REVIEW: Baauer Shuts Down The Hoxton

On Friday night, acclaimed New York DJ and producer Baauer took a trip up north to shut down The Hoxton. I arrived at the club just after 11 and was quickly handed what appeared to be a light up Fitbit with a Heineken logo. At the back of the club there was a huge Henieken light up wall, synched with the wristbands and the club lighting. It was kinda cool to see everyones wristband changing colour at the same time and a little conversation starter for early in the night. Along with this Henieken sponsorship came exclusive beer rights for the night. I hate the idea of limiting beer selection but took solace in the fact that it was at least Heineken and not Bud Light. Beat Sampras of Itzsoweezee warmed things up with some low-key trap anthems including ‘Diamonds Dancing,’ the first of many What A Time To Be Alive cuts to get rinsed out that night. It set the vibe off right without getting too heavy just yet.

Around 11:30 Beat Sampras subbed out for the Bedroomer b2b set featuring Internet Daughter & Eytan Tobin. Their energy was strong from the outset and turned things up almost instantly. A hard hitting rework of ‘El Chapo,’ Travis Scott’s ‘Antidote’ and Vices x IVARR’s ‘Hammetime’ were all huge standouts. However, local producer Pusher’s ‘Basic’ may have garnered the biggest reaction of the set. The set bounced between genres including trap, rap, jersey club and even some dubstep (shoutout ‘Woo Boost’). A few transitions were a bit stark but the song selection and overall vibe was killer.

As Baauer walked to the stage grinning in a white hoodie and blue cap the crowd was instantly amped. He opened with a future bass influenced banger that I couldn’t place and stepped on the accelerator with early highlights including ‘Jumpman’ looping into RL Grime’s ‘Scylla’. From then on the place was ignited and Baauer had everyone in the palm of his hand. He seamlessly moved from new heaters, to rare edits (‘Tom’s Diner’), trap classics (‘Acrylics’) and a ton of his own tracks. It wasn’t long before his hoodie was off and the place was fully lit. It’s been a minute since I’ve felt the infamous floor bounce at the Hoxton (imagine being on a wooden trampoline) but anytime Baauer comes through it’s a given.

Part of what makes a Baauer set so strong is his energy, focus and fun-loving nature. You can tell he loves what he’s doing, stands behind his music 100% and takes his duties as a DJ seriously. He’s not fucking around and getting drunk, he’s putting in work behind the decks to create the best set possible. His impressive catalog of tracks was a strong point throughout, from his recent productions like ‘GoGo!’ to classics like ‘Yaow!’ which still goes as hard as the day it dropped. He brought in ‘Higher’ twice, but to be fair if you dropped a track with Just Blaze and a Jay Z vocal drop, you probably would too. Baauer’s commitment to his craft and love for DJing was echoed by the fact he played until it was literally shut down. It seemed more than once he was told to wrap things up but he kept powering through with a “one more song” mentality before finally getting shut down mid-way through a track. It’s this commitment and dedication that has helped him see the great levels of success thus far… well that and ‘Harlem Shake’ of course.