Laserface Lights Up The Armory

Last updated on October 31st, 2019 at 08:55 pm

Gareth Emery, the world-renowned British trance producer and DJ, made his Minneapolis debut last night, blasting The Armory with a barrage of lasers. Laserface is Emery’s aptly named laser light show, utilizing over 30 lasers all perfectly timed to the pounding of the bass.

As I made my way to a spot near the sound booth, hoping to get a spot in the center perfect for laser viewing, shirts reading “pew crew” caught my eye at the merch booth. The Laserface branded tees got an audible chuckle out of me.

The night started with some local support from Euphoric Nation, followed by sets from Dimibo and Tritonal before the headliner brought down the house. 

Dimibo, known for their signature psytrance sound, got the energy levels up as the venue started to swarm with laser lovers. I was soon packed against the sound booth railing, unfortunately becoming somewhat of a human door as lines of friends weaseled their way farther up into the crowd. 

Tritonal took the stage to a wave of cheers. The duo began pumping out some fan favorites and big room classics. Admittedly, it was a bit hard to get into the groove of Tritonal’s set. The crowd was packing in, which made what little room I had for dancing considerably smaller as the night when on.

Finally, it was time for the big show. The lights dimmed after a brief intermission and Gareth Emery took the stage to a roar of applause and cheers. Though Minneapolis is not known for having an affinity for trance, this crowd was clearly hyped up for the experience.

The music pulsed as what seemed like a hundred lasers danced over the crowd. The walls and ceiling of The Armory were bathed in bright blues and deep reds. Screaming along to “Concrete Angel” and “Sanctuary,” I was totally impressed with the show as it progressed. 

The high energy of Emery’s performance was matched by the elated attendees dancing and jumping on the floor of the venue. Emery topped off his stellar performance with a intense dubstep-heavy remix of Green Day’s “Boulevard of Broken Dreams,” and delighted his fans by dropping Illenium’s “Gold.”

It was a night to remember and Laserface is a show I’ll not soon forget. Perhaps the coming of a legendary trance show like Laserface to Minneapolis is a step in the right direction in securing larger artists of unique EDM genres in the Twin Cities. Fingers crossed!