Justice @ Foundation Nightclub
The setting: a dark basement complex surrounded by a crowd of sweaty, dancing teenagers; an environment that could easily double as a cramped pool hall on any given night, but on this night two of the most elite electronic musicians in the world did what they do best—make people dance. Opening their set three hours after fans started making their way inside the club Justice performed for two hours, and in the process Justice completely abolished any previous conceptions of the typical DJ. They use computers, but my friends, Gaspard Augè and Xavier de Rosnay are rock stars.
Setting and maintaining the night’s pace prior to Justice’s set were the Moon Goons, a couple of fairly average local DJs who played a varied set full of gaps—I think at one point in time I heard Freak Nasty’s “Da Dip.” There’s definitely a future in the city for them if they want it, but I think the boys in the group have to be a bit more selective in terms of their play list if they want to satisfy larger crowds.
About two and a half hours into the Goons’ set a little action on the venue’s small stage picked up as the crowd sensed that their collective wishes would come true. After a few minutes of silence darkness produced Justice, who proceeded to introduce themselves via a snowballing track that lead into “Genesis.” I doubt any song would have served better as the booming thump of its opening beat, combined with the lighting of Justice’s well documented cross, lit that cramped basement on fire… and no one stopped dancing for the duration of the group’s set.
Playing much of their recently released †Justice delighted the sold out crowd with favorites such “D.A.N.C.E.” and “Let There Be Light” while continually teasing with snippets of “The Party” through the entire set. Wrapping up the show with a strange “Master of Puppets” mix Justice made certain that no one would ever be able to call them predictable… after all, who in their right mind would think that the two gents from Paris would end their set at two in the morning with some remixed speed metal?