Griz ensures funk is alive & well at the Commodore (Vancouver event review)

By Ryan Hayes

Lovingly curated and nurtured by Grant Kwiecinski's renewed creative vision, the Ride Waves tour is a celebration of the core tenants embedded at the heart of dance music. Although the Commodore was unable to accommodate GRiZ' mind bending Imaginarium setup—he did manage to squeeze 24 sets of lasers on stage—the essence of the tour remained intact.

Bolstered by GRiZ' unfettered artistic scope, the entire show is constructed to transport the audience and put a smile on their face. 2019 has been an incredible production streak for Grant who released a full LP & three Bangers EPs—twenty three official GRiZ releases in just nine months. Ride Waves is his most actualized album to date, and his Bangers offshoot his brought new sounds to the stagnant landscape of bass music. Griztronics is this year's unofficial dub anthem.

As the night progressed GRiZ transitioned through a wide spectrum of musical genres. From a headbangers paradise, to saxophone infused elctro-funk, through to a house leaning section...and back around again...regardless of what GRiZ played, everyone was along for the ride.

The Ride Waves tour seems to have fostered the continual growth of a welcoming fan base; the core of which is strengthened by the genuine connection Grant facilitates with his community. It's what the catch all umbrella label of EDM needs. Artistry. Vision. Personality. A deviation from the standard commercialized path currently bleeding festivals dry of any recognizable character.

With the aid of his live band Grant brought Ride Waves alive for attendees. PROBCAUSE rapped alongside Grant throughout the show and carried songs including 'My Friends & I Pt. 2' and a stellar rendition of the impactful 'It Gets Better' which is usually helmed by DRAM. Chrishira Perrier's soulful vocals always ushered a torrent of energy from the crowd; highlights included 'I'm Good' & 'I Like That.' Stepping out from behind his guitar we were treated to Muzzy Bear's vocals on Ride Waves' 'Caught Up.'

The entire show represented the physical embodiment of Grant's desire to step out of his creative comfort zone and take his GRiZ persona to new heights. Grant played more saxophone, led sections on guitar, and—even lent his vocals to live renditions of tracks from both Ride Waves & his Bangers EPs.

Perhaps not the fever pitch for energy, but certainly a peak for pure vibes; Cruise Control sat squarely in the middle of his show. After ramping up the audience with a string of heavy wubs he expertly brought us back to a beautiful middle ground with chilled funk vibes. We were all in it together, and that was the point.

Like Bassnectar before him, and more recently Excision, Grant is in the midst of creating something both intimately important to a growing section of super fans, and commercially viable on a large scale. Ride Waves may have been his sixth album but it is just the beginning of a much larger act two for Grant Kwiecinski.

20 years of music (Here’s to 20 more, Cosmic Gate) - Montreal event review

Source: New City Gas FB Page

By Dominic Wren

First off, let’s just all congratulate the legends known as Cosmic Gate for the mile stone 20 years of music. When you think about it, how many EDM artists have been on the world stage for the past 20 years and still relevant today? To celebrate, Cosmic Gate when on a 21 city, 5-month world tour. Last Friday, the duo stopped at Montreal’s New City Gas and pulled off a 3 hour set that not only stunned the crowd but the bouncers and workers of the event venue.

Source: New City Gas FB Page

The brought the crowd on a cosmic exploration (yeah I just wrote that) of emotions like dropping their edit of Awaken and some hard trance mixed into Rocket Science by Above & Beyond. Unfortunately, their talented opener Orjan Nilsen couldn’t make it to his because due to flight cancellations. The headliners gave him a shout out while mixing his tracks like The Last Goodbye and Simulator into their set.

Source: New City Gas FB Page

Once again, the Montreal crowd showed their passion for the art and danced all night with the legends. I will leave you to imagine the rest of their therapeutic show because it is truly unique experience that I find is very hard for other artists to beat.

If Cosmic Gate comes to a city near you, I truly recommend you grab your favorite rave buddy and rush over even if you’re not a fan of trance. These guys aren’t known for their amazing light shows or anything like that but they definitely are known for their insane track selection and true musical freedom.

album1 of many… San Holo's Toronto Concert Review

By Sinejan Ozaydemir 

Toronto fans had the pleasure of escaping the cold to enjoy an evening with San Holo and friends on his 'Album 1’ tour this past Wednesday at The Danforth Music Hall. The evening started with three acts: Eastghost, Taska Black and BAYNK, each bringing their own unique energy to DMH. What was most interesting, however, was the serious shift in energy from the moment San Holo took the stage. It wasn’t your classic uproar that you commonly expect from the crowd welcoming a headliner, it felt more like a huge shift in energy and attention, almost like re-awakening that was extremely welcoming and free. Within minutes, we would find out why and how this happened. 

