In Technos Historic Home, KAYTRANADA Pays Homage
Few have had as much impact on the music genre as Canadian DJ Kaytranada. Born in Haiti before immigrating to Montreal as a child, Kaytranada grew up listening to music from Montreal's vibrant club scene, as well as hip-hop introduced to her by her brother, DJ Lou Phelps . As he began to make his own music, his influences merged and his unique brand of rap and R&B music made him stand out in the local community.
The Midwest has long been the center of house culture, with the genre's birth in Chicago's underground clubs in the 1970s. House also has very strong ties to Detroit, being the influential Detroit techno subgenre Kaytranada's main influence. In fact, the Detroit Masonic Temple, where I first saw KAYTRANADA perform live earlier this month, has seen many of the city's founding techno artists play, including the Belleville Three.
The set itself is a colorful and vibrant tribute to Masonic Temple Theater and Michigan's love of house music. Even those in the rows of seats behind the small section of the pit could feel Kaytranada's palpable presence on stage even though her figure was barely visible. KAYTRANADA, to his credit, has a stage presence unique to a DJ, with his mixes (most of which sound original and alive) and two steps behind the turntables. His body language seemed to dictate the mood of the crowd, and as the band moved on to the next round, the momentum on stage seemed to increase with him. The graphics and lighting are also well designed and executed, seamlessly interfacing with the ornate interior of the Masonic Temple.
The long sequences feel natural and reveal the depth of Kaytranada's discography. He played nearly every song on his latest album, Bubba (2019), and nearly half the songs on his previous album, 99.9% in 2016. You'd think the length of the set would thin out the crowd, as many have. . I have been in the theater since the doors opened at 7pm and the new headliner arrived around 10:30. But as more concertgoers start enjoying their molly or just enjoying the music on a deeper level, the place gets louder and louder. KAYTRANADA saved most of her famous breaks late in the set, which meant the crowd really warmed up to those hits.
The crowd was so excited that the question of whether there would be an encore was just an afterthought. KAYTRANADA's official set ends with an almost cheery "That's all my time, thanks," and sure enough, after about 30 seconds of cheering, he returns to the turntables to play "Be Your Girl" a second time. Although he headed to Brooklyn the next day for a concert at the legendary Mirage, he gave the crowd a 15-minute encore, complete with a hilarious rendition of his internet collaboration, "Girl." When he finally left the stage, he did so knowing that he might have drained all the energy from the audience.
Daily art writer Ryan Brace can be reached at rcbrace@umich.edu .