Guest Phaedrus Posted January 31, 2002 Share Posted January 31, 2002 Hello Everyone. I went to New York (from Austin, TX) for the Synthetic Sadhus (http://www.synthetic-sadhus.com) party on Saturday the 26th. I thought I’d share my thoughts on the party in case anyone is interested. We got to the venue (The Amazura Ballroom in Queens) at around 11:30 PM, a few minutes before they opened the doors. The venue itself was a pretty standard warehouse looking job, with the exception that there was a decent wood/pergot dance floor in the center of it. It was definitely better that dancing on concrete. The deco was some of the best I have seen. They had an underwater theme going on: As you are looking at the decks, to your left was a long banner hanging from the ceiling with some interesting looking jellyfish and other fish swimming along. The part closest to the stage looked like an aquarium, or maybe it was meant to make us feel like we were in the aquarium… Along the right there was another long banner hanging from the ceiling with an evil looking octopus with red eyes and tentacles stretching around Behind the decks there was more of the underwater theme – a large tapestry with lots of cities in bubble thingies (a la Phantom Menace). Very cool. There were various other psychedelic banners hung from the different walls – one of Ganesh, some with some aliens, and some with geometric patterns. I will post the pictures in a few days when I get off my butt. On to the music. The reason we went up for the party was to see Astral Projection, one of my all-time favorites. I had been emailing with Avi and he graciously put us on the VIP list. It was definitely nice not to have to pay for the event with all of the other expenditures we had with the airfare and hotel and such. When we got in, Niko (a local DJ) was spinning. He started out pretty minimal which is not really my cup of tea. After an hour or so he moved into a more progressive sound that got more people on the dance floor. The only songs he played that I recognized were Deedrah – Gangster and Electric Tease - TV is the Nu God. Electric Tease came near the end of his set, and that was the peak of his set (at least to me) and seemed to really get the party going. He played till around 2 AM. Overall his set was good, but not great. I enjoyed the second half of it more. He kept a consistent build throughout which was nice, but his mixing was a little messy at times and he was doing as much blending as beat matching. Next up was Dino Psaris’ live set. I have Cydonia – In Fear of a Red Planet and like it, but do not love it, so I was very pleasantly surprised by what I heard. That is stating it too mildly, I was blown away! He started out by continuing where Niko left off – nice, danceable progressive sound. Shortly he started to really pick it up and he was playing some very psychedelic full-on stompers. Everybody was up and banging their heads and it stayed that way the whole time. I will definitely be getting my hands on as many of his tracks as I can. Something that I found interesting was that the party’s attendance seemed to keep getting larger until about 2:30 AM. By now there was probably 400-500 people there. It was a good crowd with a good vibe. We met some nice folks from upstate New York and a fun time talking and dancing with them. Also around 2:30 was when Avi and Lior showed up at the party. I got to meet them and chat and hangout with them some. I have heard some people say some negative things about them personally, so I want to state for the record that these two are some of the nicest and most courteous people I have met. They kept thanking me for coming up, while the whole time I was saying “No, thank you! For making your music and for being so generous with your time and energy!” Anyone who says that they are not perfect gentleman has obviously never met them. They started playing around 4 AM. They opened with Let There Be Light. They played for 3 hours, and played these tracks (not in order), plus several more that I can’t recall right now: Zero, Kabalah, No One Ever Dreams, Dancing Galaxy, Trance Dance, People Can Fly, Aurora Borealis, Anything is Possible, and 4-5 tracks from their new album (due out in June per Avi). I thoroughly enjoyed the new tracks, and am now awaiting the next album even more anxiously! They closed with Mahadeva. The New Yorkers really do now how to party, as at 7 AM there were still probably 100 people on the dance floor! By now we were dead tired, so we said our goodbyes and left. Uggh… daylight… My only complaint about the show was by the end of Dino’s set, the sound system was turned up too loud for what it could play without distortion. I did not notice it as much during Dino’s set for a couple of reasons: 1) I was not very familiar with his music, and 2) he did not play in the higher frequencies near as much as AP does. The system was so loud that it was distorting the highs during AP’s set. : ( Don’t get me wrong – I still had a fantastic time! It was easily the best party I have been to as of yet. Meeting AP and seeing how genuine, down to earth, generous to their fans, and just generally cool they are was as exciting as the music and dancing. Just a few weeks before the party, AP