Live Review: Nosaj Thing at Jack Rabbit Slim's

I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect from Jason Chung (Nosaj Thing) on April 20. I do know I definitely wasn’t expecting what I experienced, and I’m still not totally sure how I feel about that.

The night got off to a good enough start, with locals Intern Hook Up providing a solid DJ set to the handful of people who got in early. Hi. Ok, Sorry. were next on stage, with a mesmerising set of dark synth sounds that would slot right into an episode of Stranger Things. Their captivating sound provided an early highlight on the night. Max Black immediately took over, providing a DJ set full of emo rap, hip hop staples and ‘Where is My Mind?’ by Pixies. And then, finally, Nosaj Thing took stage, immediately starting as soon as Max Black left as the opening acts had.

Here’s the thing. If I happened to walk into Jack Rabbit Slim’s on a random Friday night out, not knowing who or what Nosaj Thing was, I would have been very impressed. His set was a high-energy tour of impressive club sounds, giving the crowd plenty of reasons to dance. He’s obviously a very talented artist, seamlessly blending sounds and samples in ways you wouldn’t expect and pulling it off easily.

Except that I know Nosaj Thing, and so I was a bit disappointed. The set was billed as an album-tour date for Parallels, but it felt more like a Boiler Room show. Apart from the odd sample borrowed from his catalogue, nothing he played was recognisably his. It was mostly indistinguishable from any other slightly-moody club DJ you might catch.

I waited around the whole set, unable to really immerse myself in the experience. I kept waiting for him to drop one of his more moody, introspective tracks like ‘Cold Stares’ or ‘Eclipse/Blue’. Maybe if I was in a different mood, I would have liked it more. And besides, maybe it was just my friends and I that were disappointed; most people seemed to not mind dancing along. But all in all, it just felt like a good electronic music set, not a Nosaj Thing set.

At a few minutes past midnight, Nosaj’s set ingloriously ended. With just a brief moment of muting the music to wave to the crowd and get a few claps, he was off, unceremoniously replaced by a house DJ. An anti-climactic ending to an anti-climactic night.