Plastikman Live @ Lowlands

Written by Marijn van Laerhoven

After shows in Germany, France, Spain and the United States it wasn't until the mid of August until Richie Hawtin brought his Plastikman live show to the Benelux. First at Pukkelpop in Belgium (Friday, August 20^th), then at the Lowlands festival in the Netherlands (Saturday, August 21^st). We saw Plastikman at the Bravo stage of Lowlands.

Lowlands is a very popular music festival and that's an understatement. In fact, it's the most popular multi-day musical gathering in the Netherlands with the event being sold out months in advance. This year the festival had its 18^th edition and all of its 60,000 tickets had long gone out through the digital ticket channels. Every year Lowlands sees a very diverse lineup, programming nearly any kind of music (but also comedy and theater). This year Anouk, Placebo, The Bloody Beetroots, Pendulum, Die Antwoord, Deadmau5, Massive Attack, Magnetic Man, Ed Rush and Dave Clarke, just to name a few. We came in on Saturday, mostly to see the Plastikman show, but then again we also greatly enjoyed the beautiful vibe this festival brought amongst its visitors.

The Bravo stage had nearly gone empty after a great and hectic performance of The Bloody Beetrots. Delta Funktionen played some neat techno tunes while other people were working their asses off to get the Plastikman canvas up in time. As the beginning of the show came closer it started to look like we would have Plastikman mostly to ourselves. But, we were wrong. Many people from around the festival did find their way into the massive tent. The show begun around ten in the evening, and boy were we in for a trip. Not necessarily a trip down memory lane especially like a psychedelic trip. Plastikman allowed anyone to experience an acid trip without actually taking any illegal substances. The way sounds and visuals moved together, it all seemed so surreal. Pretty damn intense, and people seemed to dig it just as much as we did.

While we were having our minds blown off we would almost forget about SYNK. SYNK is the official iPhone application to go with the Plastikman live performances. We made sure beforehand that our iPhone was fully charged for the show. Just in case anyone was out of battery, Lowlands did have a proper recharge station located in front of the festival entrance. First we connected to the Plastikman Wifi hotspot, and then we launched the SYNK app. Before we knew it, we were looking through the Plastikman cam. Hawtin looked like a busy man with lots of controls at his disposal. The beats and the visuals, make no mistake, were all live.

The show was a blast and time went by rather quickly. There is no point in describing it minute for minute. Plastikman live is something any electronic music fan should experience for himself at least once. Don't expect anything near your traditional DJ gig or live show, not even expect anything like a Richie Hawtin gig. Expect the unexpected and go into it with an open mind, and you will be blown away. In the encore the Plastikman revealed himself to the audience. Armed with an iPad, Plastikman now took place in front of his canvas, rocking to his own Spastik beats. The crowd went crazy too, including ourselves. Wow! Richie, Deriative and M-NUS really outdone themselves and we wait impaitantly for whatever projects lie in the future. Until then, go see this unique show while you still can.