Chromeo, Chromeo where for was thou Chromeo?

I first heard Chromeo while looking up info on DJ A-Trak and found myself introduced to a very distinct style and sound. The first song I heard was "Fancy Footwork", the title track off their 2007 album by the same name. "Fancy Footwork" is a fun electro-pop song that was catchy but had a beat that any hip hop head could respect and before I knew it was I listening to the whole album. Next it was to explore their prior releases and so began my love with the tracks "Needy Girl", "Rage!" and "You’re So Gangsta". After the success of Fancy Footwork, and multiple performances on numerous late night shows I half-expect a follow up right away but alas no such luck.

Fast forward to 2009 and Chromeo releases a cover of "I Can’t Tell You Why" (originally by The Eagles) and the world was never the same, or at least my world. Already a huge fan of the original song, the Chromeo version did the impossible of making me a bigger fan than before. When I heard a new single was making its way around the blogosphere I immediately went online in search of this new an amazing "Night By Night" single and sadly I wasn’t impressed with what I heard. The song is good but didn’t capture my attention like so many of their other tracks. On July 31^st I got wind of their latest single an hour before their show at Metropolis. I almost did not listen to the song for fear of being turned off by two singles in a row but "Don’t Turn The Lights On" was good and made me excited for what was to be an amazing show.

I got to Metropolis, got my free earplugs from the bar (one of the few venues I’ve seen do this) and made my way down to the floor. Neon Indian was on stage and doing their thing, interesting musical composition with a unique stage presence. I had not heard much of their music before but I did enjoy the part of their set I caught. As their set ended, the crowd started making their way to the front of the stage; I hung back and took in the throngs of hipster kids with lensless glasses and hats from another era as they pushed each other for prime viewing space. The venue went dark, the screaming got louder and Dave 1 and P-Thugg took the stage to some of the loudest screams I’ve ever heard.

Starting off with lyrics from the first song off of She’s In Control, 'This is a new sound/We came to get down/Our name is Chromeo/And we are in control' the crowd responded by yelling the lyrics along with the boys. Keeping everyone upbeat was the theme of the evening, following each track with another even more intense blend of vocoder, synth, guitar, drums and even some cowbell. By the time Chromeo performed "Tenderoni" the crowd had turned into the cave rave scene in the Matrix Reloaded movie. Wild jumping, slight gyrating and a lot of great crowd reaction, which was only matched by the reaction to "Bonafide Lovin’". Of course my favorite track,"You’re So Gangsta", was played, but sadly I feel the song did get cut short to fit in more new songs. "Night by Night" was another crowd-pleaser, I have to admit live the song did get me a little more into it. Absolutely the best song of the night for me was "I Can’t Tell You Why", which just made my night, seeing a venue full of people singing along to what I thought was not a popular song, I was gladly mistaken.

Overall the show was great, the crowd was fun (except for the three 20-something girls who were flirting with a guy in a cowboy hat….YES A COWBOY HAT!) and Chromeo did not let down.