Concert in your area for Indie & Alt, Pop, Funk & Soul, R&B, Rock, Country, and Folk & Blues.
Prior to the incarnation of Blood Orange, Dev Hynes had worked as a respected songwriter for the likes of Florence and the Machine and The Chemical Brothers. After contributing to the indie-roc band Test Icicles until 2006, the singer and multi-instrumentalist began working on solo material, the fruit of which was his debut solo album “Falling Off the Lavender Bridge” released in January 2008. Released under the moniker Lightspeed Champion, the album features producer Mike Mogis, singer Emmy the Great, and pianist Nate Walcott, and peaked at No. 45 on the UK Albums Chart. The album, whilst not fairing too well in the charts, did wonders for Hynes’ niche popularity and he quickly developed a devoted following.
The full-length “Life Is Sweet! Nice to Meet You” followed in 2010, after which the singer dropped the Lightspeed moniker and began crafting his new wave synth-inspired, silky R&B groove. Blood Orange’s debut album “Coastal Grooves” arrived in 2011 on his consistent label Domino Records. Seen somewhat as a cult figure, the album promoted Hyne’s tasteful eccentricities, after which he began collaborating with Theophilius London, Florence & the Machine, Solange Knowles, among many other high-profile acts. The follow-up “Cupid Deluxe” arrive two years later in 2013 earning widespread and universal critical acclaim. Featuring contributions from Dirty Projectors’ Dave Longstreth, Chairlift’s Caroline Polachek, and Friends’ Samantha Urbani, the album was led by the singles “Chamakay”, “You’re Not Good Enough”, and “Time Will Tell”. In 2014 the singer-songwriter embarked on a limited tour, which included a well-recieved appearance at the year’s Coachella Festival.
Blood Orange, the brainchild of American born, London raised Devonte “Dev” Hynes, was the perfect performance to “escape” the heat. With a forty-five minute set-list that included a range of his songs and a few cover songs and lots of other options, I almost didn’t go see them. But talk about a good last minute choice.
Funk, the best word to describe the Blood Orange performance in the blistering heat of Coachella. The sun hit down on you making you feel a bit funky, maybe even smell a bit funky; but when you heard the funk of Elvis Presley’s “Heartbreak Hotel” coming from the stage, it was all completely worth it.
Because of the technical problems that the festival was having, it was a little hard to hear the vocals, but it seemed like an insignificant problem because the slap bass and guitar riffs more than made up for it. Plus the energy on the stage was so high that you completely forgot about everything else that was going on, just for a while. There were also a good amount of guest vocalists like Caroline Polacheck and Samantha (I forget exactly what he announced her full name as).
I unfortunately left early but not without feeling gutted about missing the end of their set.