CMJ 2010 winners: Prince Rama

Prince Rama played Death By Audio on Friday and they killed it. I was up front and people were irritated with me and my giant bag full of shit and at one point the entire thing spills over the ground. Just before the band started Nimai handed me her camera and asked me to take pictures. “Get on stage, get behind us, whatever,” she says. This excites me to no end of course. The show starts: the percussion is weird and lucid and the beats are droning and the synths are atmospheric and the vocals are otherworldly and the whole thing comes off like this crazy dance party, sort of like that really weird scene that didn’t make sense from The Matrix Reloaded where there is that underground rave – it’s tribal and percussive and futuristic and infinite and full of love. The crowd loves the three part harmonies and the heavy synth bass and the beats and everyone is dancing and cheering and they look enthralled from where I am now – on the back of the stage. Dale W. Eisinger.