Hello all you Live Buzz readers! Kelsey McArdle here---could I have picked a better show for my first blog?
I never thought I would actually make it to the day when WIUX finally celebrated the new year with their annual kick off extravaganza. Okay, maybe that's a bit of an overstatement, but when my fellow WIUXers (I'm the Music Director there, FYI) informed me of our score for this year's event, I couldn't have been more excited...unless it was, you know, the Beatles or something. But that's a different story completely (seriously, don't get me started).
Anyway, all of us at the station were beyond ecstatic to host some great electronic/dance DJs for our show with the rest of the Bloomington community. It's hard to deny that the dance culture here has started to break through the underground, so hosting Daedelus, an L.A. DJ who's been getting all sorts of buzz in the past year (including scoring the September cover to every electronic lover's Bible, XLR8R Magazine), was the logical, nay, the PERFECT choice for our kick off show.
Regrettably, due to class, I didn't get there until shortly after 9 p.m., missing Bloomington's own Everything Continues. According to accounts, it was quite a ball---a mix of hip-hop and retro sounds, it was an all-around great set that got the kids moving.
Around the time I arrived, however, more and more people were filtering in (including my lovely fellow Live Buzzers, Katie and Stefania), some dancing to the filler music between sets, some awkwardly sitting around like boys and girls at a junior high dance. I was slightly confused, to say the least. However, once Eliot Lipp took the stage for his "live PA performance," it seemed to liven up the room, as most people seemed to be intrigued with his interesting live show. Blending blippy electronics with his laptop/Korg keyboard set-up, Lipp mixed a solid set that was the perfect warm-up for what was to be ahead.
Between the next set, some of my fellow WIUXers and I decided to talk to the man of the hour. Daedelus (real name: Alfred Darlington---could there be a better name?) was wandering around the Neal Marshall Grand Hall, striking up conversations and generally being the nicest guy you could ever hope to encounter. Dressed in his infamously snazzy, pseudo-Victorian ensemble (complete with paisley tie), he posed for pictures with all of those (i.e. my friends and I) that were willing to fully geek out in front of him, and he was genuinely excited to be there for our show. He and I even had a conversation about the Beatles---that gives him mad amounts of "awesome points" in my book.
Before his set, I listened in while WIUX Production Director (and avid Daedelus fan) Mike Quick asked a few questions about his recent album Love To Make Music To and his crazy tour schedule. He seemed to be genuinely excited yet extremely humble about the press his latest release has garnered, but he's more than making up for it by hitting the road non-stop (even making a trip to Shanghai!!). He even hinted at a new side-project in the works for February. Exciting!
Finally, though, the time had arrived. As he made his way toward the stage, people immediately flocked to the floor, ready to hang on his every word, his every move, his every beat. With a mysterious blinking box displayed in front of him (my unsophisticated knowledge of DJ technology is apparent here), I became even more excited for what Daedelus had up his tailored sleeve. The tension in the room was palpable and invigorating---people were just soooo ready to dance. Seeming to sense the crowd's sentiments, Daedelus instructed all of us around the room to "find a partner, boy or girl" and take ourselves back to the awkwardly sweet days of sway-dancing as he faded in an unexpected yet beautiful track---The Flamingos' "I Only Have Eyes For You." Soon enough, with bodies across the floor moving in unison, the blips and beats made their way through the mix and got the party started.
Filling his set with crazy samples of everything from the Flaming Lips to the Beach Boys to Nirvana, the DJ danced and mixed the night away and the crowd followed his lead, hitting the floor hard and sweating up a storm, all the while watching in awe as he effortlessly wove together beautiful orchestral and pop melodies with synth-laden beats.
It reminded me of the time I saw Girl Talk but with a distinct difference---it was actually inspiring! Although the people were dancing with equal intensity, Daedelus took the live DJ show to a whole new level, mixing, remixing and weaving beats on the spot rather than pushing a button on his laptop and letting a booze-filled crowd create the show.
And his mixes? While not filled with nearly as many samples as a GT song might hold, they were beautiful, brilliant, and unique, infusing multiple genres like rock, dubstep, and electronica together into songs that kept making my friends and I say, "OH MY GOSH, did he just DO that?!"
After more than an hour had passed, his set finally ended, breaking the crowd out of the intense trance in which his music had put them. Multiple people flocked to the stage just to shake his hand and thank him, and his grateful smile said it all---he really WAS happy to be there. What a nifty dude.
And thus the kick off ended. Some of us WIUXers were lucky enough to chill with Daedelus after hours (we called him Alfred then---we're on real terms), and it further confirmed to us what we knew to begin with after we booked him: BEST CHOICE EVER!
-Stories and Photos by Kelsey McArdle
