Keys N Krates w/ Lindsay Lowend
Union Bar — Tuesday Dec. 9 at 7 p.m.
Union Bar is synonymous with raucous fun in many circles, but for others, it’s easy to preemptively dismiss as a bar fettered by mediocre music selection. Not to burst any bubbles, but recent bookings have suggested anything but — Four Color Zack, reigning Red Bull Threestyle World Champion, and moombahton pioneer SAV (formerly of Sazon Booya, presently of Fight Clvb) in the same night, for example. This would be a stand-out booking in any large city, let alone Iowa City, and Union is only upping the ante with tonight’s Keys N Krates and Lindsay Lowend show.
They’re each true pioneers of electronic dance music (EDM) — talents who will long survive the imminent burn-out of EDM as a fad genre with relative ease. Keys N Krates is a Toronto-based three-piece outfit, featuring live drums, vinyl turntablism and keyboards for a refined, ultra-energetic performance aspect that puts 95% of their DJ-only counterparts to shame. After slaughtering an impressive lineup of festivals over the summer, Union will no doubt be par for the course for the trio.
Let’s also not sleep on Lindsay Lowend, the moniker of DC-based experimental hip-hop producer Tony Mendez. There are few artists who understand the dynamics of silence and space in modern production the way this cat does. His productions hold similarities to early Flying Lotus and Hudson Mohawke — and he’s playing at Union.
We know. The venue has lacked a shining reputation in years’ past, and the crowd is always going to be that crowd — but their sound and lights are on-point as ever, and now they have multiple high-quality artist bookings to boot.