If you are a fan of San Holo’s music, you will know that he loves to combine organic sounds/live instrumentals as well as the electronic elements to create his dreamy soundscapes. 'album1' is a great example of his innovative sound that clearly stands out within the electronic music world today. In my opinion, the Album 1 tour echoed this theme and showcased his signature sound very well. 

There were many elements that made this show successful and memorable. The main one being San himself. Anyone who has been able to witness him on this tour thus far, can easily agree with the fact that the energy he brings to the stage is not like any other. The room was in a bit of a meditative/trance-like state from the moment he started performing and later, after the show was over, and I was able to review what just happened and snap out of my own trance, I was able to understand that it was mainly due to his energy. 

His genuine personality, which has made his fans fall in love with him and his music, easily comes across while watching him on stage. Given the same setup and songs, I don’t think that another musician could have been able to replicate such a performance. He was not just "in the moment" in the sense of seeing how the crowd reacts and having the typical back and forth that happens between an artist and audience. The fact that he is the person who knows the ins and outs because he has worked so hard and put so much energy into creating the music is one thing.  Seeing him experience the music so deeply and feeling like he was genuinely inviting us to be in that moment with him was a different and refreshing feeling.  

Even though the room was full of people, because of this feeling, his planned and rehearsed set seemed almost like it wasn’t planned or perfected at all. It actually felt very organic, as if we were almost getting an exclusive sneak-peek of San prepping for this tour. Everyone was in their own world, having a one-on-one experience with San-you could tell by the smiles on their faces! 

His 1.5-hour set was full of highs and lows that were impactful, while the transitions between songs were fluid. It felt like we were almost following a storyline from start to finish, but it was overall quite mellow and enjoyable and it really kept us in the moment. The crowd grooved along with him as he played guitar live, singing melodic lines in his songs, jumping and dancing to the explosive drops, erupting in spontaneous clapping and chanting the lyrics. San didn’t stop moving for a moment, he was expressive on the guitar and the mic, the quick changes to and from the live instruments and the electronic control instruments were well executed. 

We were able to hear a great mix of hits and tracks from 'Album 1'. It all seemed to fit in very cohesively, which reminds us that he really has established a clear revolutionary sound of his own within the electronic music community. The combination of the cinematic sounds and other elements such as lyrics that resemble catchy pop hooks really captivate his audience. His fans seem to be a growing niche of individuals who welcome a more complex new sound in electronic music that’s building a bridge between many other genres. 

All of these vibes were accompanied by an awesome light show and great visuals, which many electronic music fans are very used to. I think his team did a great job at utilizing the stage at Danforth Music Hall and incorporating various elements without making it seem like the main attraction and allowing the live and musical elements to shine. 

Judging by their reactions, his fans would definitely want to see him perform again in Toronto and look forward to seeing bigger and more from him in the future. He made what could have been a very standard, dry performance that was super laid out and planned, into something that was individual and unique: definitely something you had to be there for to truly understand- which I think is a true sign of a great live performance. Looks like this is Album 1 of many to tour for San Holo. 

The Dreamy experience we had at the Petit Biscuit show in Toronto

By Sinejan Ozaydemir

Last night, Toronto welcomed Petit Biscuit (PB) for his second time performing in the city and he seemed very excited to be in front of his Canadian fans. The concertgoers were all in a chill vibe but also filled with eagerness: they were there for the full Petit Biscuit experience.

The floor was full by the time PB took the stage. The ticket holders in the balcony section were all on their feet as the show started, some sneaking to the edge of the balcony to snap some pics and videos to share with their friends online.

The stage set up was simple with his drum and other pad controllers, as well as his guitar arranged around him on stage. I think it was interesting that he set up one of his controllers facing the audience. It allowed the audience to be in the moment with him and experience the origin of the sound in each moment. Although it must have been more challenging to play the controller upside down. 

The visuals which featured calm colours and landscapes were projected at the back of the stage, adding to the ambiance, while the light set up looked like it was beaming PB up to another dimension.

