Right after work at 5:30 PM my girlfriend Brie, my buddy Matt and I left Indianapolis and began the 3 hour trek towards Chicago to go see Squarepusher. The show did not start until 11:30 PM and Squarepusher was not slated to start until 2:30 AM. On the way we met some friends in Valparaiso, had dinner, and then we caravanned into the Second City. By the time we made it to Addison and Clark we could see the line was all the way around the block and the show was sold out. Luckily we had tickets, so did everyone else in line. The marquee outside of the Metro listed 2 other acts as well, Cassette Boy and Johnny J. We arrived just before Cassette Boy's "set", and I use the set work set loosely.

Having never heard of Cassette Boy I did not know what to expect. This is what I got. Two guys in costumes and rubber masks came running out on stage with props while a prerecorded audio edit played in the background. I thought it was a nice intro, the audio editing was good, the samples funny, and the antics we amusing as well. I was ready for a cool set of live P.A. work. That is not what we got. It turns out that this running around and being jack asses while a recording played was the set. The editing was good, but not live. On CD it might have been good, even as a 5 minute act between acts it might have been funny. But for an hour, it got old quick.

After Cassette Boy, Johnny J started his first set of Hip Hop and Booty House. It was boring and predictable. After that there was some live beat boxing that was kind of cool and the more spinning. This time it was Ragga Jungle. That was a little better. It was now 2:00 AM and we were ready to hear the guy we came to see. 2:30 finally came around and Squarepusher, who looks like a crazy cross between the Unabomber and Grizzly Adams, took the stage.

Things instantly started to get a lot better. The light show consisted of only white lights. There were 4 hanging stage lights and 2 giant strobes. The strobes were blindingly bright, but all in all the lights were very cool. He started off playing just syths and samplers and the Metro began to shake. His unique blend of IDM and Drum and Bass had the crowd going nuts. After a while he picked up his Fender Bass and things got interesting. The man puts Les Claypool and Victor Wooten to shame. After an hour and a half set he finally left the stage to thunderous applause only to return for a fantastic encore.

Squarepusher definitely put on a good show. So much so that it was worth waiting through all the opening stuff to see. I recommend checking it out if he comes to your town, but be warned, the openers aren't that great. You may want to show up a little late. Until next time, come visit me In The Congo. B