Live Review: Simian Mobile Disco (DJ Set) at The Williamsburg Waterfront, Brooklyn (08/09/09)

It was a murky and muggy day at The Williamsburg Waterfront; no trouble getting into the state park near the water, no trouble getting drinks or a spot in the front near the stage...which lead me to ask the question: Why? Why was it so easy and accessible to get what you needed today? Could it have been the weather? I sincerely had hoped not, considering it was not raining and people were enjoying themselves no matter what was going on at The Pool Parties on this day. Then, as Fiery Furnaces left the stage, I realized it. The crowd was too mixed and not into a DJ set as their closing act on a bill full of bands.

Surely Simian Mobile Disco wouldn't be affected by this, as they are quintessential professionals; the crowd that remained (which was close to less than half that showed up for the bands) cheered loudly and proudly when James and Jas hit the stage...and they started their set off in elegant fashion, by dropping Animal Collective's 2009 anthem "My Girls". What followed was a 90-minute set that spanned from current electro to nu-disco and winded up in tech house closer to the end. Of course, they dropped a few of their gems, including "10,000 Horses..." and the opener to their debut, "Sleep Deprivation" which apparently started up a caveman-esque break-pit, as evident from the image below...


It didn't end there, as two men from backstage (members of Dark Meat, I believe), came on-stage during the set and improvised trumpet and trombone solos during the tech-house snippet of their set. EDIT: After some youtube-ing, I found a video that captured the proceedings perfectly. Look below:



All in all, even with half the crowd bouncing from the place all-too-quickly, SMD dropped a set that was as eclectic as much as it was enjoyable. No matter how many people were there, they were all either jumping, bouncing, and dancing their collective asses off. The SMD boys will be back in New York very soon, as they plan to bring their center-table studio rig with them to Webster Hall on October 30th. See you then guys!

Simian Mobile Disco - Off The Map (feat. Jamie Lidell)