Justice Restores Faith at Place Bell

Coming up on my third time seeing Justice live on their current tour, I can’t say I was expecting any surprises or anything short of a great show with great music. The first two times, once at Festival Beauregard last July and once in Boston that following August, were fantastic if a bit underwhelming. Their previous live tour and resulting live album from almost 7 years ago, Woman Worldwide, is one of my favorite albums of all time. So, this current tour for the French duo’s latest album Hyperdrama had some pretty big shoes to fill. Worldwide boasts “10 years of Justice Mixed and Remixed” on the vinyl’s obi strip, reinforcing the idea of this record being more than just a live album. It was a celebration of the hard work and talent that members Gaspard Augé and Xavier de Rosnay had put in all the way since their debut album ✝ (which I will just be referring to as Cross going forward), and from the stage design to the remixes of old and new I found it to be a perfect 10/10. Now, as I was getting ready to see their updated live show (with a brand new encore they debuted last fall), I was anxious to see for myself how they could possibly top Worldwide as the best Justice live performance.

 

You may be familiar with Justice through their biggest hit, “D.A.N.C.E.,” or their recent collabs with artists like Tame Impala, The Weeknd, or Thundercat. Having been a part of the late 2000s to early 2010s movement now referred to as “indie sleaze”, Justice made it big on the scene with their 2007 debut album Cross, an immaculate collection of distorted, crunchy synths found on tracks like “Waters of Nazareth” and “Let There Be Light” and larger-than-life electro-rock anthems like “Genesis” and “DVNO”. Their following albums would take on a wide range of aesthetics, from the expansive rock opera of their sophomore Audio Video Disco to the glittery disco/synthpop odyssey found in their third album, Woman. 

 

After the Woman Worldwide tour concluded, Justice would go on hiatus for a number of years, only really putting out re-releases and anniversary editions of their older work. But towards the end of 2023, French DJ Madeon played an at the time unreleased track by Justice. This track would end up being the lead single “Generator”. Named after the RaveGenerator virtual synthesizer  (from which most of its sounds stem), it harkens back to Justice’s more aggressive style we all thought would be left in 2007 with the rest of their Cross-era catalog. But thankfully, the duo blessed us with some brand-new razor-sharp bangers right at the start of 2024. Alongside “Generator”, the song “One Night/All Night” was released as the first of their two collaborations with Kevin Parker of Tame Impala. It makes perfect use of Parker’s vocals and creates this perfectly festival-ready electronic-disco fusion the likes of which we certainly needed after so much time without Justice. 

 

These two tracks set the bar incredibly high for what would be their fourth studio album, titled Hyperdrama. Both of them gave the impression that Justice would be bringing the bowel-scraping bass of Cross and the polished, sleek disco of Woman together to create the ultimate Justice record. Two more singles will be released, following the same energy and feeling with “Incognito” and then pivoting to a slower pop/rock feeling with the final single, “Saturnine” featuring Miguel. And finally, on April 26th, 2024, Justice would release their highly anticipated fourth studio album.

It was alright, at least on my first listen. I had stayed up all night waiting, and when I finally listened, it was… okay. The only real problem I had with this record is that Justice made the decision to release most of the best tracks as singles. So yes, this is a great album, but on my first listen after effectively cementing all of the singles into my brain, I was a little underwhelmed. The opening track “Neverender” with Tame Impala was pretty good, as well as the rest of the new tracks like “Mannequin Love” with The Flints and “The End” with Thundercat, but they weren’t as hardcore as Generator and kind of made the singles feel more like outliers rather than glimpses into what the rest of the album would be, or what kind of feeling it would carry. Still good, just not entirely what I had hoped for. 

 

But after a year of having this album on loop, and having seen many of these new tracks live, I can now confidently say that Hyperdrama is one of the best Justice albums, and a welcome addition to their ever-growing catalogue. It took a couple of listens, but I think this is a fantastic album and just needed some getting used to. And now, I was ready to see it live for the final time before Justice’s latest tour concludes, presumably this year. 

 

Having seen this show twice already, I wanted to take extra steps to make this experience more special for myself. Number one, I wanted to get a front-row spot and be as close to the show as possible. I’ve seen this show from both the balcony and the middle of a French mosh pit, so I figured the next best spot would be right up front. Number two, I wanted to get something signed. Having seen pictures and videos of the band signing stuff for people up front after each show, I figured if I got front row and brought something eye-catching to sign, I had a reasonable chance at getting signatures from both band members. I landed on bringing my Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 audio interface. It’s a bright red metal box with mic inputs and knobs galore, so I figured if I taped some paper to the top or something I could get it signed. 

