Whether you feel like raving this weekend to some dance music, or just drifting to a menagerie of ambient jamming, Lotus offers options at the Majestic. Valentine’s Day is over, meaning it is time to ditch the sweetheart for some great opportunities to show love for electrojam grooves, following sets of some Madison locals.
Madison’s Majestic Theatre marks two legs of a tour in support of their recent double EP release, Feather on Wood and Oil on Glass. New material fits into the crowd support equation, but for electro-rockers with deep set jam roots, every show brings improvisational freshness. Think Ratatat with more variety and festival appeal.
Great things come in pairs. There are two nights of Lotus, their double EP, and now a first and second helping of Madisonians for warm-up acts. Or more accurately, fire-up acts. How can you go wrong?
Some bands dabble across genres throughout a career, or at least spread experiments into foreign audio territory across an album. “Some bands” aren’t Steez, who cram a repertoire of influence into a single track like skillful schizophrenia. From dub horns to funk jams, Steez will get the party going with a tropical rave. The pre-Lotus forecast is steamy, and it will only get hotter.
Both nights, a UW-Madison DJ who goes by the name of Basic Physics will be schooling the masses in some DJ mixology, perfect to wander into before Lotus. An upcoming debut release may add to his spin charisma, which has been catching attention across the Internet and internationally. A gig in Sweden and a Chicago spot opening for legendary DJ Logic are recent additions to his resume.
Basic Physics provides the hip hop party, but there is still something for the hippies each night. Having similar influences to Friday’s Steez, Baghdad Scuba Review bring more of a chill factor to Saturday’s show. That’s not to say they are watered down, they just have the pure jam stylings that form the other end of the music spectrum found with Lotus.
The shows start at 9:30 on Fri. and Sat. Tickets were going for $16 for one night, and $30 for a full run, but they are currently sold out. Keep those prices in mind when dealing with scalpers. This may be the last opportunity to see Lotus locally before the summer festival season, so it’s worth a shot to try and get in.
