Words and Photos by George Greenstreet
When it comes to career trajectory, stomach Australian disco duo Flight Facilities have taken things remarkably steady. After their housey debut single “Crave You” made enormous international waves in 2010, discount due in no small part to the annoyingly ubiquitous dubstep remix by Adventure Club, the members Hugo Gruzman and James Lyell made no attempt to rush things, sporting a surprisingly anemic output of six songs over the next four years. However, what they lacked in quantity they made more than made up for in quality; every track was a finely tuned gem, matching immensely groovy beats with excellent, generally unknown vocalists. For dance music fans, a full FF album was an elusive hope, finally answered last year with their excellent debut Down To Earth.
Of course, great production does not necessarily make for a good performance, a lesson recently hammered home by Kygo. Having waiting four years to see the duo live, I walked into their set last week at The Sinclair with tempered expectations. It might be great, but it could never live up to what I had imagined, right? I was astonished to find that this show not only met my hopes but soared beyond them. Through thematically effective mixing, excellent visual presentation and wonderful live vocalists, Flight Facilities have crafted a performance that not only lives up to their recorded material but should also be considered an essential dance show.
Fellow Aussie and Future Classic labelmate Touch Sensitive opened up the night in fine form, laying down some funk-heavy dance grooves. A solo project from Van She co-founder Michael Di Francesco, his set displayed a huge movement away from the poppier sound of that group into deeper electro territory. He made use of heavier synth lines but always kept things grounded in an approachable nu-disco structure, stringing pleasant, chopped-up vocal samples through everything.
What really made this set shine, though, was Di Francesco’s bass work. Instead of just leaving this as a simple clip launch set, he picked up a four string as soon as the rest of his elements were cued for a song and walked around the stage, adeptly noodling over the synthesized beats. This added a remarkable tone and energy that really took this set above and beyond the usual expectations for an opener. The only real criticism for this set was it’s abridgment. Due to a late start, Di Francesco only played for half of his hour-long set time. Damn shame- I would have loved to hear another 30 minutes of this.
Flight Facilities took the stage to rabid applause, dressed in fairly ridiculous pilot costumes that gave the impression that they intended to be the center of attention. This couldn’t have been further from the truth; the pair spent their opening instrumental numbers, including excellent album track “Apollo,” in total darkness, mixing away while simple ambient images floated by on their LED screen. Their excellent stage, a mix of light up panels resembling wings, sprung to life for seconds at a time, giving bursts of excitement while never feeling overstimulating. This beginning really evoked the feeling of a deep house set, getting the audience into a relaxed extended groove.
The vibe changed as the opening chords of “With You” rang through the venue. The stage lit up and singer Surahn Sidhu ran onstage to perform the vocal parts of the early hit. Sidhu’s soulful voice and commanding stage presence gave an excellent heart to the track and caused a swell in excitement in the audience. As he left the stage to grand applause, Brooke Addamo, better known by her stage name Owl Eyes, walked out for inspired performances of “Claire De Lune” and recent hit “Two Bodies,” showing off her strong-but-vulnerable voice and excellent dance moves.
The way Flight Facilities used these two vocalists throughout the set was one of the things that made it so special. Sidhu and Addamo did exemplary jobs standing in for the studio singers these tracks, both of them pushing their voices to evoke the same tone and emotion of the original performances (most impressively with Sidhu’s take on the irreplaceable Reggie Watts’s part in “Sunshine.”) Their liveliness and excellent crowd work added a vivacious heart to the set that might have been absent with just the producers onstage.
Of course, Gruzman and Lyell themselves were no slouches, going beyond typical DJing duties by keeping an excellent thematic unity throughout the set. Whether it was holding over an evocative bass or drumline during a transition, or recalling an identifiable riff from an earlier or upcoming track, the pair made the whole set feel like a natural, emotionally evocative progression. They also made the wise decision to stick almost entirely to their own material, covering every key track on Down to Earth as well as a few other popular singles.
They were never happy just to play a song verbatim, best exemplified by their elaborate extended take on “Stand Still.” As they began looping the song’s signature whistle, they dropped in rapper Bishop Nehru’s verse from album track “Why Do You Feel,” combining elements from both songs along the way. As Nehru’s smooth lyrics slid away, Wave Racer’s poppy remix of “Stand Still” began pulsating and Addamo came out to sing the lyrics to Major Lazer’s “Get Free” over them, a mix so perfect that it practically demands a studio recording. Finally, as the synth line calmed into the original track Addamo performed Mickey Green’s verses, the song finishing on a hurried, emotional crescendo. This lasted at least ten minutes altogether and was far more inspiring than simply playing the tune would have been.
Of course, despite all of the technical and artistic aptitude on display, what really pushed this set to be such a standout was that wonderful sense that the performers were having as much fun as their audience. Gruzman and Lyell spent the whole set letting the music do the talking, grinning away the whole time at the reception they received, while Sidhu and Addamo regularly made it clear how happy they were to be a part of the tour. After an encore of “Foreign Language,” Flight Facilities brought out a good chunk of their stage crew to groove along to Stardust’s classic disco track “Music Sounds Better With You.” This closer made the set feel as much like a celebration of all the group had accomplished in dance music so far as it was a clear an affirmation of the bright career ahead of them.
Oh, and then they walked offstage to ILoveMakonnen’s “Tuesday.” It was a Tuesday, so why not?
Flight Facilities’ jaw-dropping show was simply the best dance set that Boston has seen in ages. The mix of excellent performers, world-class DJing and the ineffable sense of joy that ran through the whole affair truly affirmed Flight Facilities’ place on the worldwide electronic circuit. These guys have long been making easily accessible, endlessly enjoyable grooves, and now they have the live show to match that.