Austin – After seeing headlines like “David Guetta Cancels World Tour After Losing USB Containing His Entire Set”, it’s hard to not become skeptical about the artistic integrity of today’s well known EDM performers. Someone spending $50 on a ticket can’t help but ask themselves: What am I paying for? An authentic live performance, or a glorified light show? At Austin’s Empire Control Room, however, I saw the revival of live electronic music, and his name is Robert Delong.
The sprightly 28-year-old proved to be an innovative and versatile musician, employing joysticks and Wiimotes to create edgy, synth-laced dance tunes. It was dance music with seemingly no reliance on sampling, pre-recorded tracks, or the accompaniment of other musicians/instruments. Recording and looping different bits, Delong single-handedly brought his songs to life, constructing and animating them right before our eyes. With dance music and DJ’s, it becomes difficult to distinguish what beats/melodies/vocals are created by the artist himself, and which are samples of other songs. Even with electronic music that incorporates different instruments and styles, how much of that variety can be attributed to the individual taking credit for it?
Performing live can be revealing in this way. With Robert Delong, he sang every song and seemed to create every sound and element on the spot, building the song one piece at a time from the ground up. Moving around the stage, he would go from his laptop to an acoustic guitar, then from an electronic drum kit to a traditional one tucked on the opposite side of the stage.
This kind of variety isn’t just between songs, but within them as well. For instance, “Survival of the Fittest” starts out disorienting, and ends on the wave of an upbeat and firm power-pop melody. This shift is made even more dramatic by the use of the Wii remote, which Delong connected to his computer in a way where he can manipulate pitch, speed, echo patterns, etc. This kind of innovation gives Delong total control over his songs. Orchestrating a symphony of sounds, the one-man act not only creates each part on the spot, but also holds them in his hand and shapes them as he goes.
And unlike that of your standard EDM artist, the set was a coherent and thoroughly crafted series of individual tracks. Delong’s selection consisted of clearly defined individual songs, each possessing an identifiably different kind of mood and tone. Living up to its title, the performance of the song “Happy” had everyone smiling and basking in its glossy pop goodness, while the more mellowed out follow up selection, “Few Years Make”, consisted of a lightweight and bouncing verse, with a stripped down acoustic guitar-driven chorus.
Before declaring that there would be a dance party taking place on the venues patio immediately following the show, Delong closed his set with his most popular single, “Global Concepts”. A great way to bring the night to an end, the song’s hypnotic rhythm had the sweaty mass of Austinites singing and dancing like a bunch of vacationers on their last night of spring break. All in all, not a bad way to spend a Tuesday night. Not bad at all.
Ruth Griffin
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