Though dubbed a ‘Cosmic Opera’, the six-hour electronic dance music event at Hammerstein Ballroom had little of the theatrics I had anticipated. Whether it was aided by the trailer or the website or forums, my imagination led me to believe there would be contortionists galore, Carnival-esque dancers and electronic music embellished with mystique. In spite of this failure, the audience still found much to be enthusiastic about. Headliner Axwell is one third of the Swedish House Mafia, a DJ troupe that sold out Madison Square Garden just around the corner this past December. His pounding set did not require any extra spectacle to engage the audience.
For early arrivals, initial impressions of the event were mixed. Costumed individuals did roam the venue, but aside from a few who were very enthusiastic, the majority seemed like wallflowers. A small, uninteresting, spider-webby gate with the Cosmic Opera name stood behind the opening DJ duo, No_ID. It was still early though and things began to ramp up before Deniz Koyu’s set. As No_ID left the stage, scaffolding began to descend so lengths of white fabric could reach the ground. From there, three aerial dancers clamored up to spin and twist through the fabric. Their talent fortunately drew attention away from the stage where a celestial conductor ridiculously waved a glowing baton. The break allowed Koyu to take the decks. His set further immersed the audience in a club atmosphere — during a classic dance song from Faithless, lasers kicked in — if not furthering an operatic narrative. At various points through the night, a dazzling crystal chandelier lowered over the dance floor and the balcony levels were embroidered with lights.
At the end of Koyu’s set came a most indulgent break. A painted singer in a sparkling bodysuit and white hat descended from the balconies singing an operatic song. Before she reached the ground, she climbed atop a board to be chauffeured to the stage where she finished her song. Dancers clad in shimmering white suits added little to the unmemorable show and the web-like decoration abruptly split to reveal a new stage and the headliner. The stage looked to be constructed from organ pipes, possibly drawing inspiration from Phantom of the Opera, but didn’t serve any other function.
Axwell began his set at around 12:40 am with a little praise for the audience, “looking well, New York.” He really started to hit his stride about an hour into his two-hour plus set knocking out several tunes that really had the crowd pumped including a tease of Faithless’ “Insomnia” and some Daft Punk bits. In the last hour, he gave the crowd what they really wanted, some recognizable songs to go gaga over. The Swedish House Mafia’s “I’m Coming Home” went into Moby’s tranquil “In This World” which ended up leading to a remix of Coldplay’s “Every Teardrop is a Waterfall”. Then Axwell spun an even bigger rock anthem, the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “Otherside” before a surprising classic selection, Everything but the Girl’s “Missing” — one of my favorites. As Axwell approached the end of his set, weak bursts of “snow” were scattered onto the audience with little interest. The audience remained engrossed for the final stretch as he ended with a version of Swedish House Mafia’s “Save the World” with bits of Ferry Corsten’s “Punk” attached.
Fortunately for dance music fans, and promoters, Cosmic Opera plans a return in April and again once more after that. The additional events should allow party planners time to revisit the design schematics and give the opera a proper theater makeover if that’s what they are going for. Or time enough to scrap all the flourishes and give the audience the music they crave.