was playing. I think I wished that there'd be more of a plot, but that's just me being picky. He played a handful of old stuff and new stuff from Flamagra, but imo it sounded a little off as he really established a good flow in his albums due to the order of the songs. I enjoyed his tributes to Soulja Boi and Thundercat towards the end! He seemed very kind, personable, and brought really good energy to the venue.

  **also if you go to a FL show be prepared to be next to some obnoxious people that are under the influence (as expected, and no judgment). Hopefully most of them won't be screaming and moaning in your ear like this one dude behind me.

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  by natalie-zhang

• Two openers that were ok. Felt like the 1st half of Flylo's show was mostly him just experimenting (which was ok), followed by some of the better singles from Flamagra and You're Dead. The visual piece was interesting, but seemed a little more subdued than the setup I've seen for some of his other shows.

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  by matthew.h.245

• This was an awesome show! The 3d element was very cool. My two complaints are that it was way too loud (definitely bring ear buds if you don't want ear damage), and that PDBY, one of the guest DJS played for too long. Would recommend this show though.

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  by conner129

• Excellent 10 out of 10. Marvellous music, humble guy, great visuals, excellent atmosphere, it's a shame it wasn't longer. Wonderful theatre. Should come to Paris twice a year. People in Portugal would love to have a Flying Lotus concert.

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  by pedro-teles

• Absolutely amazing. Felt a high that didn’t require drugs alcohol. Amazing vibrations, thought provoking sounds and visuals. Felt like I was flying through cosmos in different planes of existence. Hope to see him again.

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  by nikia-prince

• Really great concert. Light design was amazing.

  But, sound level was too high and not always clear.

  Electronic part of the show was excellent, rap parts disappointing.

  Sadly, minimal interaction with audience.

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  by duknik

• Concert was Phenomenal 10/10 the visuals were tremendous and were perfectly in tuned with the music and he infused his new album with other great songs great performance and also with Thundercat as an opener must see!

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  by babatunde-abon