The excellent new Justice live album, Access All Arenas, is streaming on Spotify today. It’s an 80 minute set recorded at Nimes Arena last year, with the duo reworking album tracks into an epic and visceral 14 song medley, breathing new life and fire into all of them.
And a recent documentary on the Justice’s immense live show production here:
JUSTICE ANNOUNCE LIVE ALBUM ACCESS ALL ARENAS COMING THIS MAY
HEAR LIVE VERSION OF “On’N’On” HERE:
French electronic music titans Justice have announced a new live album, Access All Arenas, set for release via Ed Banger / Because Music / Vice / Elektra on May 7th. The 14-track album is a recording of their show in the Nîmes arenas last July, offering a taste of the wild effervescence that makes this duo one of the most exciting electronic live bands of the decade. Album art and tracklisting below.
In 2012 the Audio, Video, Disco tour sold-out in a matter of days, comprising 105 shows that spanned from Australia to New York, Europe and South America, and resulted in the strongest performances of their career. The duo’s immense live presence stems from their live reworkings of album tracks, as well as powerful stage and lighting design, as detailed in a live documentary that made it’s debut on Jay-Z’s Life + Times today (link below).
ACCESS ALL ARENAS TRACKLISTING
1. Genesis
2. Helix
3. Phantom
4. Civilization
5. Canon
6. D.A.N.C.E.
7. Horsepower
8. New Lands
9. Stress
10. Waters of Nazareth
11. Audio, Video, Disco
12. Encore
13. On’N’On
14. Phantom Pt. II
If you ever wanted to know what beautiful chaos was then the one place for you to check out would be Lollapalooza. Within the magnificent Grant Park, there is another dimension where cell phone service is lost amongst the crowd, everyone is looking for these mysterious people Lucy and Molly, cut off shorts and cut up shirts is the suggested uniform, and literally anything goes. One thing is for sure, everyone Is there to bask in the comfort of some good music. Whether it was basking in the sun at Of Monster’s and Men’s Sunday or swimming in mud at Skream and Benga’s set, people made sure that they made most of their time.
Although Black Sabbath, Wale, Bassnectar and the Black Keys were headlining on Friday, I think the real headliner of the day was the sun playing a full set all day. Still as dedicated as the Lolla crowd is, they raged harder than ever under the beaming sun, really kicking up the energy for Zedd’s amazing set. The German producer played an extremely high turbo electro based set that had the crowd going completely insane with his mix keeping everyone on their feet.
The highlight for Friday had to be Die Antwoord’s South African zef/rave set that was just as theatrical as it was pure genius. DJ Hi-tek donned his infamous prostethetic mask from the “Fok Julle Naaiers”, while pumping out their hit tunes from his PC computer. While half the audience were clearly diehard fans, most were just curious cats making their way over to the set based on the buzz that has been going on in the blogosphere. While confused eyes looked on while they broke into “DJ Hi Tek will fok you in the ass” poured out the speakers, soon Die Antwoord had everyone moving to their vulgar tracks. Yo Landi of course captivated everyone with her helium voice and huge charisma.
Saturday started off as sunny as ever at Perry’s with the growing crowd happily raging to the infectious sound of SALVA and Star Slinger before impending doom began to take over the skies. Before you knew it, rumors of evacuation began and people looked around in confusion until it was obvious that this was real. As waves and waves of people exited Grant Park, there was speculation on whether or not we would return. “What! I’m too drunk to move!” said the guy beside me, which was probably many people’s sentiments.
Alas, the crazy storm cleared leaving us with mud and pent up energy, so we returned back to Grant Park only to rage harder to an unbelievable set from Skream and Benga complete with a giant mudpit at Perry’s and mudslinging. Things got insane when their set ended with “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and angsty people (me included) mosh-pitted in the mud with the essence of Woodstock. With the schedule pushed back people still got to see amazing sets from headliners Red Hot Chili Peppers and the ever enchanting Santigold, as well as the other favorites on all of the stages.
Finally Sunday had arrived, and although people were starting to feel the soreness from two days of nonstop partying, it was the final day to enjoy everything Lolla had to offer. A blaring sun promised an amazing day ahead, and Nadastrom got the crowd going with his Moombahton beats, shortly after Little Dragon came on stage while the sun was in full force. While most stood in the shade to enjoy her sultry jazz influenced voice, the brave ones stayed in the middle to enjoy it. Although the sun had dried up most of the mud, there was still a pretty thick amount of the stuff right smack dab in the middle of Perry’s, people took advantage of it, especially for the craziness that ensued during Doctor P’s heavy dubstep set.
