If you’ve got mild photosensitivity issues, or suffering similar effects from an illicit substance you bought off your girlfriend’s housemate’s mate, then you’re going to want to be wary of venturing into Flying Lotus’ live audio-visual extravaganza.
Performing at Manchester Academy on Thursday night as part of his You’re Dead! album tour, FlyLo AKA Steve Ellison mesmerizes adoring fans from inside his spectacular Layer3 visual sculpture. It’s a testament to his nature that he avoids the usual high pace stage entry and instead creeps onto the stage, moves slowly in and out of the light and utters ‘oh manchester… You’re dead…’, before laughing like an evil genius and entering his capsule to assume complete control of our senses.
Ellison is someone who has very much succeeded in crafting his own genre, and is presently at the peak of his powers. A brain-melting experimental fusion of influences from hip-hop, IDM, contemporary jazz and many other genres make up his own unique sound, combining trippy thunderous beats, convoluted bass lines and ethereal melodic patterns. FlyLo’s sound is so musically complex and far stretched from the output of any other artists on the planet that in accordance with his love of video gaming and self-professed intention to recreate magic, he really has advanced to another level.
FlyLo the sorcerer dons a bug-eyed alien mask and conjures up glowing kaleidoscopic holograms that shrink and expand, appear and disappear and enrapture hundreds of eyes, aided by his animators Strangleloop and Timeboy who control the visuals in real time from behind the scenes. Exploding stars, revolving patterns and morphing cartoons add brilliance to Eyes Above, Fkn Dead and Coronus the Terminator, which merge into one another seamlessly. His longtime sideman Thundercat joins the stage dressed head to toe in extravagant furry attire to provide live bass for these tracks, and plays a delicate solo bass cover of Complexion by Kendrick Lamar provides a reprieve from FlyLo’s intense psychedelic show. The effect of the crowd singing along with him to the chorus of DMT Song is quite bizarre.
After a run of some of his older dancey hits such as the thumping likes of Getting There, Camel and Zodiac Shit, we hear Skorpion from Mortal Kombat’s outburst of ‘Get Over Here!’ and FlyLo summons the spirit of his rapper alter-ego Captain Murphy for Dead Man’s Tetris and Shake Weight. The show culminates with a natural outro of Never Catch Me featuring Kendrick Lamar and the most awe-inspiring and brightly coloured visuals yet.
He breaks conventions once more to round the show off by exchanging greetings and gestures of thanks with his fans at the front of the stage, displaying the gracious human temperament that exists underneath his magician’s veil. He’s more than one of the best producers in the world; he’s a fantastic performance artist. If you’re attending festivals this year with Flying Lotus on the lineup and you think you can handle it, don’t think twice.