LIVE REVIEW: George Clanton @ The Majestic
Words BY Easton Parks, photos by Sumire Shimada
George Clanton at The Majestic (Sumire Shimada)
George Clanton lives in the spirit of wherever he goes. The last time the synthpop artist was in Madison he was pulled over for drunk driving after playing Memorial Union’s Rathskeller. This time he dazzled Madison’s Majestic Theatre on Sep. 27 by playing new and old songs alike with entertaining rants dispersed in between.
The artist is shrouded in mystery. He runs his own record label, makes music that’s hard to put a genre tag on and does everything to a high degree. The 35-year-old musician is currently on tour supporting his recent album Ooh Rap I Ya. The majority of the setlist consisted of songs from his last albums Slide and Ooh Rap I Ya with satisfying transitions through synth passages and rants where he simultaneously talked about nothing and everything.
Before I get into the meat of Clanton’s performance it would be a shame not to touch on his openers, death’s dynamic shroud and Frost Children – both signed to his record label, 100% Electronica. death's dynamic shroud appeared very casually on stage and I didn’t even notice until people started cheering. Immediately, the audience was shocked by waves of electronic music and clever use of samples as the base of their performance. Layering on top of that base were then live vocals, electric guitar and two laptops with a table full of synthesizers.
Their performance was simple yet stunning, producing what could only be described as the most inhuman human-made music. They live within the 100% Electronica trademark sound with flavors of vaporwave but they reach outside the boundaries of that genre into psychedelia, noise and even ambient music. One particular song that got the entire crowd moving was “Judgement Bolt” which, at its core, is an electro house track with their trademark plunderphonics sound. This combination was amazing to see in person with all their equipment and the interesting pairing of their vocals working as different vessels for their respective songs. Not knowing what to expect from them and then being blown away was a great feeling.
The next opener was Frost Children who went full throttle before Clanton’s set. With a wide array of inspirations rooted in hyperpop, Frost Children take aspects of pop-punk and emo and add it to the digicore sound. While playing some instruments here and there, the duo was mainly up on stage to sing and jump around while their drummer played along with the tracks.
The duo’s mom was in attendance at the show so many shoutouts were thrown her way, and they also Facetimed their dad, who couldn’t make it, to show him the crowd. After death’s dynamic shroud’s “watch-and-listen” style Frost Children’s upbeat hyperpop got the audience off their feet at times. Catchy hooks and video game references in songs like “Fox Bop” make this group easily accessible and, in general, they were just a flat-out good time.
The moment the crowd was waiting for had arrived when George Clanton came up on stage. He started by addressing the crowd as “cheese-curd-eating liberal arts students,” and they loved it. Anticlimactically, a malfunction happened with the lights in the background which was promptly fixed, and told us he would come back on stage again to do it the right way. His reentry on the stage was just as satisfactory as the first if not more than the first go around. Doing the same bit he did earlier, the whole crowd was laughing and softened up to some of the more comedic moments of his set.
The setlist started strong with “Livin’ Loose” turning The Majestic into a party for the next hour. His drummer, Brin, laid down some great grooves behind the electronic drums already in the tracks while George sometimes played guitar or just sang along with his songs. The rants that went along with his set were an unforeseen benefit of his show. Talking about some of his recent shows, he expressed his grievances with front-row audience members who “never move,” and he congratulated one front-row audience member for dancing throughout the set.
The artist brought a custom light show behind him that extended onto three stacks of old televisions on either side of the stage making the show even more immersive. The performer made multiple entrances into the pit where he sang with people and poured water over them dissolving the boundary between artist and fan.
Clanton’s music lives in this carefully curated DIY genre-hopping underground vaporwave and baggy revival world where one can stay young enough to still think we can live forever. His show echoed and possibly restated that sentiment that if we can’t live forever let’s let loose and love live music.
From the openers to the stage design, George Clanton’s blood ran through the veins of the entire night which was notably obvious. Not only am I excited to see where Clanton’s aspirations take him, but I am now interested in where Frost Children, death’s dynamic shroud and the entirety of their label will be heading. 100% Electronica may always be ahead of the curve, but at least I got to catch up with them just for one night.
