Concert Review: The Glitch Mob, The M Machine, Chrome Sparks @ The Danforth Music Hall

By: Daniel Gerichter (@ZenDonut) –

The Glitch Mob. (Photo: Neil Krug)

Speaking as a live music snob, it needs to be said that The Glitch Mob is one of the most explosive live music experiences ever.

EDM gets a bad rap, and there’s some compelling evidence against the accused: one-to-three dudes – pressing buttons and checking out a laptop – occasionally throwing a hand up and shouting at (insert city) to do the same.

And that’s just it: After a lifetime of guitar-drums-vocals shows, the “EDM is a brainless, talentless, instrument-less genre” train is an easy one to board. That is, until you come face to face with the likes of L.A.’s The Glitch Mob.

Openers The M Machine and Chrome Sparks did their best to warm things up. Chrome Sparks presented a product that’s similar to The Glitch Mob – a more chill combination of live drums and DJing, while the M Machine spun a standard (but groovy) brand of hard house. By the time both were done, the crowd savagely chanted the headliners’ namesake.

Made up of edIT, Boreta and Ooah, The Glitch Mob is no mere headphone-wearing, knob-twiddlers. Nor do they sport the same, boring DJ booth. In fact, there was even some concern among crew members that The Glitch Mob’s gargantuan, steam punk-by-way-of-the-SAW-movies stage setup wouldn’t even fit onto the Danforth Music Hall’s stage. By showtime, it was clear that it only had done so by a couple of feet.

The group’s setup is one of the many ways that The Glitch Mob has curbstomped EDM stereotypes. Each member’s digital console looks like something straight out of a Phillip K. Dick novel: touch-screen, oddly placed and constantly producing otherworldy noises. Then there’s the razorblade-shaped strobe light/drums. The three members alternate between manipulating their alien synths and attacking the numerous drums with an almost unnerving rage. What that makes for is a live experience that cannot, by its very nature, be replicated.  The Glitch Mob do not fuck around.

The group’s sound is on the dubstep side of things, but their influences clearly lie with industrial, punk, metal and hip-hop. While that’s clear on their latest, highly revered record Love, Death, Immortality, those songs must be experienced live. Even the world’s most banging stereo can’t fully replicate their stage show.

By the end of the group’s nearly two-hour set, the Danforth Music Hall was a sweat-drenched mess of a place, full of people who looked to be mid-exorcism – as opposed to dancing. The Glitch Mob’s set is visceral, unpredictable and intense. It’s also as much fun to dance to, as it is to watch.