This past Sunday night saw the return of Scottish superstar DJ, Calvin Harris, to Camden’s Roundhouse venue as part of the iTunes Festival – a month long extravaganza of all that is great about music from every genre imaginable!
Credit: iTunes Festival, London 2014Kicking off the night in spectacular fashion was the current Radio 1 golden girl Kiesza. It was difficult to comprehend the sheer range of vocal talent this Canadian-born star has, until you have seen her perform live – then it really becomes apparent just how promising she truly is. Our expectations were pretty high from the start, but this lady surpassed them all.
With a killer set which included current single ‘Giant In My Heart‘ as well as a hauntingly beautiful, spine-tingling cover of Haddaway‘s classic ‘What Is Love?‘ and a dance remix of ‘Hallelujah‘ (it works, trust us). But it was the closing track and debut single ‘Hideaway‘ which really drew the audience together, teamed with stunning dance choreography, this certainly was a performance to be in awe of. There are few artists who would have been up to the momentous task of whipping the crowd into a suitable frenzy ready for the show-stopping second half, but Kiesza is certainly one of them!
Credit: iTunes Festival, London 2014
When Calvin Harris first hit the scene and made his DJ dreams a reality back in 2007, no one could have predicted the velocity at which his career would skyrocket to the status he is at now. Not only has he once again topped the Forbes DJ rich list, but he has the world’s biggest and best artists begging to work with him.
As the countdown began, the anticipation in the packed out room reached breaking point. Followed by a deafening scream that filled out the venue, the man himself hit the stage and began the phenomenal set with ‘Under Control‘. From then on, Harris’ performance only got better and better, blasting out hit after hit including ‘We Found Love‘, ‘Sweet Nothing‘, ‘I Need Your Love‘ to name just a select few, all the while the audience was visually treated to confetti cannons and pyrotecnics adding to an atmosphere which had all the similarities of Ibiza but in the comfort of North London’s Roundhouse.
The true highlight of the evening came as Harris brought out special guest John Newman to perform live their current single ‘Blame’ that the set exploded into new territory. As Newman worked the crowd with his unmistakable vocals and showmanship dance moves, Harris completed the track with his smooth and flawless mixing, before ending the night with seasonal smash ‘Summer‘.
There is a reason why Calvin Harris is the world’s number one DJ. Sunday night wasn’t even half of it, packing in a sweet selection of his greatest hits into the one hour ten minute set. Whether playing a Friday night in Vegas or Miami or a Sunday night in London town, Harris has the unique ability to ensure there is not one person left standing while he works that magic.
