Steve Angello Boston Show Review

By Max & Deirdre

Ocean Club has gotten off to an extremely impressive start in summer 2012.  The venue has played host to Skrillex and Nicky Romero in its Opening weekend and has also seen the likes of Steve Aoki, Thomas Gold, A-track, and Fedde Le Grand stroll through its doors.  OC Sundays as they are calling it has quickly dominated Sunday nights in the Boston area.  The question is, what's all the "noise" all about?  Read on for our Steve Angello Boston Show Review.

While most venues in the Boston and the Metro Boston area have pulled back on bookings due to the decreased population Boston is known for in the summer, Ocean club has done the exact opposite.  They have loaded up their Sunday night and made it the Venue to be at.  As a result, the venue attracts some of the sexiest of club goers, in addition to the EDM faithful.

This past Sunday wasn't any different.  After months of trying, the venue was finally able to bring in 1/3rd of Swedish House Mafia, Steve Angello.  The owner and founder of Size Records and controversial DJ, as of late, was a...
...much anticipated show for everyone.

Crowds arrived as early as 9, as we found a healthy amount of people on the dance floor when we arrived around 9:30.  Resident DJ Bamboora was on the decks spinning to kick off the night. His energy matched what he consistently preaches via social media, and his beats had the small (but growing) crowd on the dance floor moving.

Taking a look around Ocean Club you’ll notice a few things. First off, it’s not your typical ‘rave’ scene. Most people (75%) are dawned in club attire, with most ladies working the cat walk in the fiercest of heels and miniskirts and the gentlemen getting their cabana chic on.  Nevertheless, it makes for a visual stimulus in addition to the auditory one, most come expecting from the celeb DJs.  Not to be forgotten, you will find a few of our favorite people in tutus and knee high neon socks jumping around keeping the PLUR alive on sunday nights in the Bay State.

Secondly, Ocean Club has a pretty amazing location. Yes the drive down to Marina Bay often leaves you guessing where on earth you are, but once you arrive you know its all worth it.  After passing through security you are transported to an outdoor Miami/Vegas club scene. We often forget we're in Quincy when  due to the palm trees, cabanas, wading pools, and the best part sand. With it spread about you can have the option of dancing on the “beach” or the standard dance floor.  The sound system, which has received some poor marks from others, has seen improvement since opening weekend (Skrillex & Nicky Romero).  Yes it is in deed a bit softer than most venues, but if you are within a dozen or two rows of the rail we can promise you will experience a decent sound level.  If anything your ears will appreciate it the next day. (ps always wear ear protection, EDMBoston always does!)

After Bamboora finished gently riling up the crowd, Joe Bermudez took over front of the house booth duties.  Clearly feeding off the energy of the crowd, his transitions between songs and stage presence was impressive.  Not many people know, but Joe Bermudez is quite the accomplished DJ.  Recently he has opened for Kaskade and in the past for David Guetta and many others.  He was also nominated by DJ Times as a top 100 nominee for the vote this year.  AKA this guy is no slouch. He proved just that before Steve Angello’s arrival.

At around 11pm Steve Angello graced Oean Club with his presence. It was quite apparent that the fans at Ocean Club were more than ready for a crazy, unforgettable night with the Size Matters Executive. Steve wasted little time between his arrival and getting onstage.  A mere 3 songs passed before Joe Bermudez passed the throne to him.  It was a swift and clean transition, leaving no time for the crowds’ (which had grown immensely in size) energy to drop.

Steve opened with Greyhound followed by the vocal version of Calling, which had the crowd at Ocean Club singing, maybe screaming, right along with him. Was it a disappointing, predictable start to the set, yes, but it worked!  Despite this it would not foreshadow the evening that would unfold.

Angello’s stage presence was amazing and graceful. He made eye contact and smiled with fans (yes it happened to us! And I’m sure everyone around us) jumping up and down. Mr Angello made it very clear he was thrilled to be playing in Boston.  He used the microphone sparingly, yet effectively when he needed to direct and energize the crowd.  While some would think he was on cruise control, he displayed the skills of a seasoned vet that made it look easy.

Steve Angello’s set list featured his signature progressive house sound and displayed his dynamic skills in mastering it, which sets himself apart from others in the competitive progressive house space.  One of the pleasurable stacks he featured early in his set was his new track “Yeah” followed by Third Party “Thank You”, and then Michael Calfan “Resurrection” Axwell remix. 

Yeah, which may have been one of the best songs we’ve witnessed live. Between the incredible song, its peaks and valleys of energy, intense strobe lights, and confetti it will forever be in our top show moments. Goose bumps were present from the first beat of the song to the end. A gentleman next to us screamed, “This is unbelievable!” and we honestly couldn’t agree more.

In addition, to aforementioned stack Angello featured other crowd favorites, such as his Mashup of One vs Goyte’s “Somebody That I Used To Know” vocals, Red Hot Chili Peppers By The Way  (remix id), Cold Plays Paradise, Every Tear Drop Is a Waterfall, P Diddy’s Coming Home, and last but certainly not least Whitney Houston’s Dance with Somebody (which is still stuck in our head). He also played Axwell’s In My Mind, which was obviously a huge crowd pleaser. Everyone had their hands up, jumping simultaneously with huge smiles.  Songs like Antidote, Knas, and Steve Aoki’s Ladi Dadi also made appearances in the set. Each song was masterfully placed in his set and transitioned like bud to flower.

one video

One of our favorite parts of the night came approximately one hour and fifteen minutes into the set.  Steve grabbed the crowd with an invincible arm and summoned the crowd deeper.  The proverbial depths of progressive house, which EDM fans seek most in sets is not often delivered or delivered successfully.  However, Mr Angello's summons beckoned the innocent crowd into the dirtiest beat of the night, which we recorded below. Loosing your mind is often talked about at shows, and this was that moment in Steve Angello’s set was.  While some of the crowd seemed lost, there were those that knew what was occurring. This was a moment in a set you come to adore because of its spontaneity, the djs risk, and the ability of the dj to catch your groove completely off guard and level it up into something you didn't know you had inside you.  4 minutes of heaven was ended appropriately with Steve's reemergence with “Here we go” big drop. Once again the entire crowd was up in arms.

Steve Angello absolutely tore it up this past Sunday and if you missed this show we send our condolences, you missed out on one hell of a show. Be sure to check out our events calendar so you don’t miss another incredible night like this!

Thanks again to Tim at NV Concepts for accommodating EDMBoston!

Click here to see Steve Angello Boston Show Pictures