Artist: Particle
Date: 07.14.2007
Venue: Mud Island
Location: Mephis, TN

A sold out crowd flowed through the breezeway across the mighty Mississippi River and into the Mud Island Amphitheatre for a night of Particle, Matisyahu and headliners 311 in downtown Memphis, TN. Being a city that is infamous for its rich blues, rock and roll history, and world renowned Beale Street, Particle kept the tradition of bringing high quality music to the people on a Saturday night.  Although this was only an opening slot for the band, Particle packed a powerhouse of sound into the time allotted for their set list.

For those who don’t recognize the name Particle, or just start thinking about your 8th grade chemistry project instead, they are actually a four piece jam band out of LA.  Ben Combe pours riffs out on guitar, Darren Pujalet lays down intricate percussion on drums, Eric Gould strums the funky bass line, and keyboardist Steve Molitz helps to bring their soundscapes to an original peak.   These guys together have been sometimes coined into the genre “livetronica”, which is a fusion of jazz, funk, electronica, and rock music. Particle was strictly instrumental when they first began in 2000, but are slowly inching away from this on some songs, adding lyrics that are simple yet focused on getting the listener to groove along to their aural experience.

If you were lucky enough to hang around Mud Island or the visitor’s center and park across the Mississippi River, some of Particle’s ingenuity could have been caught before the show began while they did their soundcheck.  An excellent teaser to get you riled up for the show beforehand.  As the sun began to fade and set along the Memphis skyline, Particle took the stage and made their presence felt among the mostly teen and college-aged crowd. They started off with the jazzy ‘Battle Without Honor or Humanity’, which begins softly with guitar and then built into a wordless epic, jamming for close to ten minutes or more. Next was ‘Cheap Novelty Hats’, a tune straying away from their instrumental roots and laden with intertwining keyboards and guitars.  

A stunning rendition of Radiohead’s breakthrough hit ‘Creep’ turned the crowd completely ecstatic, with many singing word for word to the alternative hit.  Following this were ‘The American Dream’ and ‘Sun Mar 11th’, both excellent jams which had much of the crowd out of their seats and dancing in the aisles along the muddy Mississippi, coinciding with a crystalline sunset.  Then just when everyone thought they were done, a spiffy cover of the Beverly Hills Cop theme song dropped and got everyone excited again.  A nice way to keep the vibe going into the next band’s set.  

Particle is still doing select dates for the remainder of the year, including a few summer festivals.  To find out more check out particlepeople.com, they even have some free tunes on there for you to listen to.

Setlist:

The Battle Without Honor Or Humanity
Cheap Novelty Hats
Control/Escape > Creep
The American Dream
Sun Mar 11
Beverly Hills Cop Theme