There are many of us who have fallen all too willingly into a novel addiction. Mine began this past summer at a Daft Punk concert, while others have gotten their first dose at clubs and concerts around the world. I will freely admit it: I am totally addicted to bass.
I speak of sound waves somewhere below 200 hertz. Purists will insist on a waveform below 100, but I believe a wider range of sound is capable of getting the job done. We addicts sit at home in front of fancy hi-fi systems, or clutching expensive headphones against our heads, trying to recreate the effect of our first exposure.
But this is just a placeholder for real bass, merely the methadone of club music. What we really need is walls of speakers, stacks upon stacks of air-pummeling diaphragms. We need to feel our jeans vibrating behind our knees and our hearts rattling against our ribs.
Finally, we need to dance. We don't care what we look like, one hand in the air, jumping and rocking with the music. Once the beast below grabs hold of us, nothing else matters.
As such, the promise of a Justice concert, with DJ Mehdi opening, is a Godsend. Both acts are from Paris and are on the same Parisian label, Ed Banger Records, the city and company known for producing life-saving house music.
Justice came into prominence last year with their hit "D.A.N.C.E." which earned them three associated Grammy nominations.
They've been touring the world seemingly non-stop, including a sold-out show Wednesday in Madison Square Garden. DJ Mehdi, lesser-known but still notable, has been rocking clubs for over a decade.
DJ Mehdi opened Sunday night at Sonar with a killer remix of Jape's "Floating," which immediately put him in my good graces. Mehdi worked the table furiously, but wasn't one of those DJs who pretends that he's actually performing all this music. When he was simply letting a track play, he would move away from his booth and dance. He sang along to his tracks, a smile on his face the entire time. As a fellow concertgoer put it, he seemed like "a pretty chill dude."
Mehdi nailed one track after another, flooring the crowd which, for the most part, had never heard of him. Included in Mehdi's set was a remix of Daft Punk's "One More Time," acknowledging his Parisian forebearers' influence. Of course, Mehdi and the crowd made the obligatory hand pyramids. Later, he chose to use sexual female moaning to transition between two songs late in his set - to the audience's boundless amusement. We were sad to see him end his set, but with the promise of Justice, we got over it.
Justice opened, appropriately, with "Genesis," unveiling their iconic glowing cross, at which point the crowd went into what would be an hour-long state of hysteria. The expected surge toward the stage came quickly and with particular force, leaving some of us wedged sideways between larger concertgoers. We had our hands in the air - not just because of the rapturous influence of the music, but due to the fact that there was no room to leave them at our sides. And we loved it.
Sweaty hipster hairdos, dropped or thrown alcohol and the fluid from broken glow-sticks combined to form a sticky techno glaze over the mob. Track after track, Justice only improved on what were already excellent beats. Excellent remixes of "The Party" and "We Are Your Friends" stood out, but the tracks were mashed, mixed, and overlapped so thoroughly, it is difficult to define a favorite "song" among the fused beats of the set.
And of course, the bass - the sweet, sweet bass erupted from the stage, eliciting inaudible laughs from those around me. It filled us, moved us and sent us reeling. Justice intentionally played with the low end of the sound spectrum, giving us long, droning periods of bass, prompting the less enthusiastic to cover their ears in pain and turn away. We junkies, however, raised our chests and drank in every moment.
Justice provided the standard encore, which rocked just as hard as the rest of their set. They finished, leaving our ears ringing and legs sore from jumping for upwards of 90 minutes. We shuffled towards the exit.
Outside, I happened upon a fellow addict. I was coming down from the high, and the cold air didn't help. I waved hello.
"Hey, you going to the MSTRKRFT concert on Wednesday?" she asked. I knew I shouldn't, but I was already looking for my next fix.
