Audien at The Regency SF with support Ravell 02.03.17

When Audien had announced his 2017 Feels Trip Tour late December, I was pretty hyped and every time he plays in the Bay Area, I hopped on it. His music always moves and gets me dancing like no one is watching. So when his San Francisco stop hosted by Goldenvoice SF went on sale, tickets were sold out within a couple of days  letting you know how much the Bay Area loves them some Audien.

The show took place at the historical Regency Ballroom. This venue isn’t massively huge which still provides an intimate setting for its size. We arrived there around mid-set for Ravell, and easily got into the venue not having to hassle with lines and the rain.

To my surprise, shall I express that Audien’s set was very different from the sets I usually hear from him. He seemed to be exploring the hard-hitting sound of EDM. In between playing crowd favorites such as “Crazy Love” and “Rooms”, there were splashes of trap.

His set’s usual pace is like being in a cruise on a winding road a with gentle progression that builds up slowly till it drops into another corner (groove). This time though, it was much like a rollercoaster with more drops back to back. It really hyped the crowd, but it was definitely not the Feels Trip Tour I had anticipated.

With a pack house, the venue presented some issues such as the lack of ventilation and the ridiculous bathroom situation. All in all, Audien will always be a crowd pleaser as he closed out with an encore of “One More Time/Easy Mashup”. This great mashup always ends the night perfectly and I can’t wait till my next outing.

-Phil Nguyen