A cold November night may not seem like the most optimal time to hop on a boat cruise in New York City's harbor. However, once in a while
when the time is right, one must brave winter's cruel elements for the sake of fun, and in this specific case fun consisted of Chicago natives Future Rock and Orchard Lounge bringing their Windy City styles to the rivers of the Big Apple. For a while these two live acts have been an inseparable tag team. Orchard Lounge, a trio of DJ's, and Future Rock, a trio of musicians, frequently combine forces to merge into a party-driving orgy-instigating sextet.

Orchard Lounge treated the cruisers to an opening set of some light dance music aided by a visual display of psychedelia. Soon, the Future Rock members picked up their instruments one by one, playing along with Orchard Lounge without missing a beat. The remarkable ability these acts have to segue in and out of each other is quite
astounding. It's a rare accomplishment when DJ's and instrumentalists can play along without tweaking the sound in the mix. These guys do it perfectly. Without any noticeable change, Future Rock had taken the spotlight and Orchard Lounge was off.

Future Rock approached the boat cruise in a unique fashion, playing an "In The Round" set of music. They assembled themselves in the middle of the dance floor in a circle allowing the crowd to literally get right next to them. Essentially, every seat in the house had a backstage view. Future Rock began their set with a Daft Punk medley, moving in and out of hits like "Robot Rock", "Prime Time of Your Life", and "Da Funk". The songs were virtually an exact reenactment of the Summer hits. The band didn't stop delving into its canon of covers, bringing out MSTRKRFT's "Easy Love" as well.

Covers aside, the most exciting moment of the evening came when the unexpected guest Matisyahu came out for some impromptu unorthodox freestyles over Future Rock's "Rock Kit". The boat was rocking back and forth to the bearded man's chants. Future Rock's original material such as "FM1" and "FM2" was just as impressive as their selective covers. They have a unique style, something very hard to accomplish in this era of monotonous electronic music. Through keyboard and synthesized drum samples and loops, this band is able to maintain a sustained energy throughout their performance. Their set concluded with more covers of Arcade Fire's "Rebellion (Lies)" and a version of "Milkman" by Aphex Twin. Orchard Lounge then hopped on taking back the reins with some old school hip hop as the boat docked.

Future Rock and Orchard Lounge are the new age tag-team dynamic duo. Like Kobe and Shaq or Jordan and Pippen, these acts do not miss a beat.