As 1 p.m. rolled around on the chilly Friday, the House of Blues sold their last ticket for the upcoming evening of bass-driven madness. Kids sporting bajas and bandanas wore looks of despair as they were turned away at the box office, realizing the night they expected was going to be even more hectic than they had imagined as they sat out in the cold. Even Big Gigantic headlining, a mainstay of the festival circuit, it was hard not to hear exchanges of, “You going to see Crizzly tonight?”
Opener Shanook helped to to kick off the night, delivering a solid DJ set full of womps and wobbles to help warm up a quickly multiplying crowd. With enough drinks to go around, the New Orleans crowd got down to it the only way they know how having already had hours to wander around the world-famous bar scene. As the calmest section of the night came to a close, even a blind man could see the excitement in the crowd.
Crizzly’s hour long set managed to hit just about all of his well-known tunes, from, “Go Hard,” to “Hard In The Paint,” to new tunes like, “The Way We Ball.” Crizzly, aka Chris Marshall, had clearly remembered to bring a bottle of Crunk as he quickly inspired the packed-in crowd to bounce, grind, and sing along through pure madness. Showing off the finest in Crunkstep, a genre built in the fusion of dubstep and hip-hop, the Big Easy received him well for his first return since July. While a relatively short performance, Crizzly made every moment count as he helped the House of Blues get buck wild. After his set, Crizzly sat down with KLSU’s SaintParty for a quick interview, discussing topics from his performances, to crazy dreams, and more. The whole video will be available shortly, and you can tune in to The Bassment on 91.1 FM – KLSU to catch the audio December 1st.
After a transition just long enough to grab a drink, Big Gigantic took the stage ready to rock. The powerhouse duo of Dominic Lalli mixing and jamming on a Sax with Jeremy Salken holding down the drums were sporting an array of semi-circular LED screens to create visual spectacle. Regardless of who they came to see, the crowd was ready and willing to dance with Big Gigantic as they blew the roof off with their signature style of Jam-styled acoustic/electronic dance tunes. Two hours passed too quickly and in no time the energetic night at the House of Blues had come to a halt. As the gigantically big crowd of Big Gigantic listeners poured out onto Decatur Street, friends found one another, promoters passed fliers, and beat-boxing was in the air.
Upstairs from the main venue, the House of Blues offered an after-party featuring local Earphunk playing an all-Daft Punk cover set. Under the name Daft Phunk and rocking matching tron-styled glasses, the five-man band took the small stage in front of a packed crowd ready to keep moving. Picking up where Big Gigantic had left off, the group played till about 4am with an encore at the behest of their enthusiastic crowd.
A wild night in proper New Orleans style, this was not a show to miss. With acts similar enough to blend together, but each still remarkably different from the others, the flow of the night worked well to progress through many fun sounds and feelings.
SaintParty is a pretty good reason to hide your kids and wives, and can be heard mixing live electronic sets every Saturday from 7-9pm CST on 91.1 FM – KLSU
