Reviews > Shows

Orchard Lounge/Future Rock, Music Hall of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY 7/10/09

After an early-bird Brooklyn crowd got a warm up from DJ Tucci and Digital Frontier, some of Chicago’s finest electronic pioneers, Orchard Lounge (OL) and Future Rock, took the stage.

While OL is a DJ collective comprised of Bethany “Queen B” Lokken, Spencer Lokken and Ben Silver, illness prevented Spencer and Silver from manning the DJ booth, leaving Bethany a solo performance. While the absent were missed, it was business as usual for Queen B, who proceeded to spin her unique hypnotic house-tech beats for the small but enthusiastic crowd. Once 11 p.m. rolled around, her set really took off as revelers threw up their hands in ecstasy while the Queen sampled “Also Sprach Zarathustra,” (theme from 2001: A Space Odyssey) before dropping the bass back on the audience.

A brief lull followed Bethany’s set before livetronica trio, Future Rock. While the stage was small and the room was far from packed, the group possessed a certain confidence that gave their performance a larger-than-life energy. After an upbeat rendition of “Torture” the group nailed a lively and vigorous “Reaching New Heitz.” This song served as a great introduction to Future Rock’s unique fusion of live instrumentation and electronic effects. The progression featured a driving bass line from frontman Felix Moreno underneath keyboard/synth player Mickey Kellerman’s high-energy melodies and synth washes while drummer Darren Heitz pushed the song into crescendo after crescendo.

The band also used computers to mix in live samples and loops, creating a huge sound well which the three could continuously draw from.

Toward the end of its set, the group busted out a punchy “Know Yourself” before bringing out guest vocalist Alyson Greenfield on “Understand the Sky.” It was almost intrusive to have a vocalist over the strictly instrumental project, but the band returned to form when they closed the set at 1 a.m. with a cover of Daft Punk’s “Robot Rock.”