Photo by Grant Albert.
Audio By Carbonatix
It began with a ping. Then two, then three.
Sam Gellaitry opened the show last night at Kaseya Center in Downtown Miami. Katryanda followed, showcasing his unparalleled mic-commanding showmanship, swagger, and profound track selection in the middle of the venue (but what a shame for the roughly ten percent of the crowd that exited the Arena after his set). Nonetheless, Katryanda left the stage untouched for the French duo, Justice, on the last leg of a two-year tour.
Friends, or at least their Instagrams, like soothsayers, told me that my seeing Justice at festivals paled in comparison to their arena shows. Sure, every Justice set is incredible, but how different could it be open air versus with a roof?
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The lights went dark, and then those pings multiplied and congealed with angelic synths, as Gaspard Augé and Xavier de Rosnay continued to build. At some point, the reverie would have to break. A pounding drum penetrated through the speakers, and the stage lights formed a cross, the duo’s symbol and debut 2007 album name.
Then, those prophetic horns of “Genesis” blared across. The fans roared. The French duo returned to Miami after their III Points 2024 set. De Rosnay, in a gold sequenced bomber jacket and white pants, controlled his hardware in a staggered stance. Augé, wearing a black jacket with epaulettes, his hair perfectly curled, managed his equipment with both feet locked in place.
The stage featured roughly a dozen mirror-framed panels that served as both lights and LED screens. Overhead were twelve beams rigged to create trellises that rotated and raised independently that created archways. Almost every inch of the stage created light. The two stood on a raised platform, shaped like a diamond, and illuminated beneath their feet, while cameras provided an overhead bird’s-eye view of them adjusting, modulating, filtering, sequencing, cutting, looping, and distorting the music.
Only five minutes in, the two transitioned into their 2007 track on their Cross album, “Phantom I,” with its knife-sharp synths and fuzzy arpeggios to match pounding drums that sound at times like that other French duo, whose name escapes me.
Without flinching and with their calm hands over the hardware, they brought the crowd back to the present, showcasing tracks from their 2024 album, Hyperdrama, starting with “Generator.” The lights were now at full power, illuminating the arena from the ground to the nosebleeds.
Now, fifteen minutes in, at that, the two created collages from their nearly two-decade-old discography.
They paired 2024’s gentle “Mannequin Love” with the screaming vocals of the “We Are Your Friends” remix. The LEDs reflected the cheering crowd, feeding the energy back to Augé and Rosnay. Next was Hyperdrama‘s “One Night/All Night,” in collaboration with Tame Impala. The suave disco and sumptuous bass lines put the crowd in a spellbind; the lights collided with each other like a kaleidoscope, creating vast rainbows in the same arena where the Heat shoots threes and layups. But why stop there? Justice stacked hit on hit with the choir from their opus D.A.N.C.E., building and building with distortion and filters until they weaved back in “One Night/All Night.” Again, why stop?
They brought in “Canon x Love S.O.S.” mixed with tracks that pounded the air like some 20th-century battleship. In all, it was roughly ten minutes of layering and layering tracks in utter perfection. Ending there would have sufficed, but, of course, it was maybe thirty minutes in. They continued with Hyperdrama‘s most-streamed track, “Neverender.” The sleek, slow-burning song synced with the glittering golden lights and LED screens that carried the crowd past distant stars. The song gave Augé the chance to play out the familiar synth work as his fingers went up and down on the keys.
They added more choir work in “Safe and Sound” and played the gritty “Incognito” against teal and white strobe lights. Pushing and pushing, they transitioned into their blood-curdling, deep-in-a-warehouse-rave track “Stress” as the Kaysea Center turned a bright red. And why not — the two threw in their remix of “Afterimage,” a track that cross-pollinates nineties’ acid rave music, drum ‘n bass, and their signature distorted pads that match riffs from a metal band on a stadium tour. It was an arena rave; there is no debating it.
There was some breathing room, barely, from the lengthy, Kraftwerk-like vocals in “Audio, Video, Disco,” while the two began winding down. Still, they brought in “Phantom II,” blasting the distorted riffs and its disco-laden string section — tying bass, electronic music, and disco into one euphoric daze. They added “We Are Your Friends” under the warmth of golden lights, and the crowd never stopped dancing. But it all ended once the two took a well-deserved bow, and played, suitably, “The End,” their track with Thundercat off Hyperdrama.
There was no thanking the crowd on the mic or praising the city. The two walked off the stage and into the crowd to shake their fans’ hands and sign any record or clothing within arm’s length, twice! As if they hadn’t done enough.
