EVENT REVIEW: Alison Wonderland + Pusher & More @ The Hoxton 08-05-15

Embrace and Galapagos brought us another Focus Fridays event at The Hoxton right here in Toronto with a killer lineup. Local DJ J-Lah opened with a set filled with tech and UK garage beats. It was very chilled and relaxed as people began to slowly fill the venue. J-Lah was all smiles and smirks while dropping some of the most underrated tracks. It was evident that his positive energy pulled in a crowd for the dance floor.

KDZ played a lot of bass and trap, but kept his set very colourful in track selections. I heard some Akon at one point with a bit of a tropical house vibe, while everything for the most part was contributing to the bass theme for the evening. A lot of the tracks were perfect for hyping up the crowd as we were another set closer to Alison.

Local DJ Pusher played a lot of trap, and I was really happy to finally check him off my list of local artists I’ve witnessed live. He dropped Fuck That by Skrillex, B2U by Boombox Cartel, and Roller by Carmack along so many more. He balanced bass and bubbly upbeat music really well, which catered to a wider audience so everyone could appreciate the night without being stuck on one type of sound. All of the artists were really good at bringing something different to the lineup.

Alison Wonderland came to the stage around 1AM in her platform heels and was dancing behind Pusher as his set was coming to an end. She opened with a ton of energy, scratching on the turntables and intensely twisting nobs, while zoning out completely to the music. She dropped Cashmere Cat’s edit of No Lie by 2 Chainz featuring Drake just for Toronto. She also dropped her original tracks Run and Cold which were just released earlier this year on her debut album Run.

This was honestly a night I’ll never forget, especially since the tour was for her album, which I really connected to and opened me up more to the future genre. Alison will be returning to Toronto in August for Time Fest alongside artists Die Antwoord, Ryan Hemsworth, Tory Lanez and more at Fort York. If you missed her this time, you do not want to miss her this Summer.

LINKS:

J-Lah

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Pusher
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Alison Wonderland
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Serafina Thoma – EDM TOR