Thomas Dolby

Thomas Dolby performed here in Seattle, at the Fenix Underground. It was an amazing show. He played a lot of his classics, but what really made it, was that he really was up there performing almost all of it live! He also had a custom VJ rig with what looked like 2 iSight cameras mounted to his gear, and another mounted to his headset. During the show the video screen would switch between the various cameras. It was amazing to watch from the head-cam and be able to see what he was doing with the various instruments.

He was surprisingly chatty with the crowd, and did a great job of really making the show feel interactive. Twice during the show he built a song up by playing the various layers individually and just slowly, sequencially adding layer upon layer. He had a guy hidden behind his gear who was helping run the computer (a Mac) that choreographed it all, but it was still really amazing to see. At true geeks show.

The weird part was talking with my girlfriend after and realizing that she had no idea who he was going into the show. How could one not grow up worshiping the man behind "She Blinded Me with Science?" What a difference just a few years makes! Despite that, she enjoyed the show, dorkiness and all.