Two songs into ‘s show at the on Thursday, the producer had grabbed one of his two drums and ran into the middle of the crowd. His neon fox mask glowing amid a sea of smiling, dancing fans, he rolled out the beat to his track on the floor tom. Climbing back on stage, the masked artist returned to his setup — a computer on his right with a table of electronics and beat pads and two clear drums in front of him.
Providing a visual and live musical element to what would otherwise be a traditional EDM show, Slow Magic plays out his thundering beats live with the finesse of a musician who trained his stick chops in a marching band. He shows an impressive sense of timing, keeping pace with the prerecorded beats. He shows that he’s an incredible multi-tasker, sometimes turning to the beat pads or knobs while hitting a drum with the other hand. He shows that he gets what’s wrong with most EDM concerts.
Most electronic producers are not performers. They hide behind expensive light shows and computers with their heads down turning knobs and pushing buttons. Sometimes they look at the crowd, sometimes the put their hands in the air. Slow Magic isn’t most electronic producers. The anonymous musician is as impressive a performer and an entertainer as he is studio wizard, crafting hook heavy dance tracks with jungle beats and powerful synths.
His music is smartly crafted, weaving in vocals and the occasional Top 40 sample sparingly and only when necessary. But, the most notable aspect of the Slow Magic sound is its emotional appeal. Like Disclosure who hit it big last year, Slow Magic brings emotion into the club. You’re dancing, you’re thinking, you’re feeling something that’s not just a frivolous urge to move. It’s in his chord changes — more indie-rock sounding than EDM. It’s in his construction, relying on dynamics to hit the listener rather than a relentless assault.
But, while the drums are a forward-thinking idea in the EDM world, it seems like Slow Magic needs something more. By the end of the show, the drums had grown somewhat repetitive and a little tired. With so many excellent synth and piano lines in Slow Magic songs, why not have a keyboard on stage, too? Adding another instrument would break up the show a little bit, providing another element and give the crowd a break from the drums. It’s possible to have too much of a good thing.
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Juli Williams is a Denver-based photographer and a regular contributor to Reverb.
