Season Two of Pretty Lights Live Episodic Tour has been getting better every single week! The band is coming off their Season Two premiere at the Gorge Amphitheater in Washington, followed by a triumphant return to Red Rocks Amphitheater for Pretty Lights’ 9th consecutive year last weekend. This past Friday and Saturday, Episode Three returned to a familiar location. Pretty Lights Live brought thousands of fans back to the Huntington Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island in Chicago, Illinois as they did in September of 2016 during Season One of the Episodic Festival Tour.
The Season One stop at Northerly Island marked the debut of Brandon Butler (keys) to Pretty Lights Live, so the return of Season Two was exceptionally triumphant for the keyboardist. Butler is the cousin of Pretty Lights Live drummer, Alvin Ford Jr. who also resides in New Orleans. Butler’s joining of the band came only weeks after Butler met with the mind behind Pretty Lights, Derek Vincent Smith. Brandon Butler has played with Smith and some of the other band members before, but unbeknownst to him it was his audition for the new role in Pretty Lights Live. Butler landed the job and after seeing him progress with the band over the last year, it is no surprise to see why. Pretty Lights Live is a well-oiled machine that seems to now seamlessly transition through the massive Pretty Lights discography.
Episode 8 got off to a hot start on Night One when PLL opened with long-time crowd pleaser “How We Do.” Smith (production/analog) alongside members Chris Karns (turntables), Borahm Lee (keys), Brandon Butler (keys), and Alvin Ford Jr. (Drummer) then Flipped “How We Do,” showcasing to Chicago that while they still play old material, their improvised Flips on these tracks are constantly evolving. The rest of the night was full of Flipped version of Pretty Lights classics, while also incorporating samples from the Colorado Symphony Orchestra when they joined Pretty Lights at Red Rocks in 2014. These string samples added a depth to Pretty Lights’ music that must be heard to be understood. Smith introduced these samples for the first time since their original recordings at the Season Two opener and they’ve now been brought back to life at every Episode this Season.
Both nights of the two-day Chicago run featured special guests joining the stage with Pretty Lights Live. On night one, New Orleans’ natives The Soul Rebels joined their fellow New Orleans residents (Smith, Butler & Ford Jr.) for a version of Bob Marley’s “Exodus” that had all of Northerly Island in awe, then stayed for an incredibly funky rendition of unreleased “Bump N Hustle.” Night two in Chicago, Derek Vincent Smith broke off a sample of his freestyling abilities when Hip Hop legend and Chicago’s own Chali 2na and long-time collaborator with Pretty Lights Jubee took the stage for an emotionally-charged “Shinning Bright Despite the Plight” that gave shout outs to the Pretty Lights Movement and Pretty Lights Family.
During his “Shinning Bright Despite the Plight” freestyle, Smith alludes to the fact that he has played Chicago for about 10 years. Smith has a lot of love for the city of Chicago, claiming last year that it was one of his favorite cities to play outside of Colorado. He paid homage to the city he loves so much on night two by playing “More Important Than Michael Jordan” as well as his remix of the “Chicago Bulls Intro.” It has been said once before and it will be said again, Pretty Lights is not to be missed when in the city of Chicago.
While the band has been exponentially ascending week in week out, they are not the only rock stars in the Pretty Lights Live experience. Lighting Designer Greg Ellis more commonly known by fans as “Laser Shark” has been pushing the envelope by creating one-of-a-kind visuals that helps create the atmosphere known as being a part of the Pretty Lights experience. The entire Pretty Lights team is moving forward, progressing just as rapidly as the band themselves by treating audiences across the US to sights and sounds that can only be seen and heard at an Episodic Festival tour stop.
Episode 9 of the Episodic Tour takes place next month in Gilford, NH at the Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion on September 15th and 16th. This venue is where Pretty Lights Live debuted the first Episodic Festival that took place in early August of 2016. There is no doubt that this stop is one Derek Vincent Smith and company are looking forward to returning and reveling the infinite progress that has been made over the last year. Pretty Lights Live will be joined by Exmag, Ganja White Night, Jade Cicada, Maddy O’Neal, Opiou, and Twiddle.
Watch pro-shot video from both nights in Chicago below, courtesy of the band:
Setlist: Pretty Lights Live Band |Huntington Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island | Chicago, IL | 8/18/17
How We Do Remix > Flip
Gold Coast Hustle Flip w/ Strings
New Moon Same Dark Flip
City of One Flip
Dark As The Sky Tease
You Get High
Let’s Get Busy > heRobust Remix > Flip
High School Art Class > Flip
Exodus w/ The Soul Rebels
Bump N Hustle w/ The Soul Rebels
Who Loves Me > Flip
Almost Familiar
Analog Jam
Eternalessly
Pretty Lights vs Radiohead vs Nirvana vs NIN
New [ falling in love ]
Future Blind Flip
Rainbows & Waterfalls
Done Wrong (Opiuo Remix) > Flip > Phat Sun Spreads in Our Minds Flip
Only Yesterday > Flip
Summer Love
Paper Planes x Rumpshaker > Flip
Setlist: Pretty Lights Live Band |Huntington Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island | Chicago, IL | 8/19/17
Analog Episode 8 Intro Jam
Hot Like Sauce
So Much In The Dark
Understand Me Now > Flip
More Important Than Michael Jordan > Flip
Press Pause (Free n Losh Remix)
Aimin At Your Head > Jam
Can’t Stop Me Now
Steppin Out > Flip
Evening Sun + Flip w/ Strings
Up and Down I Go > Flip
It’s Tricky
The Love You Left Behind
Dark As The Sky
Summer’s Thirst Flip
Something’s Wrong
Drift Away > Flip
Heart Shaped Box
Shining Bright Despite The Plight /w Chali 2 Na & Jubee
I Know The Truth
Always All Ways (Super Vision Remix) > Flip
Looking For Love (But Not So Sure)
NYE Chicago Bulls Intro (Pretty Lights Remix)
Take The Sun Away
I Believe In Miracles
[Photo by Same Door Media]
The post Pretty Lights Live Shines Bright In Return To Northerly Island [Pro-Shot Videos] appeared first on L4LM.
