Upon entering The Sett Saturday, Feb. 15, it would have been difficult to tell that one of the more important names in electronic music production would be performing there that night. Other than the mysterious black tarp on stage and a few tables with DJ equipment, The Sett looked the same as it would on an average Tuesday afternoon.
Soundcheck was underway with a local Madison artist on stage named Coby Ashpis, a proficient live improv beat maker who consistently performs in both unions and other Madison venues. As a few high school-aged, self-professed huge Com Truise fans purchased T-shirts and took pictures with the artist himself, Coby finished up practice and exited the stage.
Soon after, the lights were brought down to concert level and LA electronic duo Phantoms took the spotlight in The Sett. To an all-dark room, the Phantoms began playing their “Maschines,” electronic boards with buttons on them that make different drum noises, and live mixing their pre-recorded songs. At the first beat drop, the pitch-black room was illuminated by the clear boxes on which their equipment sat.
As Phantoms finished up their 45-minute set, excitement mounted for the '80s synthesizer king to take the stage. Sitting on the second floor of The Sett, Com Truise strolled past my table on the way from his dressing room (conference rooms on the second floor of Union South are used as dressing rooms for visiting artists) to the stage.
The audience noise mounted as his set was uncovered: an elevated booth with a keyboard, two synthesizers and a laptop covered in the front by a five foot tall, white pentagon. As the first bit of synthesized Com Truise magic graced my ears, the giant pentagon lit up with neon geometric shapes, frequently showing his signature CT logo.
Although the set list did not include some of his more popular songs, Com Truise put on a decent show and played some of the tracks off his new album, Wave 1. The light show matched the neon-themed artist as well did many of the audience members, including the stereotypical electronic music concert guy with finger lights sending those under the influence on journeys never before journeyed.
Other than a small computer issue in the middle of the show (Com Truise's computer died in the middle of the show because he forgot to charge it), the night went off without a hitch. Even lacking some of his hit songs, Com Truise lit up The Sett for one night with neon and '80s magic bursting from his pentagonal pulpit.