 

Doors open at 7, so I did some quick math and decided to show up at 2:30. I walked around for an hour to stretch my legs and grab a hefty lunch, knowing that once I got to that railing I would remain there until I saw Gaspard and Xavier walk off stage for the night. I got to the line at around 3:30ish and saw that there were 5-6 people already ahead of me. Why anyone would show up to a concert so early is beyond me, but I took my spot at the back (for now) and popped my earbuds in. I was kindly gifted some pins and stickers from a few people, and made some conversation with the people around me about how many times we had seen the show, or how we had managed to get time off work for an event that would be around 70% just standing around and waiting. At one point, they did the sound check, which was just a recording of the first two songs of the set.

 

At around 6:45, someone stood up and started walking towards the front. At this point, everyone was kind of sitting down against the wall, but the mere notion that it was time to claim your spot in line sent everyone into a frenzy. Everyone immediately stood up and stampeded towards the front of the line. I fortunately got close to the front, but the number of people in front of me, combined with the possibility of having to take extra time to explain why I had a suspicious red box covered in buttons and switches to security, worried me about my chances of getting to the front. I mentally prepared myself for having to fight tooth and nail to get up there.

The floodgates opened at 7, and I managed to breeze through scanning/security. After getting into the then-empty stadium, I speed-walked across right to the front where I parked my stuff, gripped the rail with both arms, and fully intended to hold on as tight as humanly possible, no matter how much moshing, pushing, or biting I’d potentially have to endure until the show was over. 

 

After around an hour or so of waiting, we were graced with Tiga’s opening set. The set was overall pretty good, and it kept me and many others moving for a good 45-60 minutes. It was nice to see the crowd getting into it with the remix of MGMT’s “Kids” towards the end. I saw for the first time the whole waving-phone-flashlight thing for an opening set, which didn’t even happen for Braxe + Falcon’s opening set for Justice in Boston.

 

After Tiga’s performance ended and the crew took apart his setup, did the lighting and equipment checks, and dimmed the lights, we waited anxiously for the two sharply-dressed Frenchmen to show their faces. They walked on stage in total darkness, took their positions and kicked off the show.

 

 

A massive glowing cross emerged from the back of the stage, towering over everyone in the crowd and accompanied by the grandiose horns of the opening to “Genesis”. This live version of the iconic first track of Cross features a more chopped-up bassline as well as a few samples from “Generator” dotted around, and, similar to Woman Worldwide, this version is mashed up with the track “Phantom”. It transitions into “Generator”, which might possibly be the only track on their setlist powerful enough to successfully follow up that titan of an opener. 

 

At this point in the show, the visuals have been pretty standard. A massive setup on the back wall of the stage houses these massive, thin poles of light, as well as 12 massive screens arranged in a diamond formation. These fixtures are what were used for the opening in addition to the moving head lights placed around the floor of the stage. But midway through “Generator”, with the band illuminated by one light-pole in the center, we see three more fixtures light up on the ceiling and slowly descend to the point where they are directly over the duo’s heads. They remain in this position for the rest of the track, and are later joined by ELEVEN more. By the final drop, the duo have not only put a very expensive ceiling over their heads but also introduced a dynamic, moving light system. 

 

 

This complex system of lights before us isn’t fully revealed until the intro of the next track, “Mannequin Love”. Everything slowly illuminates as the outline of the individual screens on the light fixtures, as well as the backing lights, are highlighted with a blue glow like something out of a TRON film. The visuals here, combined with the pivot away from the massive distorted basslines, consist of each component of the light setup flashing golden orange. The outro sees the return of the Cross track “The Party”, which hasn’t been played live since their first tour fifteen years ago.

 

 

Transitioning into “One Night/All Night”, one final trick in the lighting system is shown. It’s revealed that each light on the moving fixtures can rotate, revealing a mirror on one of their three sides. At the same time, the twelve screens behind the duo have a thick, reflective border to match. After the mirrors (and consequently, our eyes) get a good dosage of strobing rainbow lights, we transition to “Safe and Sound” off of Justice’s third album, Woman. The first half of this new live version is a sleek combination of choir vocals, smooth strings, and catchy disco grooves found all over this 2016-2018 era of Justice’s career. Midway through, a new component of the live version of this track is introduced. Justice plays a short, high-energy megamix of a ton of old remixes they did for groups like ZZT and MGMT, along with brief snippets of “Phantom”, “DVNO”, and “D.A.N.C.E.”. 

