Last night, Amon Tobin brought his otherworldly show ISAM 2.0 to the Kool Haus. Having seen the numerous videos online of the first incarnation of the ISAM cubes, we sort of knew what to expect. However, all the videos and pictures one can take does not justify this masterpiece of visual art, sound and movement.
Brazilian DJ/producer Amon Tobin was signed by Ninja Tune in the mid-90s and has been a fixture of the electronic music scene ever since. Tobin’s latest work ISAM has really taken his performance to the next level, combining vivid projections on 3-D cubes with his unique style of electronic music, a mix drum and bass and experimental sounds.
From what we could tell the show was really in two parts, the first found Tobin inside the cube structure in a space suit; an appropriate outfit choice for the spacey atmosphere and projections. Building to a frenzied BPM and deafening bass, along with strobe and bright blue and red projections, we definitely experienced sensory overload. At this point Tobin left the stage in his space suit and came back for another set or perhaps an encore; finishing with more of his slick beats and incredible visuals.
The crowd didn’t seem to be dancing throughout his hour and 15 minute set as I think they were potentially too into the combination of the visual and audio performance. Tobin’s ISAM show really puts you in the middle of a piece of performance art and brings the live music experience to a whole other galaxy.
