Just prior to the pending storm onslaught lying in wait in the Pacific, Paul Oakenfold and his traveling circus rolled into San Francisco last night. It was the first time in SF for Oakey with his new live band lineup and I was interested in seeing how the electronic jams would play out with live guitars and drums. I was quite pleased with the turnout. Oakenfold first warmed up the crowd with a 75-minute DJ set from the upstairs decks and five minutes after was center stage rocking the keyboards and pro-tools combo. A drummer and a guitarist (who switched to bass for some songs) rounded out the arrangement.
Since all the vocals were on DAT, Oakenfold, a film aficionado, had a number of the vocalists recorded singing against a blue screen (Perry Farrell, Carla Werner, Shifty Shellshock of Crazy Town to name a few, but sadly no Asher D of So Solid Crew and “Ready, Steady, Go” fame) and showed them singing with various cityscapes and landscapes behind them when their song, “Time Of Your Life” for Farrell, “Southern Sun” for Werner and “Starry Eyed Surprise” for Shifty. It was a great way to give an electronic show more life, with live band members and at least a semblance of a front person. I highly recommend checking out this technotastic show when it hits your town.
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