As I approached The Warfield on Saturday night, fans with blinking necklaces and bracelets engulfing their arms in every neon colour imaginable asserted that I was in the right place. About a year ago, a track titled “Relocation” on a Deadmau5 compilation introduced to an incredible artist whose music felt just like the artist moniker. Jon Gooch, more commonly known as Feed Me, is a melodic dubstep monster injected with glitch & electro breakdowns.
Live, Feed Me’s massive stage setup consisted of towering equidistant triangles at least twelve feet high. Thousands of LED lights completed the illusion of a floating monster’s grin. This setup only added to the overwhelming sensorial experience that felt like an electric shock releasing a rush of endorphins. The crowd screamed and the music began, a wave of bass permeated the crowd, and Feed Me began to… feed the crowd exactly what they wanted.
For the sole other photographer and I, those vaulted LED cliffs proved to be a nightmare when trying to get photos of the DJ at work. Later, I was able to capture from the balcony those moments when instinct kicked in and he got in the flow. It’s something every artist feels when s/he stops controlling the music and just lets it happen. It’s that moment when s/he becomes the brush or the instrument, along for the ride and everything previously learned and experienced is released, culminating in a synchronicity.
In this case, Feed Me rode out till the end and provided everyone in the Warfield an experience they wouldn’t forget.
Article and photos by Chris Redman