I imagine you immediately clicked this thread with the intention of cyber yelling in capital letters about how wrong I am and how Shpongle is awesome. Well, hold on a second, Shpongle is incredible and I have been a loyal fan for more than half a decade. However, the Shpongletron is absolutely stupid. There are a couple of reasons I feel this way, and I’ll start with the fact that Simon is nowhere near the fans. I have the Shpongle cd’s, it is not as though I am traveling hours and hours simply because I want to hear my favorite songs at a much higher volume. I went to the Shpongle concerts because I got a chance to meet Simon, and be right in front of him, alongside other fans, and just enjoy the presence of other people who have a strong love for this music in some dingy nightclub with no more than a hundred or so people. With the Shpongletron (depending on the venue), you have Simon as just a silhouette thirty feet away from a crowd of much larger size. Add this to the fact that Simon hardly does any work performing live, and the entire thing is pointless. If you wish to argue and tell me Simon is up there in the booth working hard, fuck off, you’re full of shit. I’ve seen him perform up-close and personal, and he’s no Aphex Twin (Although when he is performing as Hallucinogen he’s doing a lot more). Anyways, this Shpongletron tour is great for publicity. Lots more people come to see it, and I’m guessing it’s a good financial investment for recruiting more fans. On the other hand, people who have been fans for a long time don’t really get anything out of these performances. It is just a very crowded room where Shpongle songs are playing in the background while we stare at flashing lights. Really, it kind of makes me depressed to see Shpongle turning into a Tiësto show. I’m just going to suggest that Shpongle get rid of the Shpongletron, and just do more shows with smaller productions when touring. More shows should compensate for the rising popularity, and it won’t turn into a giant sweaty hipster fest that it has been lately. Whatever, I still have Ott to enjoy. If you’re reading this Ott, don’t build yourself a fucking Ottcomplex or some dumb shit and tour with it, thanks.
Ok feel free to go ahead and rage in the comments about how dumb I am and how awesome the Shpongletron is, because I’m not going to read them.
-Rant finished.
I thought the set up was great, I loved the underwater intro thing he did. It was a cool change from the regular laser/lightshows IMO. I was blown away by the mixing more than anything though. He seemed to play mainly all the “dancable” tracks but my guess was hes just trying to appeal to the crowd more which would of been my only complaint.
Im not gana flame you though, all opinions are welcome here.
It’s all about the show and how you market yourself. I’ve enjoyed meeting Simon in the past too but Shpongle is getting very popular and doing the Shpongletron experience is leaving an awesome impression amongst old and new fans.
I saw Shpongletron at Wakarusa this past weekend and it was pretty damn cool. All I could hear from other people was how frickin awesome everything was. It literally blew some people’s minds and that might be an understatement.
The time has come where Shpongle isn’t this underground novelty in music that only true fans know about. He is catering to the masses and growing at an ever rate. I understand your concern and I agree with parts of it but people are loving this setup and I’m sure it allows Simon to charge a higher price for his services which will allow him to continue creating great music.
fuck that shit, i hope one day simon will get to play the shpongletron in a stadium concert. that will really mess with people like meltdown111!
but yeah, i understand the sentiment that simon may come across as making it all about himself and, but i don’t understand how anyone could complain about an artist wanting to put on a wicked show for his audience.
i’ve seen shpongle live, it was unparalleled and amazing, but i would be equally happy to see the shpongletron experience. having an impressive visual accompaniment to the music makes a huge difference - it’s the same reason why i really enjoyed seeing daft punk and kraftwerk live.
I am always confused as of why someone like this seeks out the Twisted website, makes an account on the forum just to post something negative about one of the artists. Maybe trolling, maybe hoping Simon will see his/her post and take offense. I dont know. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but why go out of your way to complain?
But I like your spirit when responding to posts like that, very even-handed. I’ve always loved seeing Si live (just a few times not including Shpongle- I live in a geographically isolated place), and sure, give me the Shpongletron. I wanna see that thing. It looks like… FUN!
I just think you are lucky to get to see the Shpongletron experience. I don’t think it will make it to Scandinavia. If you didn’t like it you didn’t like it That a shame.
I always say each to their own and people will see things from various angles as to what they feel an artist should and shouldn’t be doing with their art. After seeing the show twice in London I think the Shpongletron experience is great for the US fans, probably very few got to London so it’s a great half way house for them. I’d love to see it in the UK and europe for all the fans there.
