TNG Flashback: Just You, Just Me, Justice

The work day is almost over. We hope you use your last ounce of concentration to revisit this year-old TNG article. Originally published by Zack on 3/13/2008

What did I pay $35 for last night? I'd heard Justice's "Do The D.A.N.C.E" so many times in the last couple months, and heard so many of my acquaintances get excited about their live show, that I was really bummed when it sold out. When my friend graciously offered me his spare to their performance at the 930 Club last night, I jumped on the opportunity. I figured that the sum of money would merely be a trifle if the experience was going to be as memorable as everyone said.

It ended up being memorable, alright, but not for the right reasons. Something I had forgotten is that Justice was a part of the MySpace Music Tour. If there is anything more jarring than the opener, a talented MC, yelling "Say yeah if you've got a MySpace account" it was that same MC prompting the audience to "everybody yell 'Fuck Facebook!"

It was only downhill from there.

One of the reasons I fell so in love with LCD Soundsystem after their show last May is that they're a big, loud dance band, but every single note in their songs was being played, live and analog, by someone on stage. I had tried to listen to them before the show and had not enjoyed it, but seeing the actual in-person, big-band experience made me an instant convert.

Similarly, I hadn't really been captured by any Justice song beside "D.A.N.C.E.," but I hoped that the strength of their live show would make it all click for me. Needless to say, it didn't. The entire experience consisted of two men behind a mixing board, twiddling nobs to make very loud music. Their set up was pretty impressive — they were perched on a high platform behind two giant speakers, with their light-up cross logo between them and another huge marshall stack to their left and right, but that was it. No backdrop, no visuals and I don't even think the cross blinked in time to the music. There were a couple cool backlighting effects, but not enough to distinguish it from what was essentially a really bombastic DJ set.

And if someone had just come there to hear Justice songs, but played really loudly in a room full of fans, they would've had a blast. But I'm starting to think there should be some warning in the future when a "live show" amounts to little more than "listening to a CD at the 930 Club." I was up on the balcony ( I just didn't feel like getting knocked around by teenagers on the dance floor) and from where I was standing the audience didn't seem all that into it. There was some dancing, but not the palpable excitement that comes out of the crowd when things are going just right on stage.

Was anyone else out there at the show last night? If so, I would love to know what you think. I don't know very much about dance music, but I do know when I paid too much to see something I could listen to at home for free. In all fairness, DCist says that the show got more and more incredible as the night went on, but I left after the first 25 minutes. Based on the crowd outside when I took off, I know I wasn't alone in the impulse.