EOTO's Time Illusion Pre-Tour Showcase Womps Boston: the Lotus comes to Life

Thursday night, EOTO kicked off their Time Illusion tour at the House of Blues in Boston with a special $5 general admission ticket, bass-tastic tunes, and a much anticipated new stage design with 3-D mapped visuals. The show’s hype and anticipation was well deserved, as they sold out the venue with over 2,200 people womping it out to EOTO’s famous “live and improvised” dubstep and face melting visuals.

Not only did Thursday’s show womp-start their Time Illusion tour, it also marked the debut of EOTO’s much anticipated enormous 17-foot 3-D lotus-inspired stage. But just how big of a debut was it?

“We didn’t really get a chance to see it yet,” EOTO’s Jason Hann told us before the show. “It kinda came down to the last minute, and we never got to that point where we could shut all the other lights out and just see what it looks like when we’re playing onstage. So when we start playing tonight, it’s going to be the first time.”

The enormous lotus was designed by Peter Zebbler and built by Blake Cortney in Boston, a major factor in the dubstep duo’s decision to debut the stage design and hold the pre-tour showcase here. With the debut of a brand new, highly technical stage with tons of 3-D mapped visuals, it helped to have the production and fabrication teams close.

“It just made so much sense instead of trying to ship it somewhere and trying to deal. In case there’s any trickiness, everyone’s got access to all their people to help support and make this night go off,” Hann told us. But logistics weren’t the only reason Boston was chosen for the pre-tour showcase.

“We always have a great, kick-ass time here in Boston,” Hann said.

And Boston loves EOTO as well. The show, which had only been announced the last week of January, was a sellout success, with less than two weeks to sell tickets.

When EOTO took the stage at 10:30, the lotus finally came to life — the incredible video mapping transformed the stage into everything from a spaceship, which took the audience on a journey through space and under water, to a giant, hungry monster, to even a wall of subwoofers which delivered on their promise of ground-shaking bass.

“Us being the End Of Time Observatory, it was the concept of having this as like sort of our spaceship that we use to travel and go to different places,” Hann says. “We’re just being taken to different worlds, other worlds, and exploring.”

Sometimes, it is very hard to believe that each EOTO set is completely live and improvised, given the seamless incorporation of amazing lights and visuals with ever evolving music. EOTO constantly changed it up, echoing snippets of hip hop, drum and bass, dubstep, and disco.

They even snuck in a shout out to Aaliyah, echoing “Rock the Boat” for a moment before smoothly transitioning into more face-melting beats. The video mapping and lights combined with the layers of the 3-D stage truly immersed the audience in the essence of EOTO and the journey we were all taking together.

EOTO’s first official stop on the Time Illusion tour will take them to the High Times Medical Cannabis Cup’s VIP party this Saturday night in Los Angeles. They’ll be making stops at Summer Camp, Electric Forest, Mountain Jam, and other major festivals this season. With many cities already announced, you’re probably lucky to be near enough a location where they’re playing, and this is the show to see!

To put it simply, if you like bright colors, trippy patterns, or experiencing life-changing events, this would be the perfect performance to be a part of. If their kick-off show in Boston was any indication of things to come, you will be smiling ear to ear long after the show ends. I still am.

Photos by Scott Gacek. Read our full interview with Jason Hann here.