Vancouver Embraced What So Not (Event review)

By Ryan Hayes

What So Not took over the Commodore Ballroom this past Saturday for a rock laden set with hip hop sensibilities and traditional DJ interludes. From an artistic standpoint the entire set was a step above the regular DJ affair, incorporating drums, a sample pad, and a dedicated guitarist—in other words he definitely wasn't just pressing play. Leaning heavily on original productions, his set was spanned the breadth of his career; all the way back to now classics Jaguar, and the Branchez remix of High You Are.

Felix Cartal recently took to Twitter commenting pointedly on the current state of generic DJ sets: “DJ's please play more of your own music, if people bought a ticket to see you, they want to hear your songs.” Luckily for fans in Vancouver that has never been a problem for What So Not. More than quick-to-fame DJ's with a trendy banger or two What so Not falls in to the Flume, Bassnecter, Alison Wonderland, and Rezz camp...focusing on artistry and atmosphere. He has created a fervent following of die hard fans and proven himself as a true artistic talent with a strong stylistic vision.

That being said the DJ portions of his set were well timed, and filled with crowd pleasing, commercial inclined hits, including; a sing along of Toto's classic hit Africa, Skrillex' headbanging anthem Chicken Soup, the now customary Bodak Yellow remix, and the perfectly fitting theme to Stranger Things. Perhaps the one drawback this style of show were the transitions out of the DJ segments back in to What So Not's live material. Occasionally there was dead air and a rapid change in energy. Regardless, any lull never lasted for long, and the audience immediately forgot the second a unique live element took over. The drum solo during a live edit of GOH, and the live vocals for We Keep On Running were definitely highlights.

After a quick hour and fifteen minutes the lights went down, and What So Not walked off stage. If the show had ended there it would not have been enough for Vancouver fans, however, we were graced with a twenty minute encore roaring to life with a thunderous rendition of Divide & Conquer. It was easily the strongest continuous segment of the night. If you have a chance to catch What So Not on his Beautiful Things North America Tour PT2 don't miss out.