Friday at Jazz Cafe was packed out with music enthusiasts as Dorian Concept hit the stage. I won’t go into too much detail because we were lucky enough to have one of our friends Daniel (DJ/Producer) write a review on the night. This is the first I have heard from this genre but I gotta say I like it.. Read the review after the jump
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Amazing is probably the best word to describe Oliver Thomas aka Dorian Concept’s performance at Jazz Café. For those who don’t know he is an experimental multi-genre music producer and a genius keyboardist who came to fame on YouTube with his web cam recorded videos showing him improvising on a micro korg over different beats. His debut album When Planets Explode landed on the shelves in January 2009 with huge success in the scene. Since then he’s on the road to demonstrate live his unique keyboard playing technique and improvising skills for the masses.
I was going through Jazz Café’s monthly event list when I came across the add for this gig. Got my card out straight away to purchase two tickets as I really wanted to see this guy performing live after I saw those videos on YouTube. So got the tickets, of course the other one was for my girlfriend who I kinda surprised with it and I was just hoping that she’s not gonna execute me mafia style for taking her on a gig like this which’s not really her cuppa at all.
We got to the venue a bit after 11. The dj was already dropping garage and dubstep tunes to warm up the crowd, have to say worked really well as the dance floor was packed and my girlfriend started to shake away to some well known garage classics, execution postponed. Drinks promotion-vodka mixers/£1.90-just like on a student night, I preferred a couple of good old Coronas.
After a good hour on the dance floor the first act was due on stage, Blue Daisy and his MC. Took 20 minutes to eliminate all the technical difficulties meanwhile I started to have a bad feeling, and I was right. Unfortunately the crowd and the venue wasn’t the perfect place for this kind of experimental act as the crowd slowly started to leave the floor in the hope of it’s not gonna last long. Also Blue Daisy didn’t seem experienced on the gadgets and how to control those knobs so you won’t go deaf after 10 minutes because he killed your eardrum with some high frequencies punched up in the maximums. Thanks to the organizers who acted after 20 minutes bringing the Dj back in the booth and telling Blue Daisy to leave the stage. We got another 30 minutes of garage/dubstep for the enjoyment of my girl and then it was time for Dorian Concept to take the stage. He started of with one of his well known tunes leading on to classics like Tropical hands and Trilingual Dance Sexperience.
His performance was mind blowing on the keyboards, haven’t seen anyone playing like that before, specially someone who never really learned how to play. His improvising spots just came naturally in his set and kept you interested all the way during his show. He was rockin the crowd with his favourites and I think at this point the floor was most packed. Even my girlfriend said that it was nice to go out to listen to something different. As it was getting closer to 3am I was thinking about to make a move to be able to get a couple of hours sleep before I have to get up to get to work by 8am. Typical. Overall a good night, good venue(as we know), good warm up, awful first act, fantastic main act. All I can say is check out Dorian Concept next time he hits London, definitely worth it, at least once if you into the analog sound.
About Yang
There are so many young people in London without the right guidance in life and don’t know where to turn. My dream is to set up my own company lending support, guidance and advice to young people so I can share everything I have learnt and will learn in the future with people who need it. Anyone sharing a similar vision get at me, we need to talk. Follow me on twitter