Rufus Du Sol showed Miami why they are the band of the future in a mesmerizing display at Downtown’s famed Bayfront Park. As a huge fan of dance music, I realized that it had been years since I had gone to a proper “concert”. You know like where there is just one stage and one headlining act, and it isn’t a DJ. I remember that years ago before EDM I had gotten bored of traditional concerts. Rufus Du Sol, more so than any other artist I’ve seen, brings these two worlds together in in a way that makes them feel unlike anything else out there.
Obviously Bayfront Park is a great venue for any concert, but the weather and the vibes for this night were perfect. In the wake of all of these arguments concerning Ultra it was hard not to romanticize Bayfront Park during this night.
The opener Jan Blomqvist set the mood with some groovy deeper house that had everybody moving as the sun began to set. Then Rufus took some time to do a set change, and you saw that they had a full band setup complete with their production equipment and everything. This concept may have started in a way with WORLDS, but it’s fully formed here.
The trio seamlessly transitions between original mixes of their songs performed with live instrumentation and impromptu jam techno jam sessions. Imagine techno beats performed completely live by production equipment and drum machines – it’s really something to behold.
The thing that really struck me is how this band I’ve only known for maybe 2 years has such a deep catalog of timeless music already. From beginning to end of about 90 minutes the band went from hit to hit, each one feeling like a crescendo worthy of a final song. Just when you thought they might be finished and you heard every song you knew – BAM they hit you with another track that had you saying “oh sh*t I totally forgot about this one – i LOVE this song”. There was maybe 1 song the entire night that I didn’t know all the words to, but every song had the crowd singing and moving along as the lights flickered off of Miami’s downtown skyline.
Do yourself a favor and don’t miss Rufus Du Sol on their tour when they come to your city.