By Josh Herwitt //

Red Bull Sound Select – 30 Days in LA: AlunaGeorge with Xavier Omär //
The Belasco – Los Angeles
November 22nd, 2016 //

If you haven’t heard of AlunaGeorge, there’s a good chance you’ve probably heard them on the radio and just didn’t know. But it probably wasn’t one of their own songs that you heard. Nope, it was more than likely from another English electronic duo by the name of Disclosure.

For plenty, Disclosure’s 2013 hit “White Noise” off their debut LP Settle was the first exposure they had to the namesake of vocalist/songwriter Aluna Francis and producer/instrumentalist George Reid. And though their very first single “You Know You Like It” reached as high as No. 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 thanks in part to DJ Snake’s remix for “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” boosting the song’s popularity, AlunaGeorge had yet to have a bonafide pop song in their arsenal until brothers Howard and Guy Lawrence enlisted Francis’ pipes a few years ago.

Since then, Francis and Reid together have released two full-length albums, including most recently I Remember as the follow-up to 2013’s initial offering Body Music. While their latest studio effort sees them expanding horizons with some guest spots — something they didn’t endeavor on Body Music — from New Orleans-born rapper Pell, Chinese-American electronic musician/singer ZHU and Jamaican dancehall emcee Popcaan on lead single “I’m in Control”, the loudest roar from the healthy crowd at LA’s Belasco Theater last Tuesday came when they dropped the popular Disclosure track toward the middle of their hour-long performance.

Despite the show being scheduled right before a holiday weekend, it was still billed as one of the premier events for Red Bull Sound Select’s 30 Days in LA series this month and rightfully so. AlunaGeorge, in fact, were coming off their most important string of dates having served as one of two opening acts (the other being Miguel) on the North American leg of Sia’s 2016 arena tour. So, after gracing the stage at the world-famous Hollywood Bowl this fall, Francis and Reid had no reason to be intimidated by the Belasco’s main theater room. If anything, it only gave them the freedom to showcase some of their songs under a new and different light.

As we reached the midway point of their set with back-to-back singles from I Remember (the title track and “My Blood”), AlunaGeorge entered unchartered territory as they welcomed Pell and a three-piece brass band onstage to help them perform “Full Swing” live for the first time. It was a fitting way to wrap up a tour after months and months of both festival dates and club gigs all around the world, stretching the scope of electronic music with merely an element or two of surprise sprinkled into the equation. Because on this night, whether many attendees had heard of them or not, AlunaGeorge did everything they could to help them not forget.

Setlist:
Mediator
Your Drums, Your Love
I’m in Control
Automatic (ZHU cover)
White Noise (Disclosure cover)
My Blood
I Remember
Full Swing (with Pell) (with brass section)
Heartbreak Horizon (with brass section)
Not Above Love (with brass section)
Hold Your Head High
Mean What I Mean
You Know You Like It