Pretty Lights brought the swirl bridge to Pelham, TN’s The Caverns over the weekend for a special stop on the ongoing Soundship Spacesystem Tour. The reigning livetronic act set up shop for a three-night, festival-style run at the famed subterranean venue, where Pretty Lights welcomed former member Adam Deitch, Derek Vincent Smith (Pretty Lights) played a secret DJ set, and the live band even honored country favorites Dolly Parton and Margo Price.
For the festival-ish format, the Pretty Lights live band performed at The Caverns’ spacious above-ground amphitheater. Following PL’s surface-level shows, the namesake Caverns came alive with after-shows from Manic Focus, Maddy O’Neal, Chris Karns, and more. Given the sizable difference in the 5,500-capacity above-ground amp and 1,200-cap below-ground cave, fans with three-night passes were given the choice to go underground either Friday, Saturday, or Sunday.
Pretty Lights’ relegation to the amphitheater didn’t stop bandleader/producer/arranger Derek Vincent Smith from sneaking underground for a secret set. Following a late-night showing by his longtime collaborator and bandmate Michal Menert, Derek took over the decks just after 4 a.m. for a “cave rave,” as he put it. Joined by drummer Alvin Ford Jr. from the Pretty Lights live band, Smith delivered a brief but potent 15-minute set reminiscent of his days as a solo act.
Speaking of returns, on Sunday evening the Pretty Lights live band welcomed back drummer Adam Deitch for a sit-in. The longtime Lettuce/Break Science beatmaker first joined the PL touring outfit back in 2010 and was later replaced by Alvin Ford Jr. with the launch of the revamped Pretty Lights Live in 2016. Deitch appeared during the final PL set of the weekend, jumping behind the kit for old-school favorites “Total Fascination” and a fitting “Sunday School”. Deitch’s work at The Caverns was far from over, as he later descended underground for a Break Sciencelate-night show with Pretty Lights keyboardist Borahm Lee.
Above ground, the Pretty Lights live band consisting of Smith, Menert, Karns, Ford, and Lee also paid tribute to the weekend’s gracious host state of Tennessee and its country music legacy. Only 80-something miles away from Nashville, Pretty Lights honored Music City with a smattering of country samples, including a mic-drop of Lil Nas X‘s cross-genre breakout “Old Town Road” to close night one. The country nods came through in full force on Saturday as Smith incorporated Margo Price’s “Tennessee Song” into “All I’ve Ever Known” and went full swirl with Dolly Parton classic “Jolene”. With Pretty Lights’ impending San Francisco run set to take place from November 9th–11th and the band’s known fondness for jamming on the Grateful Dead, there’s no telling what kind of homages to the city’s countercultural roots the band could incorporate at The Warfield.
Check out full-show videos of Pretty Lights’ Friday, Saturday, and Sunday shows at The Caverns, as well as Derek Vincent Smith’s surprise Saturday night DJ set. Scroll down for detailed setlists. Following the three-night Warfield stand, the sold-out Soundship Spacesystem Tourconcludes with a trio of shows in New Orleans December 1st–3rd.
Pretty Lights 11/3/23 Setlist
SET 1
3:28 – Intro
4:30 – Short Line
11:16 – Susan Christie – Ghost Riders In The Sky
>>> 13:54 x Let’s Get Busy > 17:28 (heRobust Remix)
>>> 18:47 x E-40 “Tell Me When To Go” (19:21 “Ghostride The Whip… but it’s a metaphor”)
>>> 20:06 x Johnny Cash “Riders on the Storm”
22:38 – Around the Block > 27:04 (Nugz Bunny Remix)
