Chromeo
Photos By: Arlene Ibarra
By: Becky Foreman
The lights dim in the already-packed venue, and then you hear it: “Chrom-e-oh, oh-ohhh”. (Think the Wizard of Oz monkey-chant meets 80’s-esque funk-rock). Their INTRO has begun! The transition into their first full song, Night by Night, blends seamlessly and so begins the dance party.
Dave 1 and P-Thugg make up the duo that is Chromeo, and they’ve brought the funk to San Diego this Wednesday night. In an all-ages venue that can be hard to fill, they’ve managed to do just that. The crowd spans from the front of the stage, enveloping the sound booth in the middle of the room, and even lining the back walls and staircases. There is no shortage of energy in the room tonight as the duo brings the action onstage; accompanied by their signature keyboard (held up by two lit mannequin legs), of course.
Their set list boasts an impressive mixture of songs ranging from 2010’s ‘Night by Night’, 2007’s ‘Fancy Footwork’, to their latest songs from 2014’s White Women album. One thing to know heading into a Chromeo show, is that you are in for a sweaty, dance-filled evening and tonight is no exception.
Chromeo performances have a way of making people in the crowd engage in dance-battles and soul-train style conga lines they wouldn’t ordinarily be a part of. Our particular corner of the floor had us busting out the robot during “Night by Night”, swaying our hips to the sexy-smooth sounds of “Over your Shoulder” to creating a human limbo during “Jealous”, in which half of the back of the room jumped in on. An encore brings the retro “Old 45’s” off of their latest album, and the night ends with the always catchy “Don’t Turn the Lights on” (really guys, please don’t, we want this to go on forever), before closing things out with “Needy Girl”.
All in all, whether it is nighttime in the desert of Coachella, a blow-up inflatables dance party at Sasquatch Festival… hell, even a DJ set in front of a San Diego pier… it doesn’t matter where I’ve seen them. Chromeo is a band that never disappoints. You’ll always have a blast, and they’re sure to make even the shyest of show-goers bust out their fanciest of footwork.