EDEN
It’s not a smooth start to the set at all with a full 15-minute delay but that didn’t dampen the enthusiasm of the crowd. Eden starts to weave his mix of sad electronica, celestial ringing tones over pounding bass that gives way to organ tones and his quiet melancholy voice. The next song sees him trade the keyboard for a guitar, peeling riffs dominating over the melancholic depressing electronica that has everything from bleeps of 8 bit to club beats and audience choruses.
Eden focuses on his singing rather than using instruments, which takes quite a bit away from the live experience. Indeed the better songs are where he is more involved with either guitar or keyboard. Nearby me in the crowd there are even comments such as “He might write good songs but why doesn’t he get someone to play them live?” I can’t help but agree that for a live experience, surely it would be better at least having someone else to mix live rather than having this beautiful complex track just automatically playing while being sung over.
However, there are extremely powerful moments as passages of vulnerability see the chaos clear for a short while before a sea of digital noise crash back and overwhelms the audience. Aside from his original songs, he also slips in two covers in “Billy Jean” and Outkast’s “Hey Ya”, smothering both of them in lethargic sadness. Although the crowd didn’t appear to be getting into it too much, the ending cheers were heartfelt and loud. Maybe it is just too hard to dance to sadness?
