All the way from Norway, 22 year-old Kygo blessed Toronto and spun for us last week at The Hoxton’s SOLD OUT Focus Friday event, presented by Embrace. He’s known for his track I See Fire which has over 40 million hits on YouTube and over 8 million plays on SoundCloud.
I arrived at The Hoxton soon after the doors opened at 11 p.m., and caught the first act Gray Moonen, who played similar genres than we expected to hear from Kygo, but with some more funk and Michael Jackson-sounding beats. He set the tone for the evening quite well, as the crowd continued to pour in. Just before midnight, female DJ Filthy Gorgeous came to the stage, and was rockin’ out to some house and Madonna-inspired beats. I could see her groovin’ on stage and she was filled with a ton of energy. It was very refreshing to see a girl spin at The Hoxton, and very fitting for the music she played.
At about 12:50am Kygo came to the stage and the crowd screamed with excitement as the moment finally arrived. He let the crowd go nuts for a bit before he began playing. Then suddenly, his remix of Ed Sheeran’s track I See Fire faded in, and the crowd was instantly tamed. Everyone knew the words and swayed to the euphoric melody. I actually had to put my camera down to wipe the tears of happiness. Nothing can every quite perfectly explain that beautiful moment when everyone began singing together.
He also played London Beat’s I’ve Been Thinking About You (Dilemmachine Remix), his popular remix of Kyla La Grange’s Cut Your Teeth, and towards the end he played his remix of Seinabo’s track Younger. His entire set was smooth and chill, which was a refreshing vibe for The Hoxton because it felt more inviting as a music lover. The last time I had been to the venue without any aggression or harassment from the crowd was back in January when I saw tech-house artist Destructo, which was also one of the best shows I’ve ever attended. I find it fascinating how all these sub genres of house music have so many different artists which bring in the best types of crowds. The jungle/future house tracks were perfect and are breaking out this summer as the latest trend. I felt privileged to see it first-hand from trendsetter Kygo himself. Wheww!
Kygo was awesome and the vibes were unreal. I highly recommend checking him out and marking your calendars for when he comes back to Toronto. You won’t want to miss it! Also check out Embrace for more Toronto shows! You can thank them for bringing in tons of wicked artists.
LINKS:
Kygo
Facebook
SoundCloud
Twitter
YouTube
The Hoxton
Website
Facebook
Twitter
Embrace
Website
Facebook
Twitter
Serafina Thoma – EDM TOR
