Live performance Overview: Thievery Company, Revolution Reside and SoFla’s Venue Woes
Earlier than addressing Sunday evening’s Thievery Company present at Revolution Reside in Fort Lauderdale, it could be prudent to say why they have been enjoying there within the first place.
South Florida’s fractured venue panorama has been one of the vital under-reported tales in our venerable leisure ecosystem all through 2022. Miami’s House Park is seeking a brand new everlasting residence after being pressured to vacate its authentic location, under-utilized venues just like the Mizner Park and Pompano Seaside amphitheaters have struggled to maintain tempo with bookings by way of one of many busiest live performance seasons on document, and—maybe most significantly—the Fillmore in Miami Seaside has been closed for renovations because the summer time. If there’s a silver lining for the latter level, it’s that Fort Lauderdale’s Revolution Reside has seen an uptick within the caliber of its bookings within the absence of the bigger stalwart venue on South Seaside. Look no additional than the Struggle on Medication gig that occurred there just some months in the past—a band that headlined Madison Sq. Backyard earlier this 12 months was relegated to the 1,000-cap Himmarshee membership with a view to ebook a date in our area.
Sunday evening’s Thievery Company present at Revolution is one more instance of this phenomenon. After I first lined an look by the Washington D.C. dub group in South Florida again in 2017, it was a sold-out gig on the Fillmore, and I’m certain they may have bought that venue out once more on Sunday. And but, like so many different mid-tier acts this 12 months, the group ended up enjoying a packed-to-the-gills present at Revolution as an alternative. Finally, the distinction this time round is that the intimate reserving gave the impression to be a detriment moderately than a fortunate likelihood to catch an awesome band in a small house.
The evening started with a completely unremarkable opening set by the DJ/violinist duo Emancipator, one which absolutely match the night’s vibe effectively and did nothing to offend, but appeared to drone on effectively previous the purpose of overstaying its welcome. By the point Thievery Company took the stage at 9:30, the group had thickened to the purpose of being wholly uncomfortable, and any sightlines I had loved for the previous two and a half hours have been lengthy gone.
Earlier than I’m going any additional, let’s get this out of the way in which: I didn’t arrive late to this present. In reality, I used to be in line earlier than the doorways even opened at 7 p.m., hoping to snag one of many venue’s coveted balcony or rail spots. Sadly, these have been all spoken for by the point I made it inside, and I don’t depend myself amongst these intrepid concertgoers who courageous the ground at a Revolution present on a Sunday evening. And so, as soon as the headlining set started, I discovered myself thrust right into a nomadic existence, migrating by way of the venue seeking someplace—wherever—I might really hear the music that was being carried out, having already accepted that I’d not be capable of really see the band on stage. Alas, my search yielded combined outcomes: I spent a stretch of time towards the wall upstairs by the soundboard earlier than ultimately settling downstairs by the doorways, doing my greatest to discern the forest for the bushes of muddy sound.
Whether or not this was the fault of a crummy combine or just the results of 1,000 individuals shouting conversations at one another, the actual fact is that the music was virtually indiscernible for almost all of the present. The drums have been there, as was the trademark dubby bass, however something within the mid or treble vary was near absent all through the gig, from the group’s attribute sitar to any of the various singers’ lead vocals.
I want I might write about how nice Thievery Company was on Sunday evening, about how favorites like “Lebanese Blonde” and “The Richest Man In Babylon” jumped off the stage and the group’s proficient musicians have been locked right into a groove that did justice to its distinctive mix of reggae, dub and trip-hop music. And albeit, I’m assured that all the above is true—I like this band so much, and so they have by no means disillusioned me earlier than within the few instances I’ve had the pleasure of seeing them stay.
The reality is that these factors are all assumptions, and I can’t say I loved the present as a result of I barely even heard it, a lot much less noticed it. For the sake of South Florida’s music followers and the artists who make the trek right down to carry out for us, I hope that this was an aberration and never the brand new state of our stay music scene. I hope that almost all of the followers in attendance Sunday evening have been in a position to benefit from the present greater than I used to be. Most of all, I hope the Fillmore reopens quickly, as a result of after Sunday evening, that day can’t come quickly sufficient.
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