ONEOHTRIX POINT NEVER - Levitation

Such a good line-up to kick off day one of Levitation between Yeule and Oneohtrix Point Never. I have been aware of Oneohtrix Point Never (Daniel Lopatin) for sometime now, though I haven't dove into his music much. I love showing up to shows where artists are critically acclaimed and I have no conception of what their show will be like. 

Daniels' set started about 5 minutes before he walked out on stage. You could hear the subtle nodes of a track building even though the lighting / stage had not been set yet. Oneohtrix Point Never’s stage was super minimalist in design only having a few synthesizers/modulators and a tablet. It’s important to mention there was also someone sidestage (I believe he was controlling visuals live) going H.A.M., bobbing his head and dancing. 

His set had some of the most intense use of bass I’d ever experienced - being right next to the stage it shook my entire body. The others in the pit were looking at each out like ‘holy s***.’ It wasn’t like the volume was that crazy loud, it was just the bass that was so powerful.  

The tones of Daniel’s set were ambient and more progressive electronic in nature - echoing a fine art experience. On-stage Daniel would control knobs on his panel to warp the soundscape creating a curated experience for his crowd. I love when artists have some individual control over a live set - it’s always the ones who understand the true essence of what music is. 

Daniel’s most recent release explores at length numerous soundscapes and ideas from his early career. The visual panel behind Daniel was next level conveying abstract symbolism and subtly exploring themes of his past on the Oneohtrix Point Never’s project. The live performance did echo a ‘what could have been,’ if his sonic path had differentiated earlier in his career.

I think it’s rare for artists to come back to their roots in this respect. Too often I see creatives discounting their early work and forgetting to look back on it. The way you perceive creativity in your early career is almost ‘more’ creative since you have no perception of what can and can’t be done. I’m glad to see such a talented artist come back to earlier sounds and exploring what could have been.