Beats Antique & Sorne review / Emo's East (Austin, TX) / Nov 7, 2013
Published: November 15, 2013
By: Jacki Horne
Beats Antique graced Austin, Texas with its presence again for “A Thousand Faces Tour,” and the night was nothing short of spectacular. I’ve seen the trio several times in the last few years, but I must say that they have kicked the theatrical performance element up a notch in the presentation of their first concept album A Thousand Faces – Act 1. The show’s set list followed the album order, bringing the concept to life right in front of the crowd’s eyes. It was jaw-dropping to witness how intricately planned the spectacle was; the backdrop projections and lighting were drastically different for each track in order to convey the vibe of every song to a tee. The visual stimulation matched auditory satisfaction throughout the delightfully strange night.
Following the album order, David Satori and Sidecar Tommy took the stage with “Overture.” The background projections were psychedelically colorful and constantly changing as Tommy banged on the drums and David spun away sound manipulation to hype the audience up for and evening of expression, performance, and eccentricity. The crowd went insane when Zoe made her grand entrance during “Kismat.” She sensually moved her body around the stage like a snake to the exotic violin; the background also appropriately changed to a Hindu deity. Zoe effortlessly brings an intense presence to the stage and beautiful energy to the crowd; the magic woman was born with the gift of crowd-pleasing.
“Door of Destiny” was the highlight of the show. The performance takes society and throws a distorted, yet accurately tripped out version back at the audience. The background projections looked like a psychedelic Wheel of Fortune, complete with smiling 80’s looking housewives on the screen and rainbow colors. The “Door of Destiny” performance also required audience participation. Zoe ran out into the crowd and grabbed a girl to play along with the shenanigans. Things on stage progressively got stranger as the music got weirder into “Door of Destiny,” complete with dirty bass drops and “meows”. Zoe yelled out “You guys want to keep going down the hole?” midway through the song and a huge inflatable bear appeared on stage. Zoe danced with the huge bear as the audience participant shook him around by his arm. It was quite the fantastic sight to see.
I was really bummed that I missed ill-esha’s early set, and I hope to catch her in Austin soon. On the bright side, I was able to catch all of Austin’s own SORNE, who also put on a very conceptual performance like Beats Antique with a more medieval (rather than exotic) vibe. Since SORNE is from Austin, there was a lot of energy in the crowd during their set. Zoe Jakes also had a surprise cameo near the end of SORNE’s set where she came out and beat on the drum with the band members. Zoe’s cameo made the crowd go wild, and wait in anticipation for the Beats Antique trio to take over the stage.
David Satori, Tommy Chappel and Zoe Jakes just need to take over the world, already. There are few performances that compare to the magic of a Beats Antique show; the intricately crafted compilation of performance, music and vibes never fails to attract a beautifully eccentric crowd. I’m already waiting for the next time Beats Antique returns to Austin, and can’t wait to see what other tricks they will have up their sleeves for the execution of A Thousand Faces - Act 2.
Beats Antique graced Austin, Texas with its presence again for “A Thousand Faces Tour,” and the night was nothing short of spectacular. I’ve seen the trio several times in the last few years, but I must say that they have kicked the theatrical performance element up a notch in the presentation of their first concept album A Thousand Faces – Act 1. The show’s set list followed the album order, bringing the concept to life right in front of the crowd’s eyes. It was jaw-dropping to witness how intricately planned the spectacle was; the backdrop projections and lighting were drastically different for each track in order to convey the vibe of every song to a tee. The visual stimulation matched auditory satisfaction throughout the delightfully strange night.
Following the album order, David Satori and Sidecar Tommy took the stage with “Overture.” The background projections were psychedelically colorful and constantly changing as Tommy banged on the drums and David spun away sound manipulation to hype the audience up for and evening of expression, performance, and eccentricity. The crowd went insane when Zoe made her grand entrance during “Kismat.” She sensually moved her body around the stage like a snake to the exotic violin; the background also appropriately changed to a Hindu deity. Zoe effortlessly brings an intense presence to the stage and beautiful energy to the crowd; the magic woman was born with the gift of crowd-pleasing.
“Door of Destiny” was the highlight of the show. The performance takes society and throws a distorted, yet accurately tripped out version back at the audience. The background projections looked like a psychedelic Wheel of Fortune, complete with smiling 80’s looking housewives on the screen and rainbow colors. The “Door of Destiny” performance also required audience participation. Zoe ran out into the crowd and grabbed a girl to play along with the shenanigans. Things on stage progressively got stranger as the music got weirder into “Door of Destiny,” complete with dirty bass drops and “meows”. Zoe yelled out “You guys want to keep going down the hole?” midway through the song and a huge inflatable bear appeared on stage. Zoe danced with the huge bear as the audience participant shook him around by his arm. It was quite the fantastic sight to see.
I was really bummed that I missed ill-esha’s early set, and I hope to catch her in Austin soon. On the bright side, I was able to catch all of Austin’s own SORNE, who also put on a very conceptual performance like Beats Antique with a more medieval (rather than exotic) vibe. Since SORNE is from Austin, there was a lot of energy in the crowd during their set. Zoe Jakes also had a surprise cameo near the end of SORNE’s set where she came out and beat on the drum with the band members. Zoe’s cameo made the crowd go wild, and wait in anticipation for the Beats Antique trio to take over the stage.
David Satori, Tommy Chappel and Zoe Jakes just need to take over the world, already. There are few performances that compare to the magic of a Beats Antique show; the intricately crafted compilation of performance, music and vibes never fails to attract a beautifully eccentric crowd. I’m already waiting for the next time Beats Antique returns to Austin, and can’t wait to see what other tricks they will have up their sleeves for the execution of A Thousand Faces - Act 2.
