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10/14 ZHU with Noizu
at Armory
Tour Dates
10.17 Boise, ID Revolution Concert House
10.19 Sacramento, CA Sacramento Memorial Auditorium 10.24 Spokane, WA The Podium 10.26 Vancouver, BC Harbour Events Centre 10.27 Vancouver, BC Harbour Events Centre 10.28 Portland, OR Roseland Theater 10.29 Portland, OR Roseland Theater 11.01 Morrison, CO Red Rocks Amphitheatre 11.04 Magna, UT The Great Saltair 11.09 Los Angeles, CA Hollywood Palladium 11.10 Los Angeles, CA Hollywood Palladium 11.11 Los Angeles, CA Hollywood Palladium 11.17-19 Mexico City, MX Corona Capital Read More
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Before the show, as people filtered into the cavernous, yet strangely intimate Armory, a guy was moving through the crowd. He was wearing an open, lava-lamp-inspired bathrobe, a pink Speedo and a pastel Burger King crown. He twirled about the floor with glow sticks in his hand for that’s what you are supposed to do when you are wearing his ensemble. And as he glided through the crowd with a calm, silky ease, he passed by another dancer who had the moves of a cop directing traffic with a groove and a beat. The dancer also had a multi-colored outfit. And on the back of his shirt were the words in bold print: HOUSE MUSIC ALL DAMN DAY.
Noizu aka Jacob Plant opened up the evening with an energetic dance beat. Originally from London, he moved to Los Angeles to recharge his career under the name Noizu, creating dance hits like “Vogue,” “Summer 91” and “Push to Start.”
Fun Fact: If Plant had not gone into music, he believes he would have attended culinary school for he loves to cook. He even has his own line of hot sauce.
ZHU aka Steven Zhu is not your normal DJ. In fact, I would describe him more as a multi-dimensional musician who found his way into the industry through electronic dance music.
Zhu grew up in San Francisco, playing in jazz bands and learning orchestral music. He graduated from UCS’s Thornton School of Music in 2011 and had already produced the Grammy Award nominated song “Faded” in 2014 before reaching #1 on the US Dance Chart with his debut album Generationwhy.
Zhu didn’t stop there for the show he put on last night involved more than standing behind a table and mixing other people’s music. He brought along a band. He played the keyboards. He sang. And what was impressive is how seamlessly the music flowed from his dance hits, to extended guitar and saxophone solos to introducing new songs from his upcoming album Grace, set to release in January of 2024.
At the start and for some time after Zhu cloaked himself in anonymity, at first not revealing his identity and granting few interviews. He was quite insistent that he did not want his race as an Asian American to prejudice his music. So it was a refreshing scene to see him step out from behind the DJ table and sing songs that he wrote with a small band of musicians backing him, his falsetto voice unaided by autotune, soulful with an R&B vibe.
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Zhu |
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Zhu at Armory, Minneapolis (14 October 2023) |
| dave ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com |
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