I had the pleasure of going to a show for Giraffage’s Too Real tour at The Observatory North Park on November 28th and was just blown away. To be honest, I’ve never been a huge fan of electronic music, but a lot of my friends like his music so I decided to go and see if he was good as my friends hyped him up to be. Giraffage recently released his debut album, Too Real, but he’s been performing for over half a decade.
I came to the show late and I missed Wingtip’s, one of the openers for Giraffage, set. Luckily, I was able to see Sweater Beats' set and it was good. (Disclosure: I may be a little biased because I gave Sweater Beats the sweater that he’s wearing in the picture above). During Sweater Beats’ set, he played his cover of Outkast’s “Hey Ya” that he did with KAMAU and it was spectacular. Once he played that, I was instantly hooked.
Throughout his set, Sweater Beats played a lot of his own songs and some great remixes. One of the songs that stood out to me was his remix of Matt Maeson’s “Grave Digger.” He brought so much energy to the stage, like most electronic artists do, but I think the reason I thoroughly enjoyed his performance was because I was able to feed off his energy. He was the first electronic artist I’ve seen where he looked like he was out there having fun and enjoying it. Near the end of his set, Sweater Beats pulled out a guitar and took his performance to another level. He left the crowd by playing “Welcome to the Black Parade” by My Chemical Romance on guitar and one of his orginals, “ Altar.”
After that incredible performance, Giraffage was up next. I was not a big fan of electronic music before this show, so I did not know what to expect for his set. I knew he had a cool name, but was not sure if his music could live up to the hype. I was wrong. Twenty minutes into his set and Giraffage pulled out remixes of Soulja Boy songs. For him to turn songs I never liked and make them into something enjoyable for my ears was just impressive. At first, his “Crank That” remix brought back flashbacks of my horrible middle school days, but as the song went on, my body was just grooving to the song on its own. Soon, all the memories of my cringey middle school days evaporated, and I was dancing along. I wanted to break out the dance to the original song, but listening to Giraffage’s version was enough for me.
Giraffage puts on a hell of a show. The light show behind him was pretty simple, but pretty cool. When he played his song “19 Hours” from his Too Real album, he had lights that flashed smiley faces and heart symbols and it reflected the vibe from the crowd. Everyone was having a fun time and you can’t help but to bob your head to his songs. I was just in awe at how smooth he made his set. It really made me respect him as an artist. You can tell he worked hard honing his skills and it’s great to see it pay off, and for him to be where he is today, as corny as that all sounded.
The last thing that impressed me about this concert were Sweater Beats and Giraffage themselves. It is difficult for Asian Americans to make it big in the entertainment and music industry and I’m just so proud to see some representation in the electronic music scene. I watched Sweater Beats’ “Glory Days” music video and he had people like Far East Movement and Dumbfoundead in the music video. It’s cool how Giraffage had Japanese Breakfast on one of his songs for his album and how he chose Sweater Beats to perform with him on his biggest tour yet, too. It’s great to see the Asian American scene help each other out and build each other up.
To wrap it all up, I can’t believe I was lucky enough to go this concert. Sweater Beats and Giraffage put on an amazing show and gave me one of the most energetic and fun concerts that I’ve ever been to. Make sure to see them on the Too Real tour on one of the remaining dates before they go to Europe!
By Christian Le
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