Sebastian Ingrosso takes over Roseland Ballroom with Otto Knows and Style of Eye (review)Sebastian Ingrosso Otto Knows Roseland NY 18

Sebastian Ingrosso takes over Roseland Ballroom with Otto Knows and Style of Eye (review)

Sebastian Ingrosso brought his A-game to Roseland Ballroom over the weekend — and he brought a few of his friends too. Joined by Otto Knows, Style of Eye, and Carl Kennedy, the foursome of DJs was able to keep Roseland Ballroom sufficiently crowded until the early hours of the morning. There was a raised VIP area along the side with plush white couches, lots of lights and lasers, and an energetic crowd that couldn’t wait for the headliner to take the stage. The mood was set for a night of big music — and we were there for it all.

Sebastian Ingrosso takes over Roseland Ballroom with Otto Knows and Style of Eye (review)Sebastian Ingrosso Otto Knows Roseland NY 1

Otto Knows went on right as we were arriving around 11PM, and he spun a fun set full of creative, energetic bootlegs. I’ve been following his career since he remixed Imogen Heap’s “Hide & Seek,” and I’ve enjoyed watching his sound develop. Highlights of the set included a bootleg of “Hertz” with Faithess’ “Music Matters,” and Thomas Gold’s “Sing 2 Me” with the vocal from “Alright.” He also paired “Nicktim” with “Heiress of Valentina” and Michael Brun’s “Rise” with an old Dirty South vocal we couldn’t ID. We’re told there was also another unreleased Otto Knows remix for UK artist Burns’ track “Lies,” but couldn’t get any other details out of management. His set culminated with — what else — “Million Voices.” Keep an eye on Otto: he’s a talented guy rolling with a very talented crew, and we expect big things from him in 2012.

Otto Knows – Million Voices (Original Mix)

Sebastian Ingrosso takes over Roseland Ballroom with Otto Knows and Style of Eye (review)Sebastian Ingrosso Otto Knows Roseland NY 8

Style of Eye is one DJ I had never seen before, so I was excited to see what he had planned for his set following Otto. He opened with “Big Bad Wolf” — a track I have never quite understood — and A-Trak’s remix of “The Night Out,” which quickly made up for his initial song selection. The set went by pretty quickly, and a cool bootleg of “Niggas In Paris” with Hardwell’s “Cobra” and Nero’s “Promises” that was undoubtedly its highlight. He wrapped things up with the instrumental mix of Tommy Trash’s remix to “Ladi Dadi,” but otherwise the set was pretty forgettable.

Duck Sauce – Big Bad Wolf (Original Mix)

Sebastian Ingrosso takes over Roseland Ballroom with Otto Knows and Style of Eye (review)Sebastian Ingrosso Otto Knows Roseland NY 10

Finally Sebastian Ingrosso was ready for his headlining set, and what had been the LED backdrop for the openers became the LED-fronted DJ booth fit for a member of the Swedish House Mafia. There was another gigantic LED wall behind him, and the platform was raised at least six feet above the stage itself. He got things started with SHM’s latest and greatest, “Greyhound,” and went on to play other familiar tracks from any SHM set throughout the night: “Tung,” “In My Mind,” Troll,” “Walking Alone,” “Coming Home vs Quasar,” and AN21, Max Vangeli, and & Steve Angello’s remix of “The Island.” Seb told us earlier in the day that his own career and SHM “feed from each other” so we weren’t surprised to see a little bit of overlap — but that’s not to say the set didn’t have surprises.

Pendulum – The Island (Steve Angello, AN21 & Max Vangeli Remix)

Sebastian Ingrosso takes over Roseland Ballroom with Otto Knows and Style of Eye (review)Sebastian Ingrosso Otto Knows Roseland NY 19

Seb was on his own this time around, and he brought a USB stick full of tricks that had us impressed. Aside from a few highlights like Thomas Gold’s upcoming remix of Miike Snow’s “The Wave” and a few new Alesso IDs the track selection was fairly standard — but he got creative with new bootlegs that worked really well. Like on the BBC Radio 1 takeover, he paired “Feel So Close” with “Raise Your Head,” but then he combined two of the biggest songs of the moment by replacing the drop of “Metropolis” with Bingo Players’ hard electro offering, “L’Amour.” Dyro and Jacob Van Hage’s electro banger “EMP” was paired with the “Pressure” vocal, and he also overlaid the “Leave The World Behind” vocal atop “Atom,” before a monster mashup of Alesso’s “Dynamite,” “Laktos,” and Etta James’ “Levels” acapella before transitioning into the original mix of “Levels.”

Dyro & Jacob Van Hage – Dyro (Original Mix)

Sebastian Ingrosso takes over Roseland Ballroom with Otto Knows and Style of Eye (review)Sebastian Ingrosso Otto Knows Roseland NY 20

After that, he played Dubvision’s “All By Myself” and Cazzette’s remix of “Niggas In Paris.” The latter track has been showing up everywhere recently, and we heard Ingrosso played it both nights at Roseland. Hey also played his unreleased Tommy Trash collaboration, which was a big hit with the crowd. Third Party was represented with both “Otherside” and “Feel,” before Matisse & Sadko’s remix of “Beating of My Heart” with “Sweet Disposition.” All the while, the lasers in Roseland Ballroom were displaying some of the most beautiful beams of light we’ve ever seen. There’s something about the venue just so perfect for them. They were just as good — if not better — than when Kaskade took over the space during Halloween.

Beating Of My Heart (Matisse & Sadko Remix) (Feat. Heidrun)

Sebastian Ingrosso takes over Roseland Ballroom with Otto Knows and Style of Eye (review)Sebastian Ingrosso Otto Knows Roseland NY 22

He rounded out the night with a bootleg we first heard at Masquerade Motel Miami: Tommy Trash’s “The End” with “You’ve Got The Love,” “One,” and “Somebody that I Used To Know.” The night wouldn’t end without one more mashup of “Heart Is King” with “Save The World.” It was a great way to cap of an awesome night of music new and old, and left everyone wanting just a little bit more.

I personally would’ve loved to hear some older Ingrosso tracks like “Meich,” his remix of “Silvia,” or “Together,” but it was a great set nonetheless. The openers did a great job warming up the room, and delivered excellent sets as well. I was impressed with the new bootlegs and combinations, but the track selection was relatively predictable. It would be unfair for me to discount it, however, because all of these tracks are proven hits and everyone inside Roseland was engaged and into it. All in all it was a great night for house music in New York, and we’re pretty sure it was impossible to have a bad time.

Sebastian Ingrosso takes over Roseland Ballroom with Otto Knows and Style of Eye (review)Sebastian Ingrosso Otto Knows Roseland NY 15

Tags: , , , , , ,

Categories: