m83 + Active Child - Wonder Ballroom (Portland, OR; Nov. 11, 2011)

Close your eyes and imagine what type of songs it takes to make 100,000 people sing out in reckless abandon. Think about how good they have to be, how perfectly coordinated and timed. Think about the outpouring of energy that is shed every time these vibrant souls hear their favorite played. Now think about seeing a show of this quality, and songs of this magnitude in a small venue. It’s yours if you go see M83. They are in take-no-prisoners mode right now, and they have a setlist of stadium-ready songs to prove it. As a fan, you could see this day coming the minute Saturday=Youth dropped. With that record, Anthony Gonzales transformed from a cinematic space drifter to a pop wizard hell bent on creating the type of nostalgic, glitter-gaze that makes Gen X and Gen Y go all mushy inside. This year’s Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming raised the bar even higher, by removing nostalgia and inserting adventure. Combine the two and you have everything you need to make people feel 10 feet tall. We left as giants.

What separated this show was the strength of the songs. Anthony’s newfound vocal confidence is the key here. When he belts out the chorus of “Reunion,” or screams out “the city is my church,” on “Midnight City,” he is making it known that he wants his act to be about something more than lush instrumentation. It’s like watching someone come out of their shell, only to realize they had this hidden talent all along. And since those vocals are backing what could be the best record of the year, the songs being played are mixing with the bombasticness of their live sound to create moments of pure escapism. You can’t help but be carried away by what you hear. It makes you want to do something bold like sing wildly out of an open window, or sell all of your possessions and jump two feet forward into the unknown. It’s like M83 studied up on what makes U2 work, but were smart enough not to poach the sound and go all Coldplay on that ass.

By the time they played a mid-set “Kim and Jessie,” all faces in the crowd held a look of surprised glee. M83 cultivated this mood by basing the majority of their setlist around the shimmery pop structures found in their last two records. Wise decision, guys. In recent interviews, Anthony Gonzales has said that touring with The Killers and Depeche Mode has changed his outlook on his live show. This shows in everything his group is doing right now. Observing those other bands, and the triple-deck swagger they beam out, has remade M83 into a honed machine. The setlist is tight, everything is accessible and the hits come one after another. The pacing might be the best part. They stack the powerhouses together and raise up frenzy through an onslaught of epic crescendos and pulsing lights. And then they release, and just when they should, they play a downtempo dreamer like “Wait,” and even it all back out before diving back into a pounding anthem. It’s an experience, and like I said before, it belongs in a stadium.

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