Page 72 - Zone Magazine Issue 018

eventreview eventreview
H osted on the cool Friday night of November 10th, Pardon My French stars Martin Bresso (Tchami) and the mysterious Malaa were set to perform in
front of three-thousand Las Vegas concertgoers at the World Market Center. “It’s all about the house music and it always has been,” a quote that best summarizes the “No Redemption” Tour.
Celebrating their new collaborative release “The Sermon,” many fans were anxious to see if Malaa and Tchami were indeed separate performers instead of just a shared alias created by DJ Snake, Mercer, and Mr. Bresso himself. With a last minute addition of Confession’s Dillon Nathaniel to the performers list, the lineup was set to celebrate an underappreciated form of EDM in the LV community, deep house.
Local promotional company Ravealation booked the massic WMC pavilion to house a merchandise booth, dedicated box office, two separate concession stands, portable bathroom areas, and a massive centerpiece stage covered in drapes. As expected, the dance floor was electric with shufflers, twirlers, and people stacked on shoulders. It was apparent in the dubstep dominated LV community that house music was still very much alive and fans were enjoying the eclectic yet dark sounds provided by opening performers.
A common complaint amongst concertgoers in any form of music is the lack of merchandising options at shows, something that surely was not an issue for No Redemption. Boasting several different clothing options, Malaa & Tchami’s branding was on point featuring several high quality cotton shirts, sweaters, gold chains, even ski masks, giving fans a range of materials to choose from.
Once rising star Dillon Nathaniel completed his bouncy, acid house based set, a fifteen minute intermission begun giving stagehands time to prepare a main riser for the headlining acts. Hidden behind massive curtains, the event staff moved the openers CDJs to stage right, pushed the headliners gigantic riser towards the front of the stage and awaited their cue. Once Malaa and Tchami were at their separate DJing booths, the intermission
music was cut, the curtains dropped, and revealed was the centerpiece of the entire No Redemption tour, the main stage.
The curtains exposed a separately themed but physically connected stage depicting half of a white chapel and half of an urban street setting. In their respective sides, Malaa’s CDJ booth depicted a concrete slab with the ski-masked extraordinaire ready to spin behind it. In contrast, Tchami’s themed portion was led by the church organ riser where his performance deck was set up. With LED boards behind chapel windows and chainlink fences, each respective DJs lighting panels would illuminate during their turn of the back to back set.
Song selections throughout the one and a half hour performance were carefully crafted to fit a formula. From beginning to end, the set started as a hybrid approach and moved further into each artist's’ more signature sounds before going back to a blended tracklist. Ending with their new release “The Sermon,” the evening was highlighted with a heavy Tchami portion playing his most famous future house records before Malaa blew the roof off with his wildly successful “Notorious.” Surprisingly, the unorthodox idea of completely different sounds mixing together worked well, and the LED panel lights efficiently showcased which DJ’s respective turn it was on the decks.
Malaa x Tchami’s entire premise for the “No Redemption” tour is good vs evil, the Church vs the streets, hinting at similarities by exposing contrasts. From the high quality, yet ruggedly designed merchandise to the carefully crafted set list, this event was one of the most meticulously detailed tours I’ve witnessed and as a marketing graduate, it was quite impressive. While the new EP is still forthcoming, if their collaborative music is anything as beautifully designed as the “No Redemption” tour, then fans will have a house music treasure to talk about for years to come.
Connect:
https://www.facebook.com/malaamusic/
https://www.facebook.com/iamTchami/
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Words By Jon Parker
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