San Francisco, CA – This night was over four years in the making.
Hugo Pierre Leclercq, better known as Madeon, has remained largely absent from the music scene of late.
But Thursday, November 14, 2019, was the last stepping stone into a new era for the now 25-year-old, when he would take the stage at Bill Graham Auditorium for his self-proclaimed largest headlining show to date just an hour after the release of his highly anticipated sophomore EP Good Faith.
The prodigious French DJ and producer began his career at just eleven and has since proven a consistent master in crafting electronic-pop hits.
From his breakout mash-up single Pop Culture and production credits on tracks for the likes of Lady Gaga and Two Door Cinema Club, to his lauded debut album Adventure, the young hit maker was steadily on the rise in first half of the decade.
In 2016, he and longtime friend and collaborator Porter Robinson, would release Shelter, arguably the biggest hit of either artist’s career to date, before embarking on an international co-headlining tour under the same name.
Then, Madeon releases suddenly stopped coming.
In the time since, the young star has matured. Yet artistically, he’s shining brighter than ever.
The stunning visual display of Good Faith Live was debuted at this year’s Lollapalooza Festival in Chicago with its clean stage layout, including just a single mic stand nestled between clear equipment stands and a massive digital screen. Much like Robinson, Madeon’s live shows include dazzling accompanying visuals which effectively draw out the story and emotion from each track and live edit.
Good Faith, at just over 35 minutes in length, is Madeon at his most concise and pure thus far.
The album has an over-arching theme pulling from both Gospel and French House genres, with tracks often including both choral vocals and distorted synths to create a unique, spacey yet spiritual tone.
As a whole, the project unwinds with incredible consistency from track to track. What marks the essence of Madeon’s artistic growth, however, is his ability to entwine individual stories between distinct segments and timbres in each song individually without ever sacrificing the effortless transitions between them.
Take for example, the steady build in Mania as compared to the shifts in Miracle from wailing opening vocals to bouncy, pop-house percussion in the back half to Callie Day‘s infectious vocal outro. These songs blend together wonderfully while also standing steadily on their own.
Where Adventure saw Madeon working largely as a producer, lending vocals to numerous collaborators across the project, Good Faith protrudes individual artistic authenticity, especially with the inclusion of his own, albeit heavily auto-tuned, vocal work. The energy and passion Madeon holds for these songs is palpable during his live performance of them, displayed in exuberant poses as the tracks weave through their intricate layers.
Having put his heart and soul into both the album and its accompanying live experience, Madeon was in disbelief at the grandeur of the occasion as he played out the project he has spent years developing for the first time following its full release.
“This is the best day of my life. Thank you for being here to share it with me,” he told fans near the end of the show. “Hope to see you again very very soon, because I have missed you. I’ve missed this.”
The Good Faith Live tour concluded its West Coast stops with two nights at the Shrine Expo Hall in Los Angeles this weekend and will now move toward the midwest and eastern U.S. before closing out 2019 in the south and southwest, and jumping to Australia to begin 2020.
Find the full list of remaining tour dates and tickets to the show nearest you here.
