Photo/Art Credit to Tommy Hagge
I stepped off the bus to the sounds and smells of the streets of New York City. I heard cabs blaring horns at each other, street vendors selling their food, and the constant clicks of tourist's cameras. During the day the big apple stands firm as the business capital of the world, but at night the city turns into a place filled with adventure and madness. On Friday, the electro jazz duo Big Gigantic took a plane from their home state of Colorado to the city that never sleeps to show fans at Terminal 5 what a Big G party is all about.
Hopping out of the car in front of the venue I can already hear the buzzing of fans from all over the city. I show up to the box office and am surprised to find an extra ticket in my name. I find an excited fan waiting in line to buy their own pass to the show, and offer up the ticket as a gift from one Big G fan to another. The first time I saw the duo, I found solace in a group of guys from Boston who became my friends for the night when my own buddies lost me in the crowd at Camp Bisco. They offered me water, a great spot to see the show from, and a night of dancing and fun. Paying it forward was what made my first night with Big G so special, so it was only right to keep the tradition going.
By the time the first opener went on, the multiple floors of Terminal 5 were already filled with excited fans. As Robby Hauldren, one half of Louis The Child took the stage, the opening chords of their hit remix of Compass by Zella Day begin to flood out of the speakers. The younger crowd within the venue had encompassed the front row, as the future bass duo from Chicago have been blowing up on college campuses. Unfortunately, Freddy Kennett the other half of the group could not make it out to play the show, but Hauldren handled the performance at Terminal 5 with ease. His ability to blend together the many different soulful styles of their original songs with other major future bass artist's music created for a feel good vibe filled performance that was the perfect way to start the night.
Up next was Australian act Hermitude who took the energy in the venue up to the next level. Going into the night, while I had heard Hermitude's name, I was not very familiar with their sound overall. I was pleasantly surprised to see a keyboard and a drum machine on the stage before the guys came on, and was excited to see how the instruments would be incorporated into the performance. From the first song, the live aspect was not just apart of the performance, it was the entirety of the performance. Hip-hop infused trap beats took the spotlight as the duo had the entirety of the venue bouncing from start to finish. The duo premiered a lot of new material from their upcoming album entitled Dark Night Sweet Life. The album is set to come out in late August, and with the tracks I got to hear on Friday, I'm highly anticipating the release.
During Hermitude's set I had the opportunity to explore all of the areas that Terminal 5 had to offer inside their doors. I had already found my way around the majority of the main dance floor, so I decided to head upstairs to the upper levels and take a look at the stage from above. What I really loved about the venue was that each floor had it's own vibe to it, and the lack of age restrictions for the majority of the venue. The 2nd floor had less energy than the dance floor, but still was hype enough that if you wanted to grab a spot on the railing and jam you had the opportunity to. The bar area of the 2nd floor had a good mixture of atmosphere's, and while I was up there I had the chance to talk to Robby from Louis The Child. I loved that him and his manager were enjoying drinks from the GA area as if he was a regular fan in attendance. It showed that his passion for the music goes past his own role in the duo and his appreciation for the scene is at the point where he can get down on the floor like anyone else.
The two upper floors of the venue feature a more relaxed vibe. The third and final viewing floor had fans relaxing on couches and sipping on drinks enjoying the production more than they were dancing. It was nice to be able to take breaks during the show in that area when I wanted to catch my breath. The rooftop smoking area was the place where I saw the majority of fan interactions for the night, as it featured an open air roof and the ability to smoke. I met people on the rooftop from all areas of the world, all who had come together to see Dom and Jeremy jam out for a few hours. The combination of both areas provided for a nice relaxing place to enjoy the company of other Big G fans.
Finally the moment had arrived, it was time for some of the funkiest music that EDM has to offer. Dom and Jeremy walked on stage and introduced themselves to the fans as the opening notes of their new song The Little Things blared through the speakers. The lights shined up on the duo and the crowd stared in awe as Dom hit his first notes on the sax. From the opening song, I could tell this was not going to be like every other Big G set, these shows in NYC were going to be very special.
The set continued and there was by no means a lack of energy, as a large portion of the set was very trap influenced. Dropping songs like Origin by Jaykode & Party Thieves, the duo came out swinging mixing together their classic funky style with harder tracks. Attendees were lucky enough to have the chance to hear a few brand new unreleased and unnamed tracks by the electro jazz group which will be highly anticipated until they are released. These songs felt like a perfect balance between the style they had on their first album Nocturnal and their second The Night is Young. Along with these new songs, classic tracks by like Nocturnal and Lets Go 2.0 were easily the highlights of the set. It was clear that the fans were there to experience the feel good funktastic music that Dom & Jeremy are so well known for.
All in all the night had everything a Big G fan could have asked for. The progression from the first to the final song of the night was a perfect and elegant uprise that every lineup looks to have. The venue was the perfect setting, and the sadness was real when I had to leave the city the next day and couldn't stay for the second night of the run. We are very grateful to have seen the performance and are excited for our next chance to catch the duo and for the new music ahead.