did not know me from the next guy. Avi took the time to write me several emails, culminating with him inviting us up to the party and putting two total strangers on his guest list. It is obvious that they love and appreciate their fans and that they will go to great lengths to make that known to them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pihkal Posted January 31, 2002 Share Posted January 31, 2002 Thats cool, sounds like you guys got on well! I've never met them, but personally I was not very impressed with their set. I think their music is too cheesy and fluffy, not edgy enough, I much preferred the stuff Dino Psaras was playing. But then thats why diversity exists! Would be crap if we all liked the same stuff. AP's not for me, but I guess there are a lot of people out there who love them, so thats cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basilisk Posted January 31, 2002 Share Posted January 31, 2002 sounds excellent.. how live were the "live" shows? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Phaedrus Posted January 31, 2002 Share Posted January 31, 2002 pihkal - That is true, to each his own I also really enjoyed Dino's set. basilisk - I am probably not the best person to judge this as these were the 1st 2 live sets I have seen. I think Dino's was a bit more live than AP's as I saw him using his laptop and a keyboard a few times throughout the set. But, I also spent more time behind the decks when he was up there as that was when I was talkinf to Avi and Lior. Avi was working the mixing board and some other piece of hardware during AP's set, but it was hard for me to tell what sounds were being coming from what while they were playing. I spent most of their set on the dancefloor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ouroboros Posted January 31, 2002 Share Posted January 31, 2002 hey phaedrus, im glad you had a good time. sorry i couldnt make it, but its always pretty easy to find cool people to talk with. i was wondering...did you manage to meet up with jeff or alice? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest green mouse Posted January 31, 2002 Share Posted January 31, 2002 yep, that is a good question: how "live" was the live AP? Cause i have seen them at two parties where I spent most of the time behind the decks/dj area...and I can tell you they were pretending to do a live set, but not doing it.... for which i did not care as i don't like their music..that is the reason why i was not on the dancefloor dancing, but behind the decks/dj area, talking to friends and rolling spliffs, waiting for their fake live to finish (i.e. turn off the dat) so that some decent music will be played... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Phaedrus Posted January 31, 2002 Share Posted January 31, 2002 ouroboros - Yeah, the crowd was definitely cool. Maybe I'll catch up with ya next time - y'all have soooooooooo many cool parties up there, I am sure I will make it up again. I did not meet alice, but I met emily, and talking to her was enough to keep me going until 7 green mouse - I am not going to get into a pointless argument about our individual tastes. All I can say to you is that if you don't like their music, stop going to their parties. That is a better solution than going and then complaining about it. Peace, Phaedrus/Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Deep Kick Posted January 31, 2002 Share Posted January 31, 2002 I think AP just played some roland synthes over CD and DAT. As Phaedrus said, Dino played much more Live than AP. (I saw AP play for a while behind them) By the way, how many guys are in AP now. I think that there are 3 guys. Am I wrong? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Phaedrus Posted January 31, 2002 Share Posted January 31, 2002 AP is still just two - Avi Nissim and Lior Perlmutter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest green mouse Posted January 31, 2002 Share Posted January 31, 2002 Phaedrus, I am sorry if my dislike for AP insulted you or sth..this was not the point..the point was that I was wondering if they did not play live again....as to why I was at the AP parties when I dislike AP - well, their fake live is only about an hour, an hour and a half...the rest at those parties was good music, played by honest ppl...I had some Israeli friends djs who played there and they are kickass good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest INTRANCEIT Posted January 31, 2002 Share Posted January 31, 2002 it sounds like ap played there usual sets.. Thats a lot of old songs they played. I heard them twice. NYE in nyc it sounded like they just put there cd in a stero and played it @ the party... Its a shame i love APs music but i don't want to here at a party again thats why i have their cd... i was thinking on taking the train to paris to hear them but it sounds like the same live pa. am i correct in saying this for anyone who has heard them more than once??? thanx nv Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Phaedrus Posted January 31, 2002 Share Posted January 31, 2002 green mouse - They played for 3 hours, and played several tracks from their new album. Like I said, taste is subjective and it is pointless for each other