Infected Mushroom
Club Cinema, Pompano Beach
Saturday, February 2, 2013
Better Than: That gut-wrenching stomach ache that comes from eating too many poisonous mushies.
Israeli psy-trance duo Infected Mushroom are veterans of the dancefloor scene, but in all their years of bringing the heat, we've never seen them like this.
Their newest album is chock-full of electrified, hyphy goodness. They pumped their energy level to a whole new high. But four-to-the-floor aside, the production level on this latest Fungusamonugs tour was honestly one of the most incredible things we've ever witnessed.
We got to the all-ages venue while Influence of XTa-C worked the decks. Like, every five minutes the MC would remind us, "you're still under the influence of XTa-c," and we were just kind of hoping it would wear off soon. Of course, this was more a point of fact than a punny DJ name for most of the audience, already sweating bullets and hunting down the nearest sap with a piece of gum.
Shreddie Mercury hit the stage at about 11:22 p.m., switching gears into a well-mixed hard electro set. He hyped the crowd with his body, jumping and waving his arms. We milled about getting our drink on, taking note of the diverse crowd. We were approached by a gay porn star at one point. You never know who you'll meet at Club Cinema.
At about 12:15, stage hands appeared to quickly disassemble the small DJ booth at the foot of the stage. Until now, performers had utilized a few feet in front of a big white sheet which hid the incredible stage design. The MC led the crowd in an "Infected Mushroom" chant which succeeded in getting us very excited.
"Who wants Infected Mushroom really fucking bad? 1, 2, 3?" he said inquisitively. "No, they said no, they can't hear you. They're going to sit there 'till you're loud and proud. Ft. Lauderdale, are you ready for Infected Mushroom?"
This time, the screams were more to their liking, and the great white sheet came down.
We saw it; two great spheres hovering in a giant screen, the insides of each contained one member of the Mushie group, glowing green from the inside. It came alive instantly. Projections of giant mushrooms popped on the screen, and we began a journey that would leave us totally and utterly mind blown.
As the set went on, the music got more encompassing, the visuals more astounding. Singer Duvdev worked the microphone, and although he was mostly unintelligible, we understood that he kept asking us to jump and show him out hands from time to time. He would come out from behind his spherical hub and spin around, singing to the crowd and jumping up and down like a real rockstar. Meanwhile, Eisen stayed put in his sphere, pumping out psychedelic synth lines and melodies to transport the trippy crowd to all corners of the mushroom kingdom.
