Thank You For The Music: The Triumphant Return of Cornelius to Los Angeles

​This past weekend, A-To-J was given the opportunity to see the legendary Cornelius live in LA, playing his seminal record Fantasma. The composer and director known for everything from Yellow Magic Orchestra to Scott Pilgrim vs. The World put on a fantastic show, one that won't soon be forgotten by anybody lucky enough to attend.

Nosaj Thing opened the show with a mind-bending array of cyberpunk-infused electronic pieces. His DJ set was littered with tense beats and flashes of harsh noise. His stage presence was a little inconsistent, and left much to be desired, but he did set a good tone for the night.

Nosaj Thing

After a long wait (an a visit to the extremely overpriced refreshments lounge; $10 burritos anyone?) Cornelius finally took the stage. The sheet that had served as a backdrop for Nosaj Thing hid the stage from sight, as the band took their places behind the curtain. They started with Fantasma and Mic Check, and with a flash the sheet dropped to the floor to reveal Cornelius and his band in striped shirts, just like the old days.

They launched right into The Micro Disneycal World Tour and it was a beautiful moment, hearing Fantasma come to life on the stage. New Music Machine was incredibly explosive, a shoegaze masterpiece which sounds a thousand times better live. After Clash and Count Five or Six, the band took a break from the Fantasma tracklist to play some songs from elsewhere in Cornelius' catalog. Songs like I Hate Hate and Point of View Point fit right in with the tone of Fantasma and were a welcome addition. After all, nobody really wanted them to just play Fantasma ​and leave, right? Cornelius had much more in store for us than that!

Momentarily returning to Fantasma, Cornelius and friends launched into Free Fall with a sheer ferocity to wildly contrast the series of softer songs which preceded it. There were a few more non-Fantasma songs, also featuring a surprise appearance from Beck (yes, THE Beck) who showed up to play a quick theremin solo.

The final Fantasma song of the night was Star Fruits Surf Rider, one of my favorite Cornelius songs and a beautiful climax. Closing out the set with Monkey, Cornelius and his band left the stage to wild cheers and applause.

The encore was short but a lot of fun, as Cornelius and his band took their triumphant return to the stage and played just a few more songs. They left with "thank you"s and bows, and they were gone.

Personally, this was one of the best shows I've ever been to. Cornelius puts so much love and care into his music, and all of the musicians on stage worked in an unbelievable amount of details and minor touches that made the whole performance shine. Even the lighting was a meticulously planned theatrical production. The night was perfect, a phenomenal performance by a phenomenal group of musicians. I hope to see them again!

​-Justin

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