Art + Function: Word To The Wize

I can’t say that I knew Adam well, but we had met on a host of occasions. What I will always remember about him was his energy, a deep husky voice (“what up, BRO!” he would always greet with), and his infectious passion for music. There will never be another DJ AM, and it would be impossible and even blasphemous to talk about the new Travis Barker project with A-Trak without putting it into the proper context.

Adam was a producer – nay, molecular engineer of music. His mash-ups were legendary in the music business and he earned the title of being the first “celebrity” DJ. In fact, it is safe to say he created the whole genre. He was O.G., master, and pioneer. Music was his passion and a performance from him was nothing short of a musical journey through deliberately juxtaposed genres that had no worldly business appertaining to each other.

I’ll never forget being a fly on the wall backstage in a cramped dressing room for the 3 “residency” shows at The Roxy in the summer of 2008. While Travis pitter-patted on his practice pad, Adam would roll in a good 45 minutes late, foaming at the mouth about new beats and song ideas he had. He couldn’t focus on the current set because he was already busy sculpting the next one.

Adam was the coach and Travis was the prodigy – the athlete with the world-class gifts that could meet or exceed every tough chorus, solo, track, or mash that Adam would throw at him. It was almost like a battle of will. Adam made the music, and Travis – well, Travis just demolished it.

It was a beautiful thing to witness and the audiences seem to catch on as well. It is hard to define the pinnacle of their short playing career together. Early on, it was probably opening for Jay-Z and for Eminem’s first concert in 4 years. Personally, I think it had to be when they were made an eleventh hour addition to headline, yes headline, the KROQ Weenie Roast in May of 2009, reviving their set from Coachella the month prior in front of 15,000 screaming fans. They blew the roof off the place. The July 24, 2009 show in Las Vegas at Rain nightclub, their last show together, was a mere 45 minutes after Travis had just finished a grueling 90-minute set with his bandmates Blink-182 down the street.

That Travis could pull a double-header and effectively drum for nearly three hours straight – at THAT pace and with THAT precision, is a testament to his unworldly skills, skills that are finally getting fitting recognition from some of music’s elite. No one knew that night that it would be their last set together and no one could have imagined how their lives, finally healing, would each find themselves pulled back into the pain created on that fateful night in South Carolina a year prior.

A-Trak (best known to date as Kanye West’s DJ) doesn’t have the legacy or the name that DJ AM had, but he too has skills. Their premiere show together at the sold out Roxy On Sunset was an enjoyable 50-minute set that again showcased Travis Barker’s incredible drumming ability and showmanship. As with some of the shows with AM, the new set was punctuated with surprise appearances by Kid Cudi and Lil Jon, and provided sufficient bass and thump to keep everyone’s head tapping for the duration.

This time there was no journey though. No Metallica followed by Notorious BIG, followed by The Who, followed by Michael Jackson. The music was predominantly techno electronica with a little hip hop thrown in for good measure. To his credit, A-Trak is a more of an intense scratcher and works harder on the knobs, but in the absence of such an amazing musical potpourri, the real performance is by Travis. Travis always brings it, and he always keeps you wanting for more.

There was something eerie in the room to see it all go down at the place where AM and Travis had made it all happen, and the comparisons, while inevitable, are almost unfair because different artists do things, well, differently, but it is clear that something was missing.

The show is still there, the performance is there, and it is definitely worth seeing (you can catch TRV$/A-Trak in Austin, TX at SXSW on March 18), but the real show is probably going on in the upstairs upstairs VIP room, where we all know that St. Peter is rocking out hard to Daft Punk.

GW