EDM artist Flux Pavilion had Columbus dancing when he kicked off his tour at a sold-out Newport Music Hall on Wednesday.
Joshua Steele, the man behind Flux Pavilion, has been an active EDM artist since 2008. Originally from the United Kingdom, Steele isn’t a stranger to the United States. He has headlined multiple U.S. and world tours under his stage name.
To begin the show, G-Buck, an up-and-coming EDM artist, destroyed his set. He got the crowd involved by using remixed hip-hop songs and DJ-ing his original tracks. He kept the energy going throughout the duration of his set and fans progressively drew to the center floor to dance. G-Buck wrapped up his performance with an amazing remix of a Legend of Zelda song. Since Legend of Zelda is one of my favorite video games, I was definitely excited to hear that one.
Following up G-Buck was another EDM artist, Kayzo. Kayzo wasted zero time setting the tone for his set with an immense bass drop into his first song. Similar to G-Buck, Kayzo used a lot of hip-hop songs and remixed them to his own tracks.
A track that stood out was a remix of 21 Savage’s “X”. The crowd just about lost their mind to this track. Toward the end of his set, he played a remixed version of “Say It Ain’t So,” by Weezer. I couldn’t help but sing along and jump with the crowd around me. It was a great remix to a great song.
After a long wait, Flux Pavilion came out to stunning visuals. Stimulating lights, colors and lasers all over the venue lit up the crowd for his entire set. The visuals changed constantly and I couldn’t take my eyes off of them.
He had a very abrupt entrance into his opening song with an awesome bass drop. From the start, he had the audience at attention. Using heavy bass, melody and rhythm, the crowd jumped non-stop.
After a few newer songs and remixes, Flux dropped a bomb on everyone. When he performed his 2010 hit “I Can’t Stop,” the crowd had no idea that was coming so early in the set, and went into absolute mayhem. A full crowd of people shouting, jumping and swaying at the same time was definitely one of the most remarkable moments of the show.
He performed some of his other hits as the show went on. “Emotional,” “Gold Dust” and “Cracks” were extremely well received by the crowd. Flux’s set was over an hour long and there was never a dull moment.
I had never been to an EDM show before, so I was not sure what to expect. Flux Pavilion has quite convincingly changed my life from here on. I couldn’t stop dancing, singing or jumping.
The energy in the crowd was unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. So many happy people, good music and bass so heavy I could feel it when I breathed. Although it was loud enough to pop both ear drums, it was worth every minute. I will undoubtedly look forward to seeing Flux Pavilion again.
