Shaking things up in the underground scene, Flosstradamus touched down in Toronto this Friday, December 5, bringing the HDYNATION Tour to the Danforth Music Hall. This was my first time attending an event at the venue and I was pleasantly surprised. From the exterior, it has a very old school and classic vibe. The theatre was built in 1919 and it seems that not much has changed; the box office is still on the outside, though the lobby now serves beer in place of popcorn and milk duds. Entering the venue takes you a bit by surprise; an old theatre that at first glance seems a bit rundown. After a few minutes, you begin to soak in the history and beauty of the architecture. The sloped floor is a unique feature that could be treacherous to some but is quickly adapted to and makes viewing the stage far easier (there isn’t a bad spot in the house). Even perched at the back, the view and sound quality is superb.
The night got off to an early start with Curtis Williams kicking things off around 8pm. The Two-9 member brought some serious energy performing hard hitting tunes that had the crowd turning up despite the early hour. Highlights included him dropping his Wiz Khalifa collaboration and playing out an unreleased tune with trap lords LOUDPVCK. The Two-9 crew had the crowd goin’ up even though it was quarter passed 8.
After a brief break, GTA took the stage and immediately went “hard”, opening their set with their latest banger ‘Hard House’ featuring Juyen Sebulba. The track set the scene for the entire night and their killer set was sure to have accumulated some new fans. GTA’s Death To Genres mantra is far more than a marketing ploy, Van Toth & JWLS truly live it. Their ability to seamlessly move from trap to dubstep to hip-hop to hard house to pop to moombahton and everything in between is matched by few DJs on the planet. If you’re a casual fan just looking to party, their high energy sets will have you dancing all night. If you’re a DJ or looking to explore the music deeper, seeing them spin is a true pleasure. They’re one of few duos that showcase the need for two DJ’s on stage. It’s not just one guy partying while the other plays. They’re both constantly putting in work, often reaching over top of each other to attain the perfect mix. If you haven’t seen GTA it’s difficult to describe just how perfectly they transition from different songs and sounds. A great example saw the duo mixing Calvin Harris’ ‘Summer’ effortlessly into RL Grime’s ‘Void’ and bringing it back to 2008 with the hit ‘Stanky Leg’. Regardless of what music fans enjoyed, GTA brought something for everyone and had concertgoers amped for the main event.
After another short intermission a countdown began, building immense anticipation. As the clock hit zero, the bass heavy tracks began to flow and HDYNATION was in full effect. The overall production was impressive. A large gritty looking stage saw Autobot perched high above the crowd, killing the decks with barbed wire overhead. J2K took centre stage rocking the mic in a wild outfit punctuated with a customized Flosstradamus bullet proof vest. Floss flexed their skills effortlessly mixing rap tunes into heavy trap bangers, case in point Bone Crusher’s ‘Never Scared’ into ‘Crowd Ctrl’. The duo took time to praise longtime fans dropping classics like ‘Test Me’ and of course ‘Original Don’.
The crowd involvement was on point throughout with J2K stopping to say “if you ain’t come here to turn up there’s the door.” After a short pause the crowd was met with Rusko’s classic ‘Woo Boost’ before heading into ‘Bricks’. Other standouts included their ‘God’s Whisper Remix’ transitioning into ‘Ruff Ryders Anthem’, ‘Tuesday’ mixing into ‘Hard House’ and an absolutely amazing unreleased rework of Wayne’s ‘A Mili’. The ability to control the crowd was cemented when J2K asked everyone to get down. I’ve seen several DJ’s attempt the same idea but never witnessed it carried out with such success; there wasn’t a single person standing. As the beat dropped everyone jumped in unison for a truly memorable experience. If all this wasn’t enough the duo also showcased their unreleased collab with TroyBoi and absolutely set the venue on fire.
The set came to an end with Flosstradamus bringing out GTA for a preview of their upcoming collab with Lil’ Jon. The song delivered exactly as one would expect with the crowd going nuts. Concert goers didn’t have enough, with chants for an encore beginning almost immediately after the set ended. Floss being the performers that they are, didn’t hesitate to come back out and raise the bar even higher! As they queued up their smash hit ‘Mosh Pit’ J2K split the crowd in half with a 20 foot gap right up the middle. Right before it hit, they asked fans to rush the middle, literally turning the club into a Mosh Pit. It somehow managed to get rowdy without being violent, for a truly eventful close.
Overall, the night was incredibly turnt. Floss proved why they are one the biggest names in trap, while GTA made a case for the best opener in the business. It was odd at first to see the new format; Autobot DJing, while J2K rocked the mic, but the chemistry was not lost and the energy was unstoppable. The HDYBYZ definitely had the Danforth Music Hall too turnt up and those who couldn’t turn down skated to the after party over at The Hoxton.
For more photos of the event check out our gallery on Facebook.
