-
- Tallahassee concerts
-
Artists
Get your tour dates seen by one billion fans: Sign up as an artist
Concert in your area for Electronic, Hip-Hop, Funk & Soul, and Jazz.
Find out more about Electronic and Hip-Hop.
Smith wrote hip-hop music throughout high school and college, and would later drop out of college to pursue music full time. Smith and his friend Michal Menert officially formed Pretty Lights in the Summer of 2004, but didn’t release their first album “Taking Up Your Precious Time” until 2006. This album featured the hit song “Finally Moving”, which is a consistent crowd pleaser during Pretty Lights' live shows.
After the release of Pretty Lights’ debut album Smith began touring regularly and started to gain a large following after opening for huge acts such as STS9 and Widespread Panic. Smith’s music caught the audience’s attention with his ability to mix hip-hop beats, jazz riffs, funk, and electronic music together to create interesting sounds. He is fond of using old school samples that are chopped up and placed throughout his music to create a chill, laid back sound. The smooth sounds of the Fender Rhodes electronic piano and jazz flute are consistently heard in his music and nicely juxtapose the modern electronic sounds that he produces with synths.
On Pretty Lights’ 2013 album “A Color Map of the Sun” Smith decided to challenge himself by making the album without the use of any samples. Instead of using samples, Pretty Lights composed all of the music and used analog synths to achieve some of the grittier tones on the album. The album was both a commercial and critical success. It reached the number two spot on the Billboard Dance/Electronic Charts and it received a Grammy nomination for Best Dance/Electronica Album. The album also featured collaborations with several notable musicians like Talib Kweli who appeared on the song “Around the Block” and Eligh who appeared on “So Bright”.
Pretty Lights has gained the popularity to consistently sell out tour dates and play huge festivals such as Bonnaroo, Ultra, and Coachella. He has also made an appearance on the late night television show Conan, which has presented his music to a wider audience. As the name Pretty Lights might convey, his shows can be expected to be full of pretty lights and laser shows, which beam across the stage to the glitchy dance music blaring through the speakers.
Derek Vincent Smith - better known as Pretty Lights - is the mastermind responsible for the visionary combination of dub, funk, jazz, hip-hop, soul, and electro, to create a one-of-a-kind sound. Historically, he has been dubbed a masterful sampler forging his tracks from hundreds of other songs.
His latest album "The Color Map of the Sun" deviates from this norm, with 100% production of the music done in concert with other musicians and singers. PL's live performances are nothing short of amazing. Living up to the name "pretty lights," he creates a light show for concertgoers that is flat out mind blowing. Everything from piercing colorful lasers to city skyline structures all synchronized in illuminated rhythmic beauty to beat of his songs. PL will throw down a super heavy dub track and then seconds later layer a mind-altering saxophone riff over top - which is simply unparalleled in American electronic music. His music hits your soul and creates an almost glitchy energy that forces you to move your body in ways you didn't think were possible. The most beautiful aspect of the live PL experience is that every single soul within earshot is moving and grooving to a sound that's so complex and unique in every way imaginable that the only thing left to do is smile. Another element to PL live performance that puts significant experiential ground between him and the more contemporary DJ performers is that he now tours with a full band. For years Pretty Lights was known to tour with a drummer, and then he began touring solo. Just since the release of his 2013 album, "A Color Map of Sun Remixes," has PL enlisted the accompaniment of a full band - a deliberate move to enhance concertgoer experience, and imprint on everyone's subconscious the superior degree to which the PL sound surpasses the electronic show standard we had all grown accustomed to in the 21st century.
I can't stress enough the awe-inspiring experience of seeing an artist like Derek Vincent Smith perform live. No matter where your musical tastes fall, this is without a doubt an artist whose musical talents should be experienced live and in person - in its purest and most unfiltered form - to be truly appreciated.
A music proprietor in every sense of the word, Pretty Lights has brought electronic music, art, and technology to experimental heights which we've never seen.
MrMcMelty
Log in to your account
