Big Data excites audience with impressive performance

There is something exhilarating and peculiar about listening to electronic music — it is a genre molded out of technology, through the use of synthesizers and electronic instruments. When performed live, the final product provides a stimulating experience that intoxicates listeners, which is exactly what Big Data and RAC, or the Remix Art Collective, did at their performance Friday night at Club Nokia.

The Friday lineup of openers included Karl Kling, a former member of RAC; Filous, an 18-year-old Austrian remix artist; and Geographer, an American indie rock band. These artists set the mood in Club Nokia, an intimate, 2,300-seat concert venue.

The high-energy music being played in such a small-scale venue allowed for greater surround sound and a truly galvanizing experience.

Big Data, an American electronic music project produced by Alan Wilkis, set the stage with computerized data simulations, giving the impression that the performers were robots themselves. This was supplemented by synchronized dancing by lead singers Alan Wilkis and Liz Ryan. Big Data performed their hit song, “Dangerous” featuring American indie rock band Joywave twice — opening with the Oliver Remix and closing with the original version.

Vivid graphics were played as the backdrop to accompany their eccentric style — specifically with “Get Some Freedom,” displaying America’s Uncle Sam pointing his finger at the audience and the depiction of other political innuendos. The song, as stated by Big Data on Facebook, talks about technology as a tyrannical dictator,  supposedly affording freedom to his people “as a means to control and enslave them.”

Big Data’s music and what they represent can be described as a paradox — they criticize and express distrust in technology, yet their music style and structure relies heavily on synthesizers and is computer-based. This reinforces the idea that technology is inescapable, as humans have become addicted to it.

It was clear who the audience really came to see as the ground level of Club Nokia reached its brim by the time RAC opened with their upbeat remix of Joywave’s “Tongues” featuring Kopps.

RAC is solo indie-electronic project of André Allen Anjos. They are an ever-changing group of artists who reinterpret and remix songs by other artists. During their performance, the group switched singers four times for certain songs in accordance to varying vocal styles for each song.

The crowd erupted with approval during their remixes of familiar songs such as Two Door Cinema Club’s “Something Good Can Work” and the ODESZA cover of “Say My Name.”

There was a guest appearance by Chelsea Lanks, an American electro-pop musician, who sang RAC’s remix of “Can’t Forget You,” from RAC’s newest album, Master Spy, released in September.

RAC also performed top hits from last year, such as “Hollywood,” featuring electro-pop Penguin Prison, “Let Go,” featuring indie-rock Kele, indietronica MNDR and “Tear You Down,” featuring indie rock musician Alex Ebert, which had more electronic-pop undertones than their newer album.

The energy of the room, dancing and wave of glow sticks in the air accompanied the powerful and heart-racing music well. In fact, one of the group members made an appearance by running through the crowd and building up excitement.

Both Big Data and RAC had exhilarating performances — each with their own style of electronic composition. LED lights displayed in arrays of lines crossing framed RAC, accompanied by sporadic spotlights that matched beats with the songs.

The theatrics of this concert and the passion with which the artists performed is what made this concert an overall success. With the advent of technology, electronic music is a product of this growing generation.