Nokia Lumia Live, LONDON - An earie bass pulsed across the river Thames as thousands lined its banks to hear the deadmau5 come to life.
Finding a viewpoint from wherever they could, one group sitting on a row of ‘Boris hire Bikes’ and others scrambling up a boat sculpture on the South side of the river, the atmosphere and anticipation was building at street level.
On the North side the deadmau5 moshers gathered to get as close to the mau5tro as they could, craning their necks up to get a first glimpse of his signature mask.
Many enjoyed a beer as they waited. And everyone was curious to see the performer who has built a big reputation in this city after recently selling out a 17,000-capacity arena here, which is virtually unheard of for a techno artist.
A roar went up as the music started and the projectors were kick-started, flashing images from the London Fire Brigade HQ on the south side of the river, five hundred yards or so away from the 400-foot Millbank Tower on the north bank.
An animation of a Terminator-stye 3D metal jigsaw began to form into the shape of a chromium plated sphere, finally it sprouted two giant rodent ears, and the mau5 was up there, way above the hau5.
Fans pumped the air. Others, unfamiliar with his brand of techno looked on in bewilderment. But everyone was engaged by the sheer spectacle.
In the early part of the set, the projectors showed action from the stage, but as it reached its climax, the Drive Production video took over the whole building, at first making it appear to wobble, then firing shapes out of it.
Tiles with eyes swiveled to reveal more eyes, cubes crumbled and crashed to the floor, jaw-dropping the crowd on the way down.
One stunning sequence showed the giant figure of a woman behind glass who bent down and peeped through a hole in the building.
“That is sick,” said one onlooker. Even the haters had to love this part of the set.
And hundreds of tweets praised the amazing free visual feast laid on by Nokia as the crowd captured it on their phones.
Now global readers, who didn’t catch the oversubscribed Facebook stream, can also see it on the official video. And we’ll have more amazing pictures tomorrow, so keep your eyes on our home page.
More about the mau5 that roared.
Video: Tim Bunn and Joe Patrick
Pictures: GG Photography
