Aug 29

Aug 29 Show Review: KAYZO Brings 'New Breed' To Life in San Francisco

KAYZO
w/ ATLiens, Emo Nite, Hol!, SweetTooth
Bill Graham Civic Auditorium
San Francisco, CA
August 26th, 2022

Photos and Review by Jared Stossel

A good DJ and producer is able to play their songs and get a crowd moving. Maybe they throw in some great visuals to kick things up a notch. A great DJ and producer is able to do all of that while keeping the energy at its peak for the duration of their set. It doesn’t matter which point of the set you walk into that room, you know exactly whose running the show and their presence demands your attention. KAYZO is a great DJ and producer, and he’s been making waves in the industry since he began working on remixes in 2012. A decade later, he’s got three full-length albums under his belt, including this year’s New Breed, a collection of songs that finds the producer at his best, seamlessly merging genres like trap, heavy metal, and pop-punk with EDM. On Friday night, he brought an epic headlining performance to Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco, armed with wall-shattering bass lines, powerful songs, and an array of pyrotechnics that accentuated the intensity of every drop.

The show featured a wide array of openers, ranging from the bass heavy (SweethTooth, HOL!) to the nostalgic (Emo Nite) to the downright fucking insane (ATLiens). I’m biased because my roots lie in the music that Emo Nite spins, but they were one of my favorites that evening. It’s always a pleasure to go to one of the Emo Nite LA events when it comes through Northern California, and it was fun to see the guys who put it on give their show a unique spin fit for the dance floor.

With that being said, ATLiens were an absolute standout. They pushed the energy in the building over the edge, well before KAYZO even had a chance to take the stage, adding an element of theatricality to the mix as they shrouded themselves behind masks with light-up red eyes. They’re an enigmatic duo, and one that I can see blowing up in this scene for years to come.

KAYZO took to the stage around 10:30 PM and didn’t let his foot off the gas for the next hour and a half. His show is the embodiment of the word “energy”, and it was one of the most stunning performances I’ve seen from a bass music artist in a very long time. I know that most people believe that it’s just someone up there pushing buttons on a turntable, but what a lot of people overlook is that the person pushing those buttons has to have charisma, showmanship, and an ability to work over a crowd in order to elevate the show to the next level. KAYZO checks all the boxes, and he brings his music to life in a stunning fashion. I give him kudos for also throwing in Knife Party’s “Centipede” during the evening; I haven’t heard that song in years, let alone in a larger environment like Bill Graham Civic.

While the greater popularity of dance music ran its course in the mainstream a few years ago, there are still artists like KAYZO that can always bring out the best in this kind of music, managing to pack auditoriums like this one with thousands that are hungry for this music. Bass music has morphed into its own world entirely, and every show is an event, a reason to get together under one roof and rage for hours on end. KAYZO is one of the artists leading the charge.