Infected Mushroom at the Commodore, Jan 16 2010. Sandra Minarik photo.
Review – Infected Mushroom at the Commodore Ballroom, Vancouver, July 4 2009
– review by Amanda Hutchison
Straight from one of the founding countries of psychedelic trance, Israel’s Infected Mushroom brought hundreds of ravers to the Commodore last Saturday night. While everybody (and their moms) were catching Green Day at GM Place on Independence Day, the most obscure, out-of-the-ordinary crowd decided to catch one of electronic music’s most hyped duos bring their distinct sound to Vancouver.
Singer Amit “Duvdev” Duvedevani and keyboardist Erez Eisen set themselves apart from other electronic acts by enlisting a guitar player and drummer to tour with them. Unlike the normal DJ set where it’s just someone with their headphones and a couple of turntables, Infected Mushroom was up on stage with a band, but cranked out the same trance music a DJ would most likely spin.
Even though the band was interesting to watch, I couldn’t help but check out the crowd – there were platform boots, flowing dreadlocks, dudes with no shirts, girls with glowsticks around their wrists and ankles. They clearly were in their own worlds, dancing by themselves like nobody could see them, eyes closed. If you’ve never heard trance music before, the name probably makes you think of something along the lines of mellow “new age”, but in reality, it’s pumping basslines, massive sweeps, and heavy beat drops. The bouncing floor of the Commodore was definitely put into use as Duvdev conducted the crowd to jump up and down with a spare drumstick.
Being accustomed to alt-rock shows at the Commodore, I’ve come to expect a bunch of drunk, rude people in the audience trying to shove their way to the front row. This wasn’t even close to the case for Infected Mushroom – people were actually leaving pockets of space in the crowd for dancing. Although, there is one thing that a rock show has over an electro show – lights. There didn’t seem to be any evidence of a lighting crew for the group, which made things difficult for my observing mind, but the crowd didn’t seem to notice at all, as they were singing along at the top of their lungs, waving glowsticks, and holding up various flags (one for Israel, one for cannabis).
Trance music may not necessarily be my calling, but judging from Saturday night, Infected Mushroom has a massive following that couldn’t live – let alone party – without them.
