Photos By: Josh Claros
By: Joseph Macrae
Sppppaaaaaaaaaacce! Flying Lotus played his first show in % San Diego since 2011 to a sold-out crowd at the Casbah, and the set was amazing.
Since he was already in town for Comic-Con, he linked with the members of the Casbah and was added to the bill, which orginally just included Peaking Lights. The last minute addition of Flying Lotus, announced the Friday before, caused tickets to quickly sell out by the following Monday. Flying Lotus usually performs at huge festivals all around the world for thousands of people, so to catch Flying Lotus at an intimate venue that maxes out at 200 people, I knew right away it was going to be such a privilege to see such a talent in such close quarters.
There was a real sense of energy and excitement in the air, as the crowd was ready to go nuts for this rare and first-ever Flying Lotus Casbah performance. Although it wasn’t his usual 3 layer show, he was still able to show off his insanely psychedelic graphics, that you sent you into another world, while getting lost in his ambient sound. With old songs and new songs off his upcoming album You’re Dead, he played classics off of Cosmogramma such as “Do The Astral Plane” and “Zodiac Shit”. Flying Lotus felt the Casbah’s love, stopping in the middle of his set and said “Man, I feel you out there, this feels like Low End Theory in LA… maybe a little bit more ghetto but its cool, I like it,” he said in a joking manner. It was only a matter of time until Captain Murphy made an appearance, playing “Between Friends” featuring Earl Sweatshirt towards the end of his set. He stepped out from his booth and did his Captain Murphy verse, with the crowd feeling every word.
The surprise of the night? Thundercat joining Flying Lotus on stage. Thundercat had actually been lurking throughout the Casbah the whole night, checking out some of the local bands. Thundercat got on stage for his song “Oh Shiet, its X!”, and the psychedelic funky jam sent the crowd into an assortment of crazy and wild dance moves.
As Flying Lotus wrapped up the show and said goodbye, the crowd kept applauding and applauding, making sure he felt the love. I dont know if Flying Lotus will ever play the Casbah again but one thing is for sure, his live show is something else.
