You wouldn’t imagine that a little bald man would have the ability to front a band, play a plethora of instruments or fill a crowd with happiness through dance and rave, but Moby can do it all. 
One of the few musically talented electronic musicians out there, he is the perfect finale for the spectacular iTunes festival which has combined innumerable genres, the old and the new, the big and the little – just as Moby manages to do for us in one night.
Having seen him already this year at the Roundhouse, promoting May release, Destroyed, I know what to expect. This doesn’t bother me, because his sound is so uplifting that even if he plays exactly the same set, I won’t mind.
We enter the 31st countdown of the festival and I am overcome with a wave of nostalgia, gigs from the past month flicker in my memory as their names flash upon the screen. Then we have Moby whose slight frame is covered in its usual black. I am glad to note the return of Joy Malcom, Moby’s female singer who’s voice could send shivers through heaven and hell. As they begin with the electrolysed voices of Be The One, those shivers course through me too.
It takes while for this internet audience to become accustomed to the spirit of his early 90s rave. Seeing the show for a second time I am disappointed to find that Moby’s relaxed discursive manner is highly scripted. Also, his repetition of thank-you in his American accent after every song gets on my nerves.
Around half an hour into the two hour show, all these surface irritations begin to fade as Moby’s set becomes more intense; by now he’s played the congas, the guitar, the keyboard and sung for us, while Miss Malcom has provided her harmonies and melodies like a slave goddess. Even though the focus of the night is Rave, there are added flavours of soul from Malcom, funk from the bass and rock from Moby’s guitar. By Lift Me Up, everyone is moving to the beat of the forgotten Rave Generation.
Seven songs of sweat and sound later, we reach the final tune, Feeling So Real. The building turns tribal, all the lights, sounds and beats speak joy. Whatever feeling ‘real’ actually is, we feel it right through to our core. Repetition and rhythms have taken us to a place where the only thing that matters is the ecstasy of dRhe takes a picture of his work, and leaves the stage.
