The newly renovated Hollywood Palladium hosted Brooklyn-based electrock duo Ratatat last night. It was the first time they played Los Angeles since September. This time around they were minus keyboard/synth-man Jacob Morris (of prolific fro and crisp dance moves). Could it be that his stage presence meant more than his musical presence? His sounds were essentially sampled, dubbed or looped in, I guess. That can be an issue at times with Ratatat, at least for the live fan. I prefer seeing people on stage doing everything that I’m hearing, even if it’s just turning knobs or something. But, tonight it’s up to Ratatat members Mike Stroud and Evan Mast, and this is how they do it. Now get punch drunk on their Falcon Jab from LP3. It was even more powerful live:

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     Musically, the show was fantastic. Tussle opened very well with their unique beat, synth, percussion and who’s-knows-what mixing together to get your head bobbin’ and feet movin’, if you could move them. Therein lies the problem . . . dancing. The mongoloids that run the Palladium have adopted a formula for crowd control on the "dance floor" – issue wristbands to the first X-number of people. That rule instantly pooped all over the non-wristband crowd to start the evening. Of course I tried to hop the wall, but got snagged immediately. What, am I in high school?
     The problem is that the dance floor is lovely wood. But the 2nd class patrons were relegated to the carpeted perimeter, a surface not conducive to much more than toe-tappin’.
     Why couldn’t HP security just allow organized chaos and opposing personal space forces to naturally spread the crowd, which would be just fine? Why create this class-system that causes animosity between fan and venue and is a nightmare for the security guards? You really fucked up Palladium. There was no warning that such wristband hierarchy would be present. $29.99 isn’t enough to get on the floor? Los Angeles has an epidemic with certain music venues becoming overly strict. Last time it was the aisle control and camera patrol at the Music Box.
     OK, back to the show (which was great once I set aside the venue gripe). Yes, Tussle opened with some deeps cuts, including Night of the Hunter:

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     Ratatat did their thing, providing a fulfilling audio / visual extravaganza. It was sweet. It was menacing. It was dreamy. It was bangin’. The screen projected background effects were supremely entertaining (see Shempi). The addition of the six colorful light posts added flare (as is evidenced in the video below). Grooves were abundant. Epic tracks from Ratatat’s most recent LP3 were featured along with crowd favorites from Classics. Twas a good night overall, despite the inhospitable Palladium.

Ratatat