Die Antwoord might be the most messed-up band we've seen in recent years, which says a lot considering we saw Mayhem rip through Paris just last week. Paris’s Olympia got a full blast of their demented rap-rave madness, a filthy cocktail of Hip-Hop and Techno designed to mess with your head and move your feet whether you like it or not. Everything about their set is a chaotic collision of twisted beats, warped visuals, and humor so dark it makes you wince.
Anchoring the mayhem was DJ Hi-Tek, a wizard behind the decks, dishing out sick, twisted beats that felt like they crawled straight out of a bad dream. Ninja, a towering menace and grandmaster of chaos, prowled the stage like a street-brawl demigod, barking orders and stirring the pit into a storm. Beside him, Yo-Landi Visser — a freaky pixie with a helium-drenched voice and an aura of deranged innocence — flipped between seductive and menacing in a heartbeat.
Tracks like I Fink You Freeky and Fatty Boom Boom lit up the Olympia with their unrelenting, bass-heavy punch, while newer bangers like Bang on ‘Em kept the Parisian crowd in a frenzied spiral of dance, headbanging, and absolute chaos. Try resisting their infectious grooves; it’s a losing battle.
The show did lose some momentum during the various intros, interludes, and solo spots, but when the tracks hit, they hit hard. Every tune was a full-on assault, triggering dancefloor anarchy. Raw, provocative, and unapologetically fucked-up, the Zef insurgents’ show felt like a sonic bomb detonated in the middle of the Holiday season. Paris never stood a chance.
