Brooklyn’s Avant Gardner is sent to another dimension by KAYTRANADA
KAYTRANADA stands above a fog covered crowd.
By Anwuli Onwaeze
American Dance Ghosts, Joyce Wrice and KAYTRANADA deliver an amazing concert at KAYTRANADA's Brooklyn stop on his 2021 tour.
On October 16th, the city of Brooklyn showed up and showed out to see KAYTRANADA at the Avant Gardner. He was accompanied by American Dance Ghosts and Joyce Wrice on the second show of his 3-night stop in the city.
You could probably feel the energy from miles away as fans filed into the venue eager and ready to dance the night away. Once I arrived, L.A. based duo American Dance Ghosts, composed of Hank Korsan and Hayes Bradley, were already delivering what was only the beginning of their two hour, funk filled set. The entire crowd was feeling the music, bouncing their heads, but in the middle, a dance circle had started swallowing anyone nearby for a few moments of the spotlight. The vibes were set and the energy carried on through the end of their set.
At midnight Joyce Wrice, a new L.A. based R&B singer, hit the stage and she came in strong, performing the opening song, “Chandler” off of her recently released debut album: Overgrown. She encapsulated the crowd with her vibrant choreography and her honey-like vocals. After performing a few more songs from the album Joyce rounded up her 45-minute set by performing her hit single“One on One”, featuring Freddie Gibbs and giving the audience a taste of an upcoming collaboration with KAYTRANADA.
After her set, the crowd was given some time to cool off with a 15 minute intermission. You could feel the restlessness in the crowd as we waited for the main show to begin. Once 1 am came around, KAYTRANADA emerged with his laptop from the fog sitting on the stage. The audience's cheers filled the venue from its littered floors to the high ceiling, but was soon drowned out by his opening song “Freefall” featuring Durand Bernarr from his most recent and best performing album: Bubba.
Throughout his set, KAYTRANADA had various clips of himself doing random things and live, thermal footage of the crowd playing on the large screen behind him. There was also a smaller screen placed in front of him which displayed changing images layed over a spinning record. The bass was turned up earlier in the night, so you could feel every note he played in your bones.
Even though you could tell that the crowd was a bit tired from the previous 3 hours of performances, KAYTRANADA’s entrance gave us the boost we needed to enjoy the rest of his set. He began his set by playing several songs from the same album including “Midsection” featuring Pharrell Williams and “Go DJ” featuring SiR. He then transitioned into playing some of his remixes and songs from his debut album, 99.9 Percent. My favorites of the night were “YOU'RE THE ONE” , his hit song with Syd and “BREAKDANCE LESSON N.1”, both of which are on his debut album.
The highlight of Kay’s set was definitely when he played his hit remix of Teedra Moses’s “Be Your Girl”. The bouncy track had heads bobbing, arms in the air, and the entire crowd belting out the lyrics. It was truly a euphoric experience, it felt like we were all sharing the same joy that night. It was almost as if we all made a mutual agreement to have as much fun as possible with each other despite being strangers hours before.
He was an hour into it’s set when sadly he culminated with his song with Mick Jenkins: “Grey Area''. Soon after some people in the crowd quickly left to avoid the post-concert rush, but most stayed and cried for an encore. Just a few moments later he rushed back onto the stage and almost asked us for forgiveness by playing “Vex Oh” his afrobeat inspired song with Goldink, Ari PenSmith and Eight9Fly. He finished off this delicious set with some of his more popular collaborations: his remix of The Internet’s “Roll(Burbank Funk)” and “Together”.
When KAYTRANADA actually left the stage for the second time I was left stunned, as was everyone else. This could very well be one of the best concerts I’ve ever been to. I think the type of people that like KAYTRANADA also love to dance and have fun, so the crowd there really helped make the concert’s atmosphere feel welcoming and freeing. I can’t wait to see what else Kay has in store for us, but if the mood of his next project is anything like this concert, it’ll definitely be amazing.