Established in 2021, when most venues were holding on for dear life in their recovery from the covid pandemic, The Concourse Project has done nothing but thrive. In its first two years, it has received numerous nominations for Best Large Music Venue, as well as being placed #39 in the World and #8 in the US, by DJ Mag Top 100, landing its highest placing for a new entry.
These accolades are due, in no small part, to its developers, Andrew Parsons and Kelly Gray, a power couple who are no strangers to the ins and outs of music venues. For well over a decade Andrew Parsons has toured as a Tech House Producer, and Kelly Gray is the founder of The Gogo Gadggetes, a performance team that has been wowing audiences around the world equally as long. Together they have managed smaller music venues and RealMusic Events, creating a rich professional history that assures the sound quality and visual sorcery at The Councourse Project always remains enveloping and pristine. Also, Kelly Gray’s history and dedication to environmental conservation at every level of her business, assures you get to dance guilt-free.
Speaking of Magic, I would be remiss if I did not point out the miracle that The Concourse Project was able to keep its 18000+ sqft main event hall at a comfortable cool temperature, in one of the hottest heat waves in Texas History, even when the venue was packed wall to wall with enthralled dancers, proving this to be THE venue that touring artists should aspire to play.
The event was absolutely wall-to-wall with dancers as this performance was on a 360 stage mid-venue, providing a feeling of intimate closeness with the performers, but maintaining the clarity of sound and intensity of bass in every direction. A perfect setting for the enveloping musical and visual alchemy fabricated by The Glitch Mob, who have never been ones to arrive with just a laptop and headphones, instead they engineer mad scientist controllers with stunning light displays that dazzle as they create the music before your eyes.
Their set up this tour brought to mind the Translucent Technology Trend of the 90s where everything from your Game Boy to your house phone was a clear shell over lite brites on rainbow circuits, and we looked with hopeful eyes toward the future. That nostalgia was also echoed in spades across their newest album, Ctrl Alt Reality, which brings back the sounds of the rave scenes inception Era in the late 90s. Ctrl Alt Reality, expertly combines the signature Glitch Mob sound, with the drum and bass, breakbeat, jungle, and melodic tech house beats that originated in the Club Kid Scene, and assembled the dawn of the underground rave scene. As I listened to the album for the first time, it sounded like my treasured memories of Nocturnal Wonderland 1998, which was one of the provenance festivals of what is now known as the powerhouse, Insomniac Events.
I did have a brief moment to speak with edIT (Edward Ma), and Ooah (Josh Mayer), after their stunning performance, where they both cheerfully confirmed that late 90s nostalgia was on their hearts when they made Ctrl Alt Reality. We chatted a bit about our own experiences in the early rave scene, as well as one of our shared musical favorites of the Era, Rabbit in the Moon, and its legendary performance Icon, Bunny Eachon. I was grateful to have a moment to express my gratitude for being brought back to a simpler time when the EDM scene was an adventure and a community; a feeling that has been lost in the recent corporate cash grab of destructive and dangerous “festivals”. It was a blessing to find that throughout their double decades of musical genius, The Glitch Mob members remain as energetic, authentic, and humble, as their music.
While Boreta (Justin Boreta) was absent on this tour and its media, there has seemingly been no official announcement that he has split from the group at this time. Boreta has a passion for community leadership, and teaching others how to develop personal growth through music and immersive meditation; there is speculation this is what he is currently focusing on while the remaining members tour. The Glitch Mob has a history of interim members, such as Kraddy, and successful side projects, such as Ooah’s project, PANTyRaid, with Dj Marty Party, and edIT’s solo albums. One such album “Crying over Proes for No Reason”, is in my humble opinion, one of the greatest albums released in my lifetime. The members of The Glitch Mob have been very outspoken in their support of other musical talent and their choice of musical co-hosts, Brede, Lord Genmu, and ONHELL, this event only reinforced that loyalty to the community.
Brede (Jesse Brede) is a multi-genre bass music producer, with a fierce future vision. He is no stranger to supportive community, as he is the Founder of the successful artist collective Gravitas Recordings. With the mantra “Doing Good with Good Music”, Gravitas has developed such renowned members as Somatoast, Hello Yes, Ill-Esha, and Govinda. He is also the owner of Lions Share Digital, and the Founder of Pivotal Agency, which manages such talent as Beats Antique and CloZee. Brede spends so much energy helping foster the clarity of talent in our scene because he is a wealth of melodic, bass bin knocking, dance floor flooding, musical journey, and it is always a treasure to experience his unique and inspiring personal talent on stage, where his music is only outshined by his smile.
Lord Genmu, another Austin Local, is a bit of an enigma, having exploded onto the scene in the last year, with the drop of his first album, Sigils, he has already landed on stages as legendary as Lightning in a Bottle, and Caverns. With hypnotic feral bass, notes of trap balanced with west coast bass, and songs described as “love letters”, his music is stunningly singularly authentic. Though his history is as obscure as he keeps his face while performing, you can’t help but be entranced by his music, painfully curious about his lore, and endlessly excited for what we see from him in the future.
ONHELL (Angel Rubio-Hale), based on his Nom de Plume, has been accused of being “Satanic” music, completely missing the fact that ONHELL is the phonetic Spanish pronunciation of his heavenly name, but not completely missing the mark, as you may feel like you need a priest after you experience a dancefloor filled with his filthy beats. His music swings from the melodic feminine to the gritty masculine, from the velvet bass shadows to the bright highs of the dancing lasers, he expertly balances the contradictions with the unique grace he balances his personal etymology of his modern American upbringing from Mexican immigrants. OMHELL shows a commitment to celebrating the bright highs of partying and comradery within our community, with his newest album named Pechanga, meaning “Mexican Rager”; without ignoring the darkness in our scene, by offering access to life-saving fentanyl test strips on his site, right next to his signature salsa.
All in all, this was one of the most soul-reviving musical events I have had the pleasure to attend as our world reawakens from its pandemic chrysalis, and I look forward to bringing you so many more musical reviews in the future, so stand by, and stay tuned. –Lulu Deadly
Images by Tracy Ryan Fuller
Videography by Lulu Deadly
You can find links to these amazing musicians, and the venue, below.
- The Glitch Mob:
https://theglitchmob.com/
https://www.instagram.com/theglitchmob/
https://twitter.com/theglitchmob
https://open.spotify.com/artist/3a9qv6NLHnsVxJUtKOMHvD?si=RopnOi_mRruk3bSeAF2q9g - Brede:
https://bredemusic.com/
https://www.instagram.com/jesse.brede/
https://twitter.com/jessebrede
https://gravitasrecordings.com/ - Lord Genmu:
https://lordgenmu.bandcamp.com/album/sigils
https://www.instagram.com/lordgenmu/
https://twitter.com/lordgenmu
https://open.spotify.com/artist/1hVeyfiKrAOsS0ZwZg0tWm?si=yxcEHHUwQSKt-nih5a5I0Q - ONHELL:
https://www.onhellmusic.com/
https://www.instagram.com/onhellmusic/
https://twitter.com/onhellmusic
https://open.spotify.com/artist/66SJhirDGiBwr3tfvu3a0t?si=Gjonez11RRWFE07RqFeQnQ - Lulu Deadly:
https://www.instagram.com/luludeadlynftp/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRmjiIB7gbDi9xp-1MfO2Rw
