Pretty Lights at the Franklin Music Hall
The lights are back on and Philadelphia was lit up this weekend thanks to the momentous return of Derek Vincent Smith, frontman of the EDM trailblazer group Pretty Lights. The Eagles’ home opener game doubled as Smith’s homecoming in the city, as thousands of fans sold out the Franklin Music Hall to mark the end of the Pretty Lights hiatus and the beginning of something anew.
“Trailblazer” is the exact word used to describe PL by multiple members of his family. And by this I mean his fanbase. The PL Fam, as they call themselves, were buzzing across the Franklin Music Hall this weekend. Such a fitting venue for the Pretty Lights revival, considering its historical precedent as The Electric Factory. Talking to numerous strangers and a few passionate stags, nearly every person I met the opening night of PL’s three-night run in Philadelphia had tickets to see all three of his sets. Mind you, each Pretty Lights set goes on for about 4-hours. But anticipation and overjoy kept fans powering through the long weekend.
Some are remarking the ‘Soundship Spacesystem’ tour as the second coming of Pretty Lights. It’s been five years since fans have heard a word from Derek Smith or a beep from his electronic project. Many feared Pretty Lights had all been extinguished. But suddenly, Pretty Lights announced it was coming back and now Smith, along with his bandmates, are traveling across the country for a total of 27 shows featuring new music and a new outlook.
The Pretty Lights performance reverberated through the room like some kind of blessing, and for many in the crowd the show truly was a spiritual experience. It is a second coming for sure, and the Pretty Lights Fam were in Philadelphia this weekend to welcome Smith home.
WHERE DID YOU GO?
I bought tickets to the Pretty Lights concert almost entirely because of the mystique surrounding frontman Derek Smith. In 2018, Derek and his Pretty Lights project went virtually radio silent. It was as if the man had fallen off the face of the planet, unceremoniously, without so much as a goodbye Tweet. The Pretty Lights’ disappearance was heartbreaking for many of their devout fans. Despite being a musical icon for a generation, there was suddenly no more music.
To me this type of disappearance may have felt like an abandonment, but no one spoke about Pretty Lights’ retreat with resentment. A velvet ballcap-wearing boy I met in the crowd told me about one of the final performances he’d seen Derek do before the longstanding hiatus. It had been evident that the star of Pretty Lights was struggling with substance abuse, and his live performances were public evidence of these tribulations. Whether we compare those performances to an Amy Winehouse moment of dishevelment or a more belligerent Matty Healy drunken stupor, Smith was unwell for a while and his fans were aware. People I spoke to were sincere in how they felt his Smith’s back then state was having an effect on the Pretty Lights sound. But at some point, a flip switched. Derek Smith was on his way to rehab, and Pretty Lights was unofficially put on hold.
Since 2018, there have only been speculations on whether Pretty Lights would ever return. Then on April 4 this year, the answer was visualized in a dramatic Instagram video. It’s worth a watch — Pretty Lights has a real skill for build ups. With this, Pretty Lights was officially back. They announced the Soundship Spacesystem tour to run for 27 shows across 9 cities. The weekend’s Philadelphia run marked shows 5 through 7.
PRETTY LIGHTS, LOUDER SOUND
The Pretty Lights Twitch account, where you can watch live streams of each concert, describes their artistry as “electro magnetic deep americana dubtronic swirl soul.”
This sounds like an ice cream flavor to me. And in his own special way, I’m sure many people would consider Derek the cherry on top of a novel EDM style that falls somewhere outside the typical rave scene.
As someone who was not a real fan of Pretty Lights before seeing their show, I would tell people now that the sound reminds me of the lofi hip hop beats to study to channel amped up with heavier basslines and a higher BPM. It was surprisingly groovy, and by this I mean danceable, and one notable mention from the night was a remix of Bell Biv Devoe’s Poison that turned the vibes all the way up.
Many of Pretty Lights’ songs include loops of old samples like Poison or modern classics including Jason DeRulo’s Wiggle feat. Snoop Dogg. As a testament to the city, Pretty Lights sampled an Always Sunny in Philadelphia clip of the gang chanting about a flip cup tournament and somehow made it work with a sample of Boney M.’s disco hit Sunny.
While at times I felt that Pretty Lights’ jam band were a bit conservative with their jamming and allowed simple loops to spiral on a little long, the music fundamentally had strong beats that kept a current going through the extensive set. Many of the songs were new to the crowd’s ears, and I did not hear any disappointment coming from fans post-show.
Nights 2 and 3 of the Philadelphia run have been described as hits, showcasing new and old, as well as invoking a lot of tears from a pure place of love and nostalgia. And this is a beautiful way to express the intent of the Pretty Lights project. The group remixes beloved classics and transforms them into new ideas. The original Pretty Lights were inspired by the likes of The Beastie Boys and the Wu-Tang Clan, and today they may be more inspired by fellow electronic experimentalists such as Tame Impala (who was sampled at least at 1:25:00). As house music and amateur DJs are blazing trends forward, Pretty Lights may have chosen the exact right time to make a comeback.
PARTYING THOUGHTS
Sometimes in life, you just need to send it. I bought last minute tickets to Pretty Lights because I knew there was a story to be had in the Franklin Music Hall, and there were definitely legends in the mix. Derek Vincent Smith is back, the Pretty Lights are on, and the future is bright.
You can see Pretty Lights in New York City at the Brooklyn Mirage for another three-night stint the weekend of September 29. While tickets are sold out online, you can be like me and scour for last minute tickets on my favorite no-fee site TickPick.
