Motion For Alliance (MFA) made their
debut Las Vegas Performance on Saturday April 6th at Legends Lounge. The Las Vegas Jamband Society presented this event and gave Vegas music fans a taste of MFA for the upcoming Area 51 Soundtest (MFA will be headlining the outdoor stage on Saturday 4/20). I had a chance to hang out with the band members before the gig. We sat in the Alley behind Legends as they put together their set list and I was immediately charmed by this kind group of visitors from Boulder, Colorado. An enthusiasm for the show they were about to play could be felt as well as excitement to be playing their first gig in Las Vegas. The people in Vegas had been getting familiar with Motion For Alliance and the warm reception given to the band made for an evening of mutual good vibes back and forth between the band and the audience....not to mention one of the headiest "Tecnorganic" evenings of music Vegas has seen for some time.
Motion For Alliance takes the "Tecnorganic" groove into deep spaces and the drum and bass backbone of this music lends itself to open improvisations that soar into melodic colorful ecstatic jams. DJ Jayem Cain gets a groove going on the turntables soon followed by the band who take the beats seamlessly and patiently into heavy jams that maintain a melodic structure throughout. Dancer/performance artist Giselle Ruzany accents all of the music with poetic vocals, percussion, stunning dance and spinning lights that add to the dance vibe of the show. This is great dance music and the merging of the progressive jamming and the DJ world make MFA unique and refreshing. They also lend themselves to the listening audience as their music involves intricate sections that peak and delve into space and improvisation. It's the coming together of many styles of music and a distinct original sound that sets them apart from many of the other techno oriented, drum and bass jambands on the scene. I would best describe this music as a merging of progressive rock music, like early Genesis and Pink Floyd with Drum & Bass, DJ beats and an improvisational jam sensibility that builds and breaks down into intense melodies.
For the first set of the night the audience was quiet and attentive and watched the band develop their spacey mellow jams into heavier pulsating rhythms. MFA slowly pulled the crowd in Legends to the dance floor halfway through their first set, myself included......it's hard to resist moving to this music! The grooves are infectious and the tapestry of sounds they weave has multitudes of layers that induce a sort of trance state and amazement at the same time. Once the band returned for set two everyone was ready to get down with MFA. The band returned to the stage and played a 2 hour and 20 minute set with only one break in music and by this time most of the crowd had gotten into the dance. As the band finished up the crowd called out in typical Legends fashion...."This is Vegas.....we're open all night...three sets!" The band happily agreed and busted out a third set that took the show well into the early morning hours. People I spoke to after the show were psyched about MFA returning to Vegas in only a few weeks for the Area 51 Soundtest. With bands like Particle and Netwerk: Electric sharing the bill with MFA, hopes are high for some sort of a collaborative Jam at the festival. Motion For Alliance makes electronic dance music accessible to a wide audience and takes the techno jam into deeper groovier spaces than straight electronica can do on it's own. This is truly "Technorganic" music that elevates your senses and provides for an intense dance experience.
Eric Kabik
JamBase | Las Vegas
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