The full live band costs a fortune to put on so that’s probably why promoters haven’t put up the money to do it in the US, the Shpongletron is more viable to get people in and spread awareness. I hope that Simon ends up doing huge stadiums with Shpongle like Pink Floyd, the music has and will stand the test of time. Remember not long ago in 2008 the label nearly went under and with the current state of profits from music I think it’s a good option to get money in the bank to keep the label afloat and re-invest, at least they’re looking for new artists now which is long overdue.
I don’t think either that Simon will think it’s all about him, he’s just having fun and putting on a good show, granted he doesn’t have to do much but then I’d say most electronic artists which play live don’t either.
I understand wanting to see and be closer to the artist while playing live, but with regard to your point about “not working hard”, who gives a shit? He worked hard enough writing the music. Personally I want to see the artist enjoying himself, grooving with the music and interacting with the crowd. To some extent it’s fun to see knob twiddling and the like, but when it’s just a glorified dj set, then deal with it and just enjoy it. Yes the ‘tron may be a bit flashy, but I agree it probably provides a happy medium between the expense of the live show and a solo dj set.
What I’m curious about is…Why the eye? Wouldn’t the Shpongle mask be more appropriate sitting atop the whole shebang? It is the icon, after all…
i was pretty blown away by the shpongletron. it was a psychedelic wet dream. some people arent about that, and i can appreciate both the shpongletron, and the dancers from archedream. i can see how some would like one show more than the other.
i think the projections were top notch, never got stale, and really added to the moods. i dunno about shpongle wiggling his tongue at me all about but he’s just silly.
i felt as if the songs were more cohesive this tour than seeing im last year in may. i cant explain it but it seemed like he had control of channels, and not just tracks mixing on cd’s. i can see why people would like the dirty hole in the wall club, but go so some hole in the wall dj if you want that.
Ok, I gotta be thin-skinned little old me- comaparing a Shpongle DJ set to Tiesto is just wrong. Seriously, think about it, it’s just completely… wrong.
What I’m curious about is…Why the eye? Wouldn’t the Shpongle mask be more appropriate sitting atop the whole shebang? It is the icon, after all…
This was my thought exactly during the show… also the extensive use of certain symbolism.. one example being an owl looking into the crowd ect.. just seems a bit strange in my opinion (although strangeness is a large part of the whole Shpongle experience). Would love to get a copy of the mix though, freaking phenomenal set.
This was my thought exactly during the show… also the extensive use of certain symbolism.. one example being an owl looking into the crowd ect.. just seems a bit strange in my opinion (although strangeness is a large part of the whole Shpongle experience). Would love to get a copy of the mix though, freaking phenomenal set.
Hey Josh by the way I got you a brand new shiny tin foil hat :p
My opinion about the eye, is it represents the 3rd eye opposed to the “all seeing eye”.
But who knows..
I can understand you in some part but all my negetive thought about the shpongletron are about the fact that I M not there to see it. I would gladly follow Simon and attend any one of the shpongletron tour and never get tired.
it can’t be compared to Tiesto and those liked since the Music is different and the people are different (I hope the people that attend are the kind that know to apprecheate the divine music they are listening to).
About Si i think that i once saw an interview where he said that a DJ should be on the same level as the fans and not on a high stage but it was a long time ago and since then he did work himself up to the position of GOD in my eyes at least so I guess it’s OK as long as the money coming from the tour will be dedicated to creating the next level of Hallucinogen and Shpongle
That is wierd that you would join a forum just to make 1 post complaining about something…. Get a hobby dude!
And bullshit, the shpongetron was the coolest thing i have ever seen! To me it was quite a bit more exiting than an ordinary DJ set, that thing had a SOUL!
You are totally entitled to your opinion, but its just that, your opinion.
I think the sphongetron setup is totally innovative, even groundbreaking. I feel that this event was a more important event than seeing landmark shit like Floyd, or Hendrix live back in the day. Thats how good i thought it was.
It was like the music was calling us into the future, It was a well pulled off hardware model of the psychedelic experience, and it kicked major ass! In fact it surpassed my expectations and was blowing my mind, and that sure as hell is NOT EASY to do!@!
Not to mention the crowd there was amazing, and I danced my ass off and had a blast!
Simon, your making history dude, The shpongletron is a huge sucess, keep up the good work!