28:37 – So Much in the Dark > 35:51 – The Lord Will Make the Way
42:17 – The Who “Eminence Front” x Can’t Stop Me Now
57:03 – Band talks to stream
57:57 – Solamente x Natasha Thomas “Why (Does Your Love Hurt So Much)”
>>> w/ Common “The Light” // Madvillain “Accordion”
1:06:09 – Forever Lost > 1:13:18 – World is a Cinema (NEW)
>>> w/ Digable Planets “It’s Good To Be Here” // Biggie “Whatchu Want”
1:18:38 – Change is Gonna Come
>>> 1:23:42 x Gesaffelstein “Opr” w/ Stetsasonic “Talkin’ All That Jazz”
1:32:21 – Country Roads Remix
>>> 1:35:46 w/ B.O.B. ft Hayley Williams “Airplanes”
SET 2
1:39:10 – Road to the Stars
>>> 1:42:08 w/ Quad City DJ’s “Space Jam”
>>> 1:46:21 “Perhaps I may become a Pretty Light again” w/ Menert duet
>>> 1:48:50 w/ Three 6 Mafia “Stay Fly”
>>> 1:53:47 – Guz “Set U Free”
1:57:18 – Russian Justice > swirllll
2:07:32 – Analog Break w/ O.C. “Times Up”
>>> 2:17:52 – Starcastle “The Stars Are Out Tonight”
>>> 2:23:35 w/ Sly and the Family Stone “Everybody Is a Star”
2:25:10 – You Have a Gift (If You Only Believe)
2:33:18 – Still Night > swirllll
>>> 2:40:26 w/ Das EFX “They Want EFX”
2:46:51 – Look Both Ways > swirllll
>>> 2:55:11 w/ Mr. Scruff “You Got to Move It”
>>> 2:57:01 w/ CeCe Peniston “Finally”
ENCORE
3:05:04 – Pretty Lights shoutouts and LORE
3:09:55 – I Know The Truth
>>> 3:14:10 x Lil Nas X “Old Town Road”
View 11/3/23 Setlist
Pretty Lights 11/4/23 Setlist
SET 1
5:27 – Modular Swirl > So Bright Intro
8:49 – So Bright > swirllll
>>> 14:49 w/ SKTRKT “Wildfire” (instrumental)
21:01 – Free Stomp (NEW)
>>> 28:57 – Eric Leon & Troyboi “Lemme See”
31:00 – Future Blind
36:48 – Color of My Soul
>>> 42:42 Common “The 6th Sense” > 43:42 swirllll
49:27 – All I’ve Ever Known
>>> 54:07 w/ Margo Price “Tennessee Song”
>>> 56:34 w/ Doobie Brothers “Black Water”
>>> 57:49 w/ Bon Jovi “Dead or Alive” (1:00:05)
1:04:13 – Five Knives “Savages” (Pretty Lights Remix)
1:07:59 – Up & Down I Go > swirllll
>>> 1:13:25 w/ Beastie Boys “Ch-Check It Out”
>>> 1:16:40 w/ Bebe Rexha and G-Eazy “Me, Myself & I”
SET 2
1:19:34 – Bob Marley “Exodus” (Remix)
1:29:13 – Sun Spreads in Our Minds
>>> 1:30:52 – 1:37:55- DRONE LIGHT SHOW w/ Drake “Energy”
1:40:58 – Wake Up (NEW)
>>> 1:45:09 w/ David Essex “Rock On” (1:47:05)
>>> 1:46:06 w/ The O’Jays “For The Love of Money”
1:48:38 – Time To Build A Home (NEW)
>>> 1:58:48 – Kenny Loggins “Danger Zone” > swirllll
2:03:31 – My Only Hope
>>> 2:05:08 x Dolly Parton “Jolene” > swirlll
>>> 2:13:11 w/ TroyBoi “Say Yeah”
2:17:08 – Don’t Cost You Nothing
2:28:19 – Hot Like Sauce > swirllll (2:33:55)
>>> 2:36:05 – Michael Seven “Energy Mantra (Remix)”
2:40:06 – Understand Me Now w/ Chris de Burgh “A Spaceman Came Travelling”
>>> 2:44:20 – “Bee Cola”
ENCORE
2:51:22 – Just Because I Love You
>>> 2:53:20 w/ Tennessee Ernie Ford “Smokey Mountain Boogie”
>>> 2:54:58 x Words from Derek > DSV FREESTYLE
View 11/4/23 setlist
Pretty Lights 11/5/23 Setlist
SET 1
26:26 We Must Go On
32:05 Out of Time
39:58 Whistle
47:40 Gazing at the Glare
56:54 Drift Away
1:08:20 Kanye vs Daft Punk
1:16:25 The Last Passenger
1:25:58 B Rock
1:37:06 At Last I Am Free
SET 2
2:16:00 Solar Sailer X Alien Boy > 2:22:35 Drones Start
2:23:08 Hot Like Rox
2:31:18 Regular Priority
2:39:37 Let the World Hurry By
2:48:06 Total Fascination ft. Adam Deitch
2:56:42 Sunday School ft. Adam Deitch
3:02:47 Who Loves Me
3:09:56 I Can See It In Your Face
3:20:13 Praise You Tennessee
3:25:25 Electro Cali
3:33:16 Whatever You Like X Don’t Stop Believing X The Joker
ENCORE
3:47:54 Finally Moving > Playaz Club > Remix
