Fletchers was a small place in Baltimore that local bands played at, but sometimes had pretty cool national acts. The City Paper said "A DJ Shadow performance is something of a cross between a multisensory experience and a brief bout with schizophrenia—your brain overloads attempting to match the alien sounds skittering unpredictably through the speakers with the rapid motion of the DJ's hands. This is a good thing, and not surprisingly, a large, diverse crowd packed Fletcher's to its limits with bodies, smoke, and, eventually, some flailing limbs and nodding heads, thanks to the California-based Shadow. The show began with a set by local DJ Fluid consisting mainly of interesting techstep and drum 'n' bass-style tracks meant clearly for the dance floor. But save for a few lone ravers oblivious to, or undeterred by, the predominant vibe, there was little movement throughout Fluid's set. Few DJs doing a set of pure mixing could expect to set off a crowd waiting to see a whiz-kid turntablist like Shadow, especially in a non-dance-club environment like Fletcher's. But when Shadow came on, the crowd quickly sprang to life. He began his set with a friendly introduction and a thoughtful overture of what he'd be spinning in his set: some of his earliest solo works, newer material from the U.N.K.L.E. collaboration with James LaVelle, and lots of hip-hop by groups such as the Jurassic Five and Gang Starr. With this opening, Shadow set the tone for a night on which he proved that he has as many people skills with an audience as he has skills with the turntables. Throughout the first part of his set, the combination of old-school tunes with big, raucous beats and plentiful scratching and transforming tricks elicited audible excitement from the audience. Many danced with their eyes riveted on Shadow's hands as he pitched a single sound from a record up and down to create a melody, used four fast fingers on his fader to stutter a vocal sample, triggered echoes on particular words within a rap, and juggled perfectly delayed beats back and forth between two turntables. The large crowd clearly had as much fun dancing to live renditions of some of Shadow's solo tracks (such as "Building Steam With a Grain of Salt" from the Endtroducing album on Mo' Wax) as they did cheering Shadow when he broke out of the beat to show off. The most engaging part of the night, however, was Shadow's rapport with the crowd. He appeared to be sincerely enjoying himself, grinning when fans reacted to one of his tricks and coming out from behind his tables to slap hands with those in front. Frequently, Shadow grabbed the mic to address the crowd, explaining the origins of some of the songs he played or announcing his appreciation for Baltimore. His turntable skills alone demand respect, but as he proved here, it is charisma and accessibility that allow DJ Shadow to manipulate a crowd."

• published: 01 Sep 2014
• views: 845