The Adventures of Opening for The Glitch Mob

Brede

What an amazing night! I don’t know if I can truly explain what an adventure it was to open for who I consider to be at the top of the game.

I’ve known The Glitch Mob since early 2009 when they played their first gig at Ace’s Lounge in Austin put on by Score More and Polaris Presents. After that, I interviewed them several times in Austin and Lollapalooza and have taken photos of them at several of their shows. They’ve always been nothing but friendly and open. edIT even donated one of his tunes to Neurovation, one of the first compilations that Gravitas ever put out. I’ve also opened for PANTyRAiD twice, once being myself, them and Skrillex at the Austin Music Hall to a sold out crowd and in 2013, they also donated a track to the Def Con compilation.

It’s been an absolute joy to watch them evolve and lead the way in our scene. Their album “Drink The Sea” was such a change for them that many people didn’t get it. With “Love, Death, Immortality”, they flipped the script once again and brought a whole new energy and vibe. With the creation of the “The Blade”, it’s no wonder the guys are getting top billing across festivals and sold out theaters.

I was lucky enough to get the call to open for both them and Tipper during ACL at the official after parties. The Tipper show was during the their first set on the 1st weekend and so I missed The Glitch Mob’s set at ACL. I really wanted to see the guys play the big stage so I arranged to go to ACL and watch the show and the plan was to ride back to Vulcanon their tour bus, setup, sound check and then play. I arrived at ACL and went back stage for a bit to say hello to everyone. The Mob went on stage and I watched the set from the sound board and the crowd built to a critical mass. They played just before Outkast and by the end, there must have been 50k people watching the show. Their set was damn near flawless and the crowd’s energy was as high as I’ve ever seen.

After they ended, I went back stage and we all got on the bus. We sat there for a bit and actually watched the set being broadcast via Redbull TV. It was pretty meta to watch them perform with them and to hear the guys, as any artists do, pick apart the performance and notice small issues here and there. It’s just another reasons the guys are so pro.

As time went on, I got a bit anxious and nervous about getting to the club on time. It was 9:15 on we had planned to leave at 8:30 or so. I said, I think I’m just going to grab a cab but their tour manager said, it’s really your best bet if you just stick with us because we need to sound check and all that. After some more nervous waiting, we were told that the bus could not leave the festival grounds because of how many people were leaving the festival.

In true rockstar fashion, we ended up with an ATV police escort with all of us on golf carts. We were then picked up by a car and taken to the club. We arrived through the back door at 10:05, I jumped into the booth, plugged in my gear and the doors opened. At least a 100 people came in right away. edIT then started to hook up all the gear and the booth was a pretty tight fit for a bit. Once he got all the gear setup and working, I was able to relax a bit and get into a grove.

So yeah, long story short, it was just a wild ride to see them play for 50-60k people and then a crazy rush to get to the club. I played for around 2 hours and recorded my set. Take a listen and leave a comment if you are feeling it.

Big thanks to Bobby Clay, C3 Concerts, Vulcan Gas Company, Cris Casper,Daysha Taylor and, of course, The Glitch Mob.

Check their pics from Austin City Limits.

The interview I did with The Glitch Mob on their first tour after releasing “Drink The Sea”.



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