DJ Shadow performs this show whilst ensconced in a giant white orb in the middle of the stage, similar to the ones that used to intermittently surface from the sea and chase Patrick MacGoohan in The Prisoner. Shadow and his technical crew have to get 10/10 for the visual presentation, as the images projected on the sphere throughout the show – which range from kitsch to cyber-punk – are uniformly superb. Indeed at one point, the images are projected in such a way as to make the sphere appear as if it’s rotating, which is quite a sight.
So the visuals are great, how about the music? Hmmm. More of a qualified success, I’m afraid. At one point, Shadow rotates the orb so that he’s facing the audience through a specially cut window. He tells us that he’s performing material from the classic albums Endtroducing and The Private Press, as well as newer tracks. The fresh tunes are pretty ace, mixing trance-y psychedelia with Autechre-style rapid-fire beats and funky hip hop.
The older tracks are a different story. Frustratingly, Shadow only ever drops in snippets of his best-known songs, and before he’s given them time to breathe, he’s scratching over them on his turntables or morphing them into an entirely separate tune. Case in point: the sublime ‘Six Days’. Shadow drops the familiar vocal sample, Wong Kar-Wai’s brilliant video is shown on the screen, the crowd singalong, and the scene is set for a transcendent few minutes.
Unfortunately, Shadow swiftly abandons the track in favour of a truly appalling drum ‘n bass remix, which a is travesty of the original. So it goes with the other big tunes of the night. Oh well, I suppose – to quote Flight Of The Conchords – two minutes in heaven is better than one minute in heaven.