Launching and curating your own particular event series isn’t an easy task, especially since No Neon‘s unique sound vastly contrasts the ever popular “neon-bro” rave parties. But Hunter Siegel, in partnership with Embrace, stepped up to the plate and took on the challenge. Why? “I’m just looking to help grow the music I stand behind.” And here we are, celebrating No Neon’s one year anniversary after producing a successful run of shows throughout 2015.
Hunter Siegel live @ The Hoxton – January 9th 2016
Staying true to the theme, I dressed all in black. Getting into The Hoxton was very smooth experience and all the staff was friendly. There was an overwhelming smell in the air, as if 100 sticks of incense were burning. I have no clue if this is a normal thing for this venue or just certain occasions.
Hunter Siegel hosted an open-to-close set, roughly equalling five hours of continuous play. He came on the mic throughout the night, hyping up the audience and thanking us for making the shows as successful as they are. He played a variety of tracks, from Bontan‘s Move On Out, to Nero‘s Two Minds (one of my favourite tracks), to his original track Waiting Up ft. Delaney Jane which was well responded to.
I am, by everyone’s standards, the definition of “short”. I will typically pick a spot in the first third of the room closest to the stage and remain there for most of the night; otherwise, you’ll catch me standing on my tip toes, attempting to peer over shoulders to get a good view of the stage and the lights. My night started out this way as the crowd was respectful and danced within their own space to the tracks Siegel began his set with. But as the night progressed, and the crowd became larger and more intoxicated, my tolerance for being shoved around diminished. I normally don’t mind some chaos and excitement and being apart of the crowd, but when my friend had a drink poured all over him and I had to protect my face from beer bottles being swung around at my eye level, I gave up and relocated to the back of the club.
The official No Neon posters promoted appearances from ‘special guests’ without suggestion of who they would be. Halfway through the night, Omar LinX joined Siegel on stage and sang his track Back To You, a song Siegel helped produce and was released about a month prior.
But Siegel took his future/bass/deep house show one step further. There were waves of excitement moving throughout the room from the front to the back, and even though I couldn’t physically see what was going on, I knew something big was happening on stage. The crowd went absolutely insane when he surprised us with a b2b2b2b with Zeds Dead, AutoErotique, and Grandtheft.
Each performer (every one of them from Toronto) brought their own unique sound and the diversity of styles played ranged from deep house to dubstep, drum and bass to trap, with a touch of rock and hip hop. Zeds Dead, who flew home after playing a show in Singapore the night before, came on stage and took over with Rusko‘s Woo Boost followed by Where Are You Now ft. Bright Lights (Hunter Siegel Remix). Shortly after, Siegel came back on and made my night by playing an amazing remix of Skrillex‘s Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites.
The artists continued switching all night, making it impossible to predict what was going to be heard next. Grandtheft played his unreleased bootleg of Big Sean‘s Blessings ft. Drake & Kanye West which was followed by AutoErotique playing his track The Sound ft. Major Lazer, shortly followed by Zeds Dead’s Lost You ft. Twin Shadow & D’Angelo Lacy. Amongst the bass, the boys mixed in some rock (Nirvana‘s Lithium and The Police‘s Roxanne), some Canadian R&B hits (Drake‘s Hotline Bling and The Weeknd‘s The Hills), even some throwbacks (Soft Cell‘s Tainted Love and Corona‘s The Rhythm of the Night).
With hyped up vibes from the crowd, and all the positive feedback on social media, this had to be Hunter Siegel’s best No Neon to date. He pulled off a five hour set with the help from his friends, treating us to such fierce Toronto talent and pride. They couldn’t have had a more successful anniversary party! Here’s to another successful run of shows throughout 2016.
In case you still didn’t get the message about Saturday : @stephenkazumi A photo posted by Hunter Siegel (@huntersiegel) on
PARTIAL SETLIST:
11:27 – Bontan – Move On Out
11:41 – Fake Blood – Mars
11:51 – Hunter Siegel ft. Delaney Jane – Still Waiting
11:52 – Nero – Two Minds
11:55 – Tchami – Shot Caller
12:07 – Going Deeper – Escape
12:14 – Nirvana – Lithium
12:19 – Kanye West – All Day (remix)
12:21 – Drake – Hotline Bling (remix)
12:29 – Corona – Rhythm Of The Night
12:37 – Hunter Siegel vs. Todd Terry – Time To Blackout
12:41 – Skrillex – Fuck That
12:48 – Wax Motif & Neoteric – Go Deep (Astronomar Remix)
12:52 – Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Heads Will Roll (A-Trak remix)
12:53 – Omar LinX – Back To You (live on stage)
12:55 – Rusko – Woo Boost (Zeds Dead + AutoErotique on stage)
12:57 – Zeds Dead & Dirtyphonics ft. Bright Lights – Where Are You Now (Hunter Siegel Remix)
1:05 – Skrillix – Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites (remix)
1:17 – Soft Cell – Tainted Love
1:40 – Zeds Dead & LOUDPVCK – Flies
1:52 – Big Sean ft. Drake & Kanye West – Blessings (Grandtheft remix)
1:54 – AutoErotique ft. Major Lazer – The Sound
2:11 – The Police – Roxanne
2:14 – Zeds Dead ft. Twin Shadow & D’Angelo Lacy – Lost You
2:23 – Flux Pavilion ft. Doctor – International Anthem
2:53 – The Weeknd – The Hills
2:58 – DMX – Party Up (Up In Here)
| LINKS: Hunter Siegel Soundcloud |
Zeds Dead Soundcloud Youtube |
AutoErotique Soundcloud Youtube |
| Grandtheft Soundcloud |
Omar LinX Website Soundcloud Youtube |
