bb u ok??? San Holo and friends come to the Rialto Theatre for the bb u ok? Tour
San Holo, Chet Porter, Kasbo, and Rome in Silver come to Tucson's Rialto theatre for a night of electronic love!
Have you ever listened to a set of songs that you weren’t entirely familiar with but felt a sense of comfort in them? Songs that if you were having a bad day and just put them on for a little, your entire day could change? Even if those songs are about missing someone, losing love, falling out of touch they still make you happy? Well, have you been listening to, bb u ok?, the latest released record from Dutch Dj, San Holo because that is how we are describing this album. bb u ok?, is San Holo’s, aka Sander van Dijck, sophomore album following his 2018 release of, album1. Bb u ok?, is a 20 track record released on his own label, Bitbird, and includes some Bitbird artists and some other features that you might not see coming! San said that the album is some of his “most personal work” on an Instagram post to introduce the album and you really feel that with the opening track starting off with birds chirping and an acoustic guitar before kicking into a more cinematic feel! Not your typical album intro for an electronic artist but one that definitely reiterates intimacy.
San Holo now hits the road for the, bb u ok?, tour and he is bringing some of his friends and most notable EDM artist around right now along with him! We were lucky enough to catch his stop at, The Rialto Theatre in Tucson, AZ along with Rome in Silver, Chet Porter, and Kasbo for an extraordinary night of music, guitars, and bass!
Rome in Silver started off our night playing a collection of remixes and originals! The crowd was just starting to roll in as Rome in Silver got his set going but by the end of it he had a decent size crowd dancing and head-banging with him! We were not super familiar with Rome in Silver but after his set in Tucson, we can attest that he is now on our radar and we do not want to miss when he is close next time!
An artist that we were super excited about and made sure we saw every second of was, Chet Porter. Porter explores many genres throughout his sets but is most notably known for his indie-inspired mixes and his breakout single in 2016, Stay, with Chelsea Cutler. In his set, Porter remixed Toro y Moi & Flumes, The Difference, he also remixed the always crowd-pleasing hit by, Foster the People, Pumped up Kicks. Probably my favorite two remixes of the night and the entire place was singing and dancing along with him! Chet Porter is a man of few words but knows how to speak to the crows through his music.
The last opening of the evening and most surprising to me was the Swedish Dj, Kasbo! We were very unfamiliar with Kasbo and we’ll be completely honest, we did not know a single song of his. That did not change the fact that he had one of the most enjoyable sets we’ve been to since we started going back to shows since the pandemic! First off, his setup is not your typical Dj setup and one that is very similar to the likes of, San Holo and Kygo. Multiple sample pads, a guitar, and drum pads surround him on stage, and Kasbo, having to turn 180 degrees to switch instruments. It’s a very refreshing take on electronic music because it is not your standard, DJ behind a mixer idea!
After the end of Kasbo, you could feel the crowd start to buzz. The chatter began to get louder and the anticipation was building for San Holo! As soon as the lights went down into a blackout and the intro music started, the crowd erupted! San, started off the night with, bb u ok? the title track off of his latest album and also the name of the tour so it seemed only fitting! Bb u ok? led into, lift me from the ground, off of San’s 2018 album, album1. After playing a few more off of, bb u ok?, San brought out his friend and one of his current tour mates, Chet Porter to sing their song, you’ve changed, i’ve changed. This song started with the pair and their guitars on stage doing a bit of a stripped-down version before kicking it in and bringing in the rest of the song! The crowd was into this one with everyone singing the words, “you’ve changed, I’ve changed, you’ve changed, it’s not the same” in unison. San acknowledged the crowd at one point and thanked them for singing along. One thing we really enjoyed about this set was the way San is able to incorporate so many different elements into his set! Not only does he sing on some of his songs, but he also plays guitar, will live mix on stage and it is just a phenomenal performance to watch. While doing all that he also has great crowd control. Stepping out from behind his equipment to engage with the crowd and really make them feel like they are a part of the show is a tough skill set to acquire, but San Holo has learned and started to master this craft! If you thought San Holo was going to leave Tucson without playing his most notable song, you were sadly mistaken. Closing out the night after an amazing light/laser show and the rest of his set, San played his hit, Light to say farewell to the Rialto Theatre crowd and to Tucson!
This tour lineup is stacked and if you are lucky enough to be in attendance, we can guarantee that you will not be disappointed at the end of the night! The bb u ok? tour continues through North American from now until the end of December so get those tickets and don’t miss this show!