Show Review: Illitry & APOC at LIVELab

Last Friday your CFMU crew caught beloved Hamilton artists Illitry and APOC as they combined the worlds of sound and sight in a truly groundbreaking experience as part of McMaster’s LIVE Lab’s Series 10db. This in-house concert series in their one-of-a-kind research facility is your opportunity to experience the worlds of music and science combine in both an interactive and engaging atmosphere. Complete with a lecture by Allison Sekuler called The Brain’s Eye View of the World, we learned about sight/sound perception and the functionality of our amazingly complicated brains. We laughed and were blown away by the power of audience participation on the originality of the music and visuals created… we even got to play a little ball.

This series has been so successfully since it started that the Lab was able to host two packed shows, both complete with different audio outcomes depending on how the audience chose to collaborate. We were given tablets with interactive interfaces that allowed us to control sound in varying areas of the room. Depending on the colour coordination of your tablet, you could control the location and frequency that your particular sound created at strategic intervals throughout the show. When a pulsing circle presented itself on the screen, we knew it was the audience’s time to freestyle and add our own elements to the show. With the whimsical harmonies of Troy Witherow in partnership with Andrew O’Connor, the avant tunes created a truly hypnotic experience where every member in the audience was able to perceive something unique about what they heard and saw.

We passed the ball around, tapping it into the air and altering the tone/volume...

After the intermission, we got the chance to play around with an interactive beach ball that distributed sound with relevance to it’s position in the room. We passed the ball around, tapping it into the air and altering the tone/volume depending on how high it went or how far it traveled. Completely mesmerized by the action of this beach ball, we couldn’t help but laugh at the simplistic, yet ever-complicated motion of this interaction.

The LIVELab most definitely needs to be added your list of incredibly local places to check out. It’s intimate setting and high caliber line ups make it something you don’t want to miss out on! Their next show is April 6-7 with Cam Hill (Water Drum) and Chase (Hip-Hop). You can grab your tickets here.

Social Media Links:
Illitry – @illitry
Apoc – @aaapoc
McMaster’s LIVELab – @live.lab
CoBalt Connects – @cobalt_connects