March 8th, 2014, Houston, Texas based event company heavyweight, NightCulture, brought up and coming trance-step artist Seven Lions (Jeff Montalvo) to Stereo Live for his first headlining tour. Seven lions has played the venue twice before opening for artists Mat Zo and Krewella, but this was his first show as the main attraction. The up and coming artist paved his way into the electronic music scene by winning a remix competition and putting his own spin on vocal trance favorite Above and Beyond’s “Got to Go”. Montalvo’s tunes are definitely unique as he hybridizes whimsical trance harmonies with soulful and deep impacts of beats.
Opening for Seven Lions was Parker Clark, a Houston local. Clark opened up with a mixture of genres ranging from heaving electro to down tempo reggae. The diverse range of music set the scene well for Seven Lions, as he is known to mix a variety of tunes during his sets. As Clark closed his set, the audience was anxiously anticipating what Seven Lions,would have in store for his first headlining spot.
The whole crowd was silent as Seven Lion’s began with his remix to Above and Beyond’s “On My Way to Heaven.” During his set, Seven Lions played most of his infamous remixes such as Tritonal’s “Still with me,” and Röyksopp’s “Running to the Sea” as well as hits from his Polarize EP “Days to Come” and “Tyven.” He also included his new track called “Serpent of the Old” and his new tune with Myon and Shane 54 called “Strangers.” In between these hits, he kept the audience pumping by playing heavy house beats to counteract the slow trance melodies. He even added a track by Terravita featuring trap. The show definitely took you on a journey of different flavors of music as well as tempo. NightCulture highlighted Seven Lions’ drops with confetti blasts, which increased the intensity of the Seven Lion’s experience. I, myself, thoroughly enjoyed the change of pace; however, Seven Lions definitely kept me wanting more of his chill-step infamy. I felt that his set was too upbeat for the producer/DJ that I have come to love and enjoy. As he closed the end of his set, the audience too kept wanting more. With the encore, Seven Lions dropped his remix to Ocean Lab’s “Satellite” which definitely captured the audience with his vocal melodies mixed with hard-hitting drops. With the last track ending, the audience was left with the true essence of Seven Lion’s distinctive style.
Seven Lions first headlining tour was definitely not one to miss. I look forward to seeing his collaborations in the future.
