A review from their performance at NYC’s Webster Hall.

Ever since I started listening to M83 a few years ago, I wondered how their sounds would translate live. The lush sonic landscapes with dreamy vocals, textured sound, layered guitar over spastic drumming sounds over speakers, but I was nervous how a performance would compare. M83 produces great ambient sounds that can be perfect for late nights in dark rooms with the appropriate state of mind, but a live performance could generate some different results.

From the opening sounds of “Run Into Flowers”, in which my friend Franny leaned over to me and said “this concert is going to be pretty awesome” I knew the night would not be a let down.

When a band has a large discography I always hope they play the songs I want to hear and M83 did just that. “Run Into Flowers” was the perfect opening number and led into other greats like “Kim and Jessie” “Graveyard Girl” “We Own the Sky” “Moonchild” “Don’t Save Us From the Flames” and the apparent fan favorite “Teen Angst”. The show was almost a playlist off my iTunes and I could not have been more pleased.

The group just sounded so great together. The pre-recorded voice samples were a nice touch and still played out well live. As did the explosive live drumming, which was utterly fantastic.

Perhaps the only complaint of the night was once again the mix at Webster Hall. The band did such a great job of creating their sound live, but the volume just was not loud enough. The music needed to encompass the room in order to achieve the full ambient layers that M83 are known for achieving and it just did not happen. It seemed to become a little louder as the night progressed and when the final songs jammed out the crowd was able to get fully into the mood and by the time “Couleurs” closed out the night the audience was slowly dancing the night away.

Photo by Sam Frank