He started the show off with the first song on his new album, “Creation comes alive”, which was a great introduction to the set. He then threw in a remix of Zedd & Alessia Cara’s “Stay” into the songs to help the Toronto crowd feel right at home and solidified the spirit of EDM in the room. Most of the songs he performed were from his new album Presence but he featured some of his earlier work in the mix as well.

All of the songs were well received but among the most well-known/popular from the new album were “Wake up”, “Waterfall”, “Beam”, and “Oceans”. A great surprise was PB playing two edits of his famous track “Sunset Lover” during the set. It was great to see the live guitar incorporated in the set especially for this track. Just when we thought the highlight track was done, we got to enjoy it again a few songs later.

Overall, the Toronto crowd was quite pleased with the performance as they watched, clapped and danced along in an almost dreamy state. While waiting for coat check, viewers with smiles on their faces discussed how great the vibes were in the room and how they have all become true Petit Biscuit fans by the end of the night.

Montreal fans you are next on the Presence tour this Friday January 19th at IGLOOFEST. If you are a fan of Petit Biscuit and/or dreamy soundscapes in general, don’t miss it!

The first stop of the Full Flex Express at Ottawa's Bluesfest was a massive success

The return of the Full Flex Express in 2015 was easily one of the most anticipated summer events on the Canadian calendar. The fact that Skrillex and the rest of his crew managed to organize such a huge tour on a train is no easy feat, and just shows the kind of commitment they had to their Canadian fans. Fortunately the commitment goes both ways as they were awarded with a huge turnout of approximately 25,000 in attendance for their first tour stop in Ottawa. 

This year's Full Flex lineup offered a little something for everyone, ranging from in your face style and great fan interaction from A$AP Ferg on the hip hop side, Kiesza with her smooth vocals and dance moves,  Anna Lunoe/Mija with some Future House, and the live acts of Tycho and Hundred Waters. But things went up a notch (or two) when the two main headliners, Toronto's own Zeds Dead, and Jack Ü brought the bass in a very big way to Ottawa on Wednesday night. 

Zeds Dead is known for their penetrating bass tunes, but lately they have diversified with their break out hit "Lost You" which generated significant radio play in 2015. The question I asked myself was what kind of Zeds Dead performance would Ottawa be getting? The bass/dubstep style that we are familiar with, or will they double down on their "Lost You" success and give us a more future house vibe? The answer came quickly as 2 minutes into the set Zeds Dead was already busy testing the bass limits of the festival speakers. 

Known for putting together memorable mixes online, Zeds Dead can also craft a mean live set. Mixing in ZD originals like "Wit Me Dub", their latest release with Megalodon, they also dropped a few key tracks from other artists like Flux Pavilion's "International Anthem" or Grandtheft's "Let Me Tell You Something". We were even given an ID early in the set, which sounds very promising. Zeds Dead hit their set out of the park. 

Jack Ü's Canadian debut is a long time coming, but they made sure that Canada felt their presence by laying down a perfect performance that set the tone for the rest of the Full Flex Express Tour. Fresh off a brand new album released earlier this year, Skrillex and Diplo have brought their Jack Ü act to the biggest festival stages across the world.

The Jack Ü project between Skrillex and Diplo is a union of two styles that blend well when they come together to play live. Their set started off with a bang as they brought Calgary's Kiesza on stage to perform their hit "Take Ü There". Besides playing Jack U originals as expected, both artists managed to showcase their own tracks as Skrillex played his remixes of "Bad Man", "Ragga Bomb", and even his old remix of "Levels". Diplo dropped "Roll The Bass" fresh from his latest album with Major Lazer, his 2013 hit "Revolution" and even gave us a few surprises like adding in Kanye West's 2010 hit "Power" into the mix. 

Both artists are well known curators and heads of their respective labels, and they both played some of the hottest tracks of the summer including Flosstradamus remix of "Bitch Better Have My Money", Ookay's Lit bootleg of "Lean On", and Dillon Francis's take on "Runaway (U & I)". 

The highlight of the night came towards the end when Skrillex took the mic to sing his part of the lyrics of "Mind". Another highlight was when they showed beautiful night time shots of Ottawa on the back screen while playing their 'Get Free/Cinema" VIP. "Where Are Ü Now" featuring the vocals of Justin Bieber ended their set on a high note. 

The kick off of the Full Flex Express Tour in Ottawa was a major success to say the least and provides great momentum as they make their way across Canada. If you're on the fence about Full Flex, don't be, because this is one show that you do not want to miss.