Dubstep reigned that day with another excting set from Canadian duo Zeds Dead with their go-to MC Omar Link hyping up the crowd with the bass heavy dub-rap. The real treat for electronic fans came at night when the anticipated set from Justice blew minds with their heart pounding amazing grainy electro sending shock waves and lightening through the feets of a throbbing crowd. A perfect way to end one of the most chaotic and amazing weekends ever. Perry Farrell, I can’t wait to see what you do next year.
It is Sunday, August 5th. The last day is always bittersweet. You have officially survived two days of some of the most beautiful chaos that you will ever experience, but sadly this is the last day you will be able to rage out in Grant Park until another year approaches. Sure you are feeling tired, but you know that today is the day that you must release all of your energy to give a lasting impression.
This day there are plenty of acts to rage to that span plenty of genres, with the main focuses being on hip hop and EDM. For a taste of some infectious Moombahton, people should definitely check out Nadastrom’s 2:00 pm set over at Perry’s. In the hip hop realm, Roc Nation signee J. Cole will be hitting the Budlight stage at 4:15 pm to perform fan favorites and deliver some hard hitting lyricism that he is known for. Meanwhile Doctor P will be at Perry’s at 4:30 pm making the crowd rave their hearts out for his fat dubstep tunes.
Dubstep takes over with another set that you can’t miss with Canadian duo Zeds Dead, busting subwoofers with their signature gritty bass. You can expect to hear tunes from their freshly released The Living Dead EP, as well as the favorites that made them shoot to the top in the EDM world. As day turns to dusk and the sun goes down, highlighting Chicago’s amazing skyline, the headliners take the stage. This is where the biggest conflicts of the whole night come into play.
Kaskade, Justice, Childish Gambino, and Jack White are all scheduled to play at the same time. While rock listeners will most likely make their way to see Jack White, and hip hop fans go see Childish Gambino, EDM fans are going to have a hard time to decide which one to choose.
Currently on his highly anticipated Freaks of Nature tour, Kaskade is known to bring beautiful melodic house music sounds that are high in euphoria and big on unity. French electro legends Justice sends festival fans into frenzies and judging by their latest album Audio, Video, Disco their live set is going to be crazy. Whichever one you choose, I’m sure it will be the perfect way to end an amazing Chicago festival.
As people clear out of Grant Park, I’m sure the same thing will be on everyone’s minds: Is Lollapalooza 2013 here yet?
Justice live at the PNE Forum, Vancouver, BC – April 26th, 2012
Electronic music has progressed immensely over the past decade, with acts becoming staples of festival circuits and standardized as soundtracks to more exhilarating film and television. The stereotypical DJ set up has also evolved, from your once upon a time DJ just with his turntables to MPC’s, decks, elaborate visual stage arrangements and considerably more.
France’s Jus†ice (scheduled to begin at 9:30) started bang on time, wowing their immense audience in Vancouver’s packed PNE forum. Their signature cross logo stood in the middle of a gigantic mixer, sandwiched between over thirty feet of subwoofers. Despite only having two album’s worth of their own material, remixes and simplified versions of their songs were spliced in between song’s original versions and mash ups of other hooks. Each song ended up submerged by pounding bass and a superb light show.
The concentrated energy by the crowd seeped throughout, even entering the washrooms where over enthusiastic fans couldn’t help but use the light switch to further the light show experience. Thankfully I was sober enough to know how to aim.
Although certain electronic groups translate their music into renditions with traditional instruments, Justice remain with their hardware; the two of them and an astounding technical set up. With that said, the duo have enough surrounding them to provide more than a little visual stimulation.
Of course the duo performed various versions of “D.A.N.C.E.”, “Civilization,” “Stress” and “DVNO,” but the personal highlight was “Genesis” – the entire lighting theme turned to infuriating shades of deep red and red screens, alongside of the cranked volume one couldn’t help but be hypnotized.
If you leave a Justice show with perfect hearing, you weren’t standing in the crowd or near the stage. These DJ’s put on a fantastic live show.