The French D.J. Breakbot, a.k.a. Thibaut Berland, opened up for Justice at the Paramount Theater on Wednesday, April 25th. He soothed and swayed the crowd with his subtle grooves, to a subdued response at first. He worked his best known song, “Baby I’m Yours,” smoothly into an already infectious beat, at which point the crowd woke up a bit. Finishing with remixes of “Ni**as in Paris” by the Watch The Throne super duo of Jay-Z and Kanye, and “Thing for Me” by Metronomy, Breakbot left the stage having won the crowd’s hearts.
Taking the stage in true Justice fashion, in pitch black with a lone beaming cross, the first notes of “Genesis” began, and the crowd roared with adoration. At the first drop of the beat, a wave of bass hit the crowd, causing everyone to let loose and move, crashing into one another. Ecstatic faces pressed up against the front bar, lit only by the epileptic flashes of the band’s strobe lights. Despite needing to concentrate on shooting, I was grinning from ear to ear and dancing in the dark intervals between songs. They churned through tracks from their new album, Audio, Video, Disco, such as the single “Civilization,” and the intense, building title track. At one point in the performance, the stage setup actually split apart and a beam of light shot out from behind the cross. The parting facade revealed a backlit piano which Gaspard Augé sat and played with his back to the audience, facing Xavier de Rosnay.
Though this new album may be lighter on the ears than their debut Cross, Justice have mastered the audio, the visual, and the disco elements necessary for a truly energizing electronic experience.
