You know how you sometimes go into a show knowing it’s going to be something special but not really knowing why or how? These are the thoughts that ran through my head as I made the trek downtown to catch Blonde Redhead and Pantha Du Prince at The Magic Stick last night. When we arrived at the venue, we noticed the pizza joint downstairs seems a little smokey and assumed there must have been a little fire or some burnt pizza. But upon making our way upstairs, we realized that, in fact, the ENTIRE Magic Stick had been completely fogged out. Like to the point where you could hardly see the stage from the back of the venue when the lights were out. After going kind of nuts trying to figure out what had happened, we decided that it was clearly done on purpose to create a mysterious vibe, and it definitely served its purpose. Plus, now I had an excuse for my extremely noisy pictures. They aren’t clear or pretty most of the time, but they definitely accurately reflect what we the audience witnessed.

At about 9pm, Pantha Du Prince took the stage in what appeared to be a full hooded robe, creepy as could be. He dabbled with his glitchy blips and bleeps and clicks and clacks for a solid 5-10 minutes, none of it making all much sense, most of the crowd, myself included, wondering if this was going to turn out to be brilliant or a total flop. But as soon as he dropped into “Lay In A Shimmer”, it became abundantly clear that he was going to get this crowd moving, not an easy task for a DJ who relies heavily on light sounds like he does. After a song or two, the hood came down and Hendrik Weber finally revealed his face (although we couldn’t really see it through all of the fog). For the next 30 or 40 minutes, he got heavier and heavier until the whole crowd was dancing in the hazy, barely lit room, flowing seamlessly from one delicate but beat-heavy track to the next. Anyone who didn’t show up for the opener missed out on a crucial piece of last night’s puzzle.

Pantha Du Prince – Satellite Snyper

After a thankfully short intermission, the stage lights dimmed and the light bulbs placed strategically all over the stage lit up, their flamelike rays darting and dancing around. Finally Kazu Makino and the Pace brothers took the stage and started the set in this eeriest of settings. Kazu wore what can only be described as a white Star Wars-esque mask with long, flowing strands of blonde hair where the eyes should have been for the entirety of the first song. And as the second tune began, we got our first glimpse of the second, but equally dramatic as the first, lighting sequence. To put it simply, backlit bright as hell white lighting (not accurately depicted in the pictures below, because pictures of white light and almost invisible outlines of musicians just aren’t that interesting). Along with the fog that still permeated the venue and the flickering lightbulbs, it made for quite a haunting scene, perfect for the band that was in the middle of it. The show varied between these two lighting patterns but it never seemed to get old as the band worked through their slower tunes and their huge rockers with the same gusto for each. What surprised me most about their powerful set was just how loud they got at times, almost deafening during the encore.

Just as I had suspected, the night was unlike anything else I’d seen, especially at the Magic Stick, from the very moment we stepped foot in the upstairs venue. It was a full sensory experience to say the least, and one I was glad I got to share with 4 good friends on a random Monday night in October. We all decided it was the perfect start to the week.

Oh yeah, and we also met what I can only describe as metro Detroit’s #1 Blonde Redhead fan. Sameer – if you’re reading this, what up?

Blonde Redhead – Elephant Woman