Music / Reviews
Review: Floating Points, The Prospect Building – ‘we crisscrossed planets and negotiated asteroid fields’
Sam Shepherd (aka Floating Points) has a rich history with Bristol.
He’s been playing to audiences here since at least the mid-2010s and the city has always welcomed him with open arms.
We just did, in fact, when he played a rammed set at Forwards Festival this summer.
is needed now More than ever
This weekend, he was back in support of his new album, Cascade – a cache of intelligent, techno-jazz club bangers.
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The show is an early one – last entry at 6pm and all done by 10 – which nods to how far we’ve all come.
We’re all older now.
We have childcare commitments and watch Match of the Day.
Sure, the youth is here too, but those of us who’ve been fans for a while are hanging on, willing to come out for a strong sound system and mind-bending optics.
If you were born in the 80s or before and still love techno, you’ve come to the right place.
There’s even a guy wearing a SuperTed t-shirt just to confirm it for you.
Before Floating Points, we’re treated to Sofia Kourtesis and Caribou’s Daphni playing DJ sets – the former a pounding rush of dirty industrial beats and the latter a rousing techno euphoria that could soundtrack a
balearic foam party.
Bolstering the event were Surusinghe, Blumitsu and Sedef Adasi, the first of whom kicked off at midday for those punters with the energy for a full 10 hours.
Headliner Floating Points came out to a loving reception.
We were excited for his return.
There’s a respect for what Floating Points is doing – taking his version of not-quite-techno and pairing it with immaculate visuals.
We were all excited to see Floating Points – photo: Richard Kemp
Tonight, he held our hands as we journeyed through the peaks and troughs of a life well spent.
There were moments of elation, which he allowed us to stay and exalt in, and extreme lows, in
which he had us wallow in those depressive feelings we try so hard to hinder, hide or numb.
He took us through every facet of the human condition and invited us to sit with it, recognise it and acknowledge it.
The rough, the smooth, the greatest hits; they’re all in there if you’re willing to look.
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The celestial visuals he brought stretched out wide over multiple screens as he pulled us into his orbit.
We crisscrossed planets and negotiated asteroid fields, coming back down to Earth profoundly changed.
People shared hugs, kissed and professed love for people they may never meet again, all under the supervision of a master craftsman, building us up and shooting us out to the stars.
The joy that Floating Points managed to conjure was too much at times.
People cried – tears of joy, yes, but also sadness.
Could anything as beautiful as this exist anywhere else?
Any time else?
The answer is yes, of course, but when you’re this deep into his show, trapped in the magic and being whisked out of your body while your feet remain solid on the warehouse concrete, you can’t know for sure.
There is beauty in this world, being created all the time.
To see and hear and feel that all at once can be challenging, but so very worth it.
It can make and break and remake your heart.
Main photo: Rich Kemp
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