Pics & Notes: Jagwar Ma @ El Rey Theatre, December 13, 2013

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Friday, December 13, marked Jagwar Ma’s last show of the year, and the last stop on their US tour. The trio was in great spirits for the occasion. They performed ten out of the eleven tracks off their debut album Howlin’, and were popping champagne and hosting a dance party on stage by their encore.

Vocalist/guitarist Gabriel Winterfield egged on the crowd “We want to see you put the LA in PLAY.”

The El Rey LA crowd didn’t need much encouragement to get into play mode. There were a lot of random tasmanian-devil-type crowd members, several crowd surfers, and, mid-set, a random guy jumped on the stage and started taking selfies. The band didn’t seem to mind at all — since they asked for it — and Gabriel and bassist Jack Freeman each threw an arm around the fan and kept right on going.

The energy was high as Jagwar Ma performed their psychedelic rock/dance sounds. Jono Ma serves as the time keeper and beat maker in the background, but instead of a drum set he has a table covered in gear in front of him — synthesizers, pedals, drum machine, wires. The set peaked with an extended dance mix of their biggest hit “Come Save Me,” after which Ma’s beats travelled straight into the next song “Four.” The spacy rock disco dance party ended with an encore of “Backwards Berlin” and “That Loneliness.”

Full set list:
1. What Love
2. Uncertainty
3. Man I Need
4. Exercise
5. Let Her Go
6. Come Save Me
7. Four
8. The Throw

Encore:
9. Backwards Berlin
10. That Loneliness