Flight Facilities @ Union Transfer with Touch Sensitive and Greg D.

March 17, 2015

tags: flight facilities, greg d, touch sensitive

by gwmiller3

Text by Jennifer Granato. Images by Conor Gray.

“Welcome aboard, ladies and gentlemen,” an electronic voice said as the lights dimmed at the Union Transfer last Wednesday.

Two figures entirely silhouetted by lights set themselves up behind a command center of knobs and wires and buttons that was shaped like streamlined, ultramodern, pilot’s wings. The floor started vibrating with bass and Flight Facilities took off.

The Australian dance music duo made up of Hugo Gruzman and James Lyell, who showed up on stage dressed in a bomber jacket and hat and a pilots uniform respectively, fed the sizable crowd more than an hour straight of deep house and nu disco tracks.

“Philadelphia, this is the first time we’ve been here and you guys are amazing,” Lyell told the crowd. “We’re definitely coming back.”

The show was a refreshing change from the ‘press the play button’ DJs that have been floating in and out of the scene the past few years. Watching Flight Facilities perform up close was impressive. Through an array of complicated-looking equipment, they cranked out funky bass lines and beats while constantly reaching around and basically standing on top of each other. They brought the fans to their knees, quite literally at one point, asking the crowd to crouch down to the ground so everyone could jump up in the air when the bass kicked in.

Flight Facilities brought two singers with them, Surahn Sidhu and Owl Eyes, who added live vocals through out the set, danced on stage and talked to the crowd. The singers were a welcomed alternative to prerecorded vocals, producing a very high quality show.

Their opening act, Touch Sensitive, was the 21st century tech-age version of a one man band. Michael Di Francesco, the musician behind Touch Sensitive, plugged out 80s inspired disco and funk tunes and added the bass lines himself live with an electric bass.

Greg D (Risky Disco/Try it Out) also played, opening the night with funky deep house cuts.