 

And then we get to arguably one of the best parts of the show, both in terms of visuals and music. The star of the new album, “Neverender”. This track just oozes glamour, featuring downright angelic vocals from Tame Impala and spacey, silky smooth production that only the likes of Gaspard and Xavier could conjure for us. And the visuals are just on a whole other level. If “Mannequin Love” and “One Night/All Night” reveal Justice’s hand in terms of how much visual firepower we’re working with, “Neverender” smacks us across the face with it at full force. For the first time in this entire show, nearly every visual component pulls together to create this cosmic, starry environment that feels like plunging headfirst into an imploding galaxy. The light fixtures spread out and arrange themselves in a kind of fan-like formation, with rapidly cycling pinprick lights of white and gold sparking to the beat as the screens and poles in the back following suit. Every cable or piece of metal scaffolding just absolutely melts away as we’re presented with this divine space opera that fully immerses us in this small pocket of infinity. 

 

And this is still just around 30 minutes into the show. There’s so much more that is offered to us, but in the interest of not spoiling the entire show in every way possible, I’ll just go over the highlights of the rest of my night. “Neverender” transitions into “Canon” off of Audio, Video Disco, then into “Incognito”. This one was extra special, because one of the mirrors on the light fixtures was angled in a way that reflected straight down, allowing myself and a few people around me to see Xavier from a top-down angle mixing and performing the song live. Sick. 

 

 

“Incognito” transitions into the new live version of “Stress”, which is as expected, stressful. This has been one of the longest mainstays of Justice’s live shows, characterized by harsh strings, strobing red lights, and basically every rotating light spinning at once in a kind of drunken loop. They didn’t play the extended version like they did in Boston, but it makes sense that they’d need to save time for the new encore. Bathing the arena in a deep crimson, this track both visually and sonically feels like one of the more unique additions to Justice’s live catalogue. 

 

Moving on, the show gets kicked into overdrive with the tracks “Afterimage”, then “Chorus”. Embodying a more gabber-y, fast-paced set of tracks that had so much strobing that I genuinely could not get any good footage at this point. “Chorus” then transitions to a personal favourite, “Audio, Video Disco”. This one felt extra special, since a camera feed of the crowd was used as part of the visuals. Not something I’ve seen or even expected for this show before, so it was a great addition and a nice surprise. We see the return of the space/star effects from “Neverender”, but at a slower pace, so the crowd has time to deplete their batteries by waving their phone flashlights around. Great stuff. 

 

And then the lights go out again, and we’re left waiting for the encore. For me, this is the make-or-break moment for any Justice set, to see if it can live up to the masterpiece that is Woman Worldwide. 

 

I would consider this encore to be a make rather than break moment. Right off the bat, the encore kicks off with the menacing opening piano progression of “Planisphere”, one of Justice’s best-ever tracks from the Audio, Video, Disco era that is only now getting the proper live treatment. We then hear chopped-up samples from Phantom, and the medieval-sounding arpeggio from “Heavy Metal”. On top of that, snippets and vocals from classic Justice tracks like “Civilization” and “Helix” are thrown into the mix and cement this first act of the encore as Woman Worldwide-tier work. It transitions into a reprise of “Mannequin Love”, mashed up with tracks from Woman, including “Pleasure” and “Fire”. All the while, the light fixtures are going haywire, with the rotating mirrors giving these vertical swiping motions as the floor lights are reflected out across the audience. Then, the fixtures reposition and bring back the glittery star-like visuals from “Neverender”. 

 

 

As this absolute weapon of a megamix transitions into “Phantom, Pt. II”, I’m left awestruck as the light fixtures reposition around the center of the stage, creating ample room for the massive glowing cross to return. The vocals of “We Are Your Friends”, one of the band’s earliest hits, is mixed in with “Phantom II” the same way it always has been in past live shows, to the point where these two tracks might as well gain synonymy with how well they fit together. 

 

The final track that blessed our ears tonight was D.A.N.C.E., mashed up with Safe and Sound and Neverender to create an absolutely legendary finale with killer visuals to boot. And as the duo walked off while “The End” played in the background (cigarettes somehow already in hand), I firmly believed that Justice had put on a show as good as (if not better than) their last. This was a show for new and old fans alike, and, as far as I’m concerned, that’s the best kind of show.

 

After they strutted off with some flags gifted by fans over their shoulders (Xavier wearing a pride flag while Gaspard donning a Quebec flag), both members came out and began signing stuff. This was it. The moment of truth. I held out my Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 audio interface and Sharpie, hoping one of their cigarette-wielding hands would grab it. Xavier signed it first, then Gaspard. I thanked them both, and after they left, I was on my merry way to pick up my t-shirt. 

 

So, as I sat on the metro on the way back to my apartment, I made a mental checklist and status report of my evening.

 

Best seats in the house? Check

 

Autographs? Check

 

Faith restored in my favourite band? Check

 

I encourage everyone to go see this show before their tour concludes. If not, check out the videos on their YouTube channel or some full set recordings on YouTube. Or listen to the live album they’ll eventually put out, like with the last three tours. Justice’s “Hyperdrama” live show is not one to be missed.