to try to convince one another of our own taste. However, I think its a shame you infer that they are dishonest just because you don't like their music. I met them and they could not have been any more honest, gracious, and appreciative people. INTRANCEIT - I am sure that a lot of their recent lives are/were very similar. This is not uncommon, in my experience. Most live rock bands (not including jam bands) play the exact same set at each concert. I recommend you go to Paris. If you do, you will be treated to 4-5 songs from their new album which I enjoyed very much. Peace, Phaedrus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest da Posted January 31, 2002 Share Posted January 31, 2002 the new years eve show (from last year) was definately not off cd..they had a live drummer(!) tons of synths and a great sound. in the synthetic party it seemed like they were playing off dat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khogg Posted January 31, 2002 Share Posted January 31, 2002 People seem to really look for ways to ride AP. That's the price of success I suppose. It's almost trendy to downrate their music and scoff at their live sets. Whether they are live or not I don't know because I have never had the chance to see them. I can say this, if I did get the chance I would check it out for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bugbread Posted January 31, 2002 Share Posted January 31, 2002 Keep in mind too: 1) Live sets are easier for more minimal bands (The Delta and X-Dream can play most of their stuff live because one person can handle basic rhythm and someone else effects). The more melodic, the more difficult. Witness that Simon P has stated that he would love to do a real live show but that it is completely impossible, so he uses multitracked loops and performs live mixes instead (might that not be what AP is doing?) 2) How "Live" a live show is often depends on how much the organizer pays. Not saying this in a mean way, but if the organizer isn't paying enough to get all the gear sent (and in some bands that can be pretty expensive, especially if computers are used), then it won't get sent. The band also has to have enough time and space to set up the equivalent of a full studio, reconnecting who knows how many bits of equipment, and soundchecking everything. If you think someone is going to ship a computer, CRT, full effects rack, 4 or 5 keyboards, samplers, mixing boards, etc. etc. and set them all up in a warehouse to play 1 hour of live music...well, then, you haven't got much common sense. Also, on a far more minor note, remember that some organizers don't actually inform artists that they are to put on a live show (!) This is slightly less uncommon for single-artist-units. They'll think they've been invited as a DJ, look at the flyer, and find out they're being billed as a live act. Note that this is less common for really big acts (like AP) and also seems most common in the states. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khogg Posted February 1, 2002 Share Posted February 1, 2002 I was thinking along those lines bugbread. How live can you really get with some of this complex very fast music we listen to? I bet many times a group gets paid to play without seeing the flyers or having any idea how they are being billed. They might show up with unreleased mixes and new songs on dat and mix some sounds/samples over top real-time. Does that mean they are actually playing every sound for you live to recreate the track the way a 5 member rock band would? Of course not, but it's certainly a different (not better, just different) type of performance than you get out of a DJ mixing various artists tracks together. In that sense, I would think such a thing would be cool, especially if you like the group's music. Unfortunately, I never get to so see such a thing because of where I live. Those of you who live in Europe, or New York, or LA (just for example), I consider you very lucky to be able to go and see/hear such events. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Wojciech Posted February 3, 2002 Share Posted February 3, 2002 Dear Phaedrus, Thanks a lot for this full informative review. I am happy there are people amongs psychedelic fans who do really appreciate Astral Projection activity. I have hard to wait for their forthcoming album...and I know they have played some new tracks in New York. I would be obliged if you could write something about these tracks (which of old tracks are related to the newest). Thank you in advance, From Poland with love, Wojciech Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Phaedrus Posted February 4, 2002 Share Posted February 4, 2002 Hi Wojciech - The tracks that they played from the new album (well I have to assume they are from the new album as I know all of their released stuff and I did not recognize them) were more like Dancing Galaxy and the recent single "Anything is Possible" than, Another World, for example. They were, of course, very melodic, uplifting, and kept the dancefloor moving I really enjoyed what I heard, and also eagerly await the new album. Cheers, Bill/Phaedrus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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