Green and purple lasers sliced through the smoky air of the swarming Loft Atlanta on Nov. 5, setting the atmosphere for Calvin Harris’ energetic DJ set. Fans came prepared to dance until dawn at the Scottish singer/songwriter/DJ’s much anticipated high-energy show. Although Harris did not technically begin his set until the wee hours of Saturday morning, the crowd was more than warmed up by the time he began. This was thanks to the opening DJ who spun mixes of Phoenix, La Roux and other popular dance tracks.
Once Harris took command the entire atmosphere of the intimate space transformed. The dance floor instantly became much more crowded as those sitting in the lounge area stepped up to dance, the beats were louder and the audience began to move together and completely disregard any previous notion of personal space. Harris started off strong with his hit “You Used to Hold Me” and then seamlessly transitioned into the rest of his brilliant mixes.
However, he never played any of his songs in their entirety and neglected altogether to play favorites such as “Acceptable in the 80’s.” Additionally, he never sang any of his own tracks live, as he does on his album. But these details hardly detracted from the quality of the show, as his mixing talents prove to the impressive and enjoyable enough.
He continued to play parts of his hits “ The Girls” and “Flashback,” some of his more popular tracks, as the show progressed. Later in the night, he began mixing other artists’ songs such as the likes of Daft Punk and even Taio Cruz as well. No matter what he was playing at the time, the crowd instantly responded and kept the energy alive, proving their endurance by dancing constantly throughout the long, yet exhilarating show. Harris worked the crowd well and responded to the immense amount of energy and enthusiasm that the young audience gave him.
Harris has mainly reached popularity in the UK, but is quickly picking up a US following. Judging from the turn out on Friday night, this is just the beginning of his presence in the US music scene, particularly dance music. He certainly lives up to his title as the “King of Electropop,” and performs excellent live shows with his impressive mixing abilities. This was likely not the last time he will be in Atlanta, and the crowd and venue can only be expected to get much larger in the future.