Snakehips played the Wonder Ballroom on October 26th.

By McKenzie Hopfer

STWO-owzahhhhh… Upon walking into the Wonder ballroom, a personal favorite concert venue, I was pleasantly surprised by the number of people who were dancing their hearts out to opener Steven Vidal, known as STWO. I love watching openers and STWO definitely got the crowd warmed up. His deep hip-hop beat mixed with subtle snare riffs got people bouncing. He played with the crowd by mixing his R&B vocals with some funk bass lines. The crowd was responding well and you could tell he was feeding off their energy. I personally love when DJ/producers jam out rather than hype the crowd with chatter and interrupt their beats. He hyped the crowd by toying with some Drake and Kanye samples but kept his own sound as the background beat. This French DJ definitely knew how to keep the people comfortable but interested. 

Once STWO’s set was done, the crowd packed in a little tighter to get ready for Snakehips, consisting of DJs Oliver Lee and James Carter. It was only about 10 minutes before the lights dimmed and Snakehips transitioned in. Unfortunately, only Oliver Lee performed the set, possibly because James Carter recently underwent surgery. Lee began the set with some deep bass beats but then brought out the fluffy fun stuff by adding in some guitar rifts and soft vocals. Snakehips had a more upbeat vibe, and Lee kept the crowd engaged by playing chunks of their popular songs like “Days with You,” “Money on Me,” and of course “All My Friends.” While the concert was a good time, you could tell it was an all ages concert by the number of young teens at the show. It was a bit distracting seeing millions of screens in the crowd. I miss going to shows and seeing people just fully engaged with the performer rather than with their cameras. There weren’t as many people feeling the music with their bodies during the Snakehips set because they were the main event and everyone wanted to record everything. I would see the band again in more of a club setting where everyone was a little older and enjoying each other’s company while dancing it out.