
It’s that time of year when we reminisce about the fun times in the big crowds of all the summer festivals as we migrate from the vast locations back into the city to our favourite clubs and venues. Kicking off a lengthy and noteworthy line-up of upcoming shows for the fall/winter season, The Hoxton welcomes back the human weirdo Brillz to Focus Fridays for the first time in two years. Accompanying the Twonk Team leader is local acts LUKAV, Krayysh and Bassik.
Attendance was pretty light for first act Bassik, but the sharply dressed man paid no mind as he vibed out in behind the sticker laden deck table. Bassik set the tone with some hard and heavy dubstep including a remix of Twenty One Pilots’ ride that featured a mind blowing and somewhat unexpected drop. Bassik used Flux Pavillion’s remix of Gold Dust in transition from heavy dubstep to a bouncier sound. With this transition, Bassik handed the helms over to newcomer Krayysh.
Sporting an OWSLA dad hat and thick frame glasses, local DJ Krayysh kept the had bass banging with his electric selections. Krayysh started off with banger Purple Lamborghini with a harder and heavier drop than the one Skrillex originally produced. Krayysh also included The Prodigy’s Smack My Bitch Up, Slushii’s remix of Killa and Dillon Francis’ When We Were Young. It wasn’t all heavy as he included light melodic breaks in between the hard and heavy. There was enough space on the floor to groove out to Krayysh’s infectious selection, which even coendured up some headbanging. Krayysh ended his set with a little drum and bass to keep the house moving for LUKAV.
The instant LUKAV took to the stage, the energy was cranked to 15. Armed with a plethora of trap, hip hop and bouncy bass, Toronto’s next great headliner’s infectious energy riddled out into the slowly packing room where a mosh pit had almost formed if not for the security guard breaking it up. The amount of energy that resonated from LUKAV’s set topped any opening performance I’ve seen and was on par with any headliner. LUKAV is a definite force to be reckoned with and expect to see plenty more of him in the future.
Coming in hot with the introduction of Eye of the Tiger mixed with various hype inducing samples was the main even of the evening Brillz. Setting it of with a harder version of Atom Bomb by Benasis, Brillz took the already insane energy that’s common in The Hoxton and took it to a whole other level by taking Busta Rhyme’s iconic verse from Look at Me Now and turned it into something unfathomably astonishing that set the place off in only his second song! Like the earlier acts of the evening, Brillz kept it hard and heavy with some like the Skrillex and Valentino Kahn’s Slam Dunk, his remix of Dillon Francis’ Need You and a remix of DJ Snake’s Turn Down for What that made everyone go insane! Brillz mixed in some classic tracks such as Run DMC’s Tricky, Whitney Houston’s I Will Always Love You and even mixed old and new with a mash up of Bangarang by Skrillex and Shimmy Shimmy Yeah by ODB.
After being out during festival season, it feels good to return to a familiar place with unmatchable energy in a more intimate setting. And with acts like Brillz, LUKAV, Krayysh and Bassik in tow, the cooler months will just be at hot as the summer!