Las Vegas got an unusually close look at French electronic duo Justice Sunday night at the House of Blues, though most of the crowd of around 850 might not have realized they’d received the special treat.
For most of the pair’s 75-minute set, two large video screens flanking the venue’s stage were ablaze with live shots of the headliners—most of them showing their faces, upper torsos and the front side of their large equipment stack. Interspersed with that rather routine footage, however, were shots taken from one side of the stage and the overhead balcony, revealing typically hidden elements of Justice’s performance: a laptop, a synthesizer, even the two men’s feet tapping.
Though it was somewhat surprising to get such an inside look at the setup, all appeared copacetic until late in the night, when Justice member Xavier de Rosnay began gesturing angrily at the videographer shooting from the balcony, apparently commanding him to stop. When he did not, de Rosnay pointed at his own water bottle and then at the shooter, as if warning him that failure to cease and desist would result in a flying object. And sure enough, a few moments later, de Rosnay winged the half-full plastic container toward the otherwise empty upper level, catching the offending party flush in the chest, and yes, finally causing him to put down the camera, for good.
A spokesman for Justice later said that the band “doesn’t allow any live videotaping,” and that they are currently filming their own tour documentary.
As for the show itself, de Rosnay and cohort Gaspard Augé kept a cramped floor section dancing from start to finish with the rare electronic performance that actually managed to feel totally “live,” equal parts thumping backbeat and industrial-strength noise. Among the highlights: a version of “Phantom Pt. II” that sounded as if a chain saw were running through it (in a good way), a wild take on Metallica’s “Master of Puppets” and a stripped-down presentation of “D.A.N.C.E.” that put every other remix of the over-tinkered-with track to absolute shame.