What So Not takes The Fox to a new world

Just past 9:30, the lights on the stage went dim. Slowly, each light fixture turned on and off, flashing between white, red and blue colors before moving to the next. First, the overheads. Next, the massive panels to the left and right of main stage, each adorned with a set of vines and plants. Finally, the giant arch lighting that crowned the main stage blinked on and off. A slow synth wave flooded in and out of the speakers, while heavy tom rolls interweaved themselves in and out of the sound. Minutes later, a large sheet was removed from center stage to reveal the main attraction: What So Not’s iconic life-sized silver stallion statue. Quickly, it became clear that this massive stallion was pulling the mainstage-turned-chariot (outfitted with its own monster truck wheels and a smorgasbord of plants and vines) that would be What So Not’s (aka Emoh Instead aka Chris Emerson) perch throughout the evening.  

As the drums and synth swelled, Trev Lukather (aka Biotin Babies) appeared to the right of the stage, playing the telltale intro guitar riff of “Same Mistakes.” Then, just as the song approached its first climax, What So Not himself stepped onto his chariot to reign in the first of countless drops throughout the night. Armed with a full electronic drum set and his laptop, What So Not brought his new live set to the test for the first time. After the opening track, the show opened up into a tropical thunderstorm, with bright sporadic lights flashing above the forested stage, and the massive rumble of What So Not’s heaviest bass drops.

The show featured many of What So Not’s iconic remixes, including “Power” by Kanye West and “Africa” by Toto. One of the highest energy moments of the concert came during What So Not and Quix’s dual remix of “Run” by AWOLNATION. With two full sections of What So Not’s drop followed by two full sections of Quix’s, the song maintained incredible energy for over a minute. About 20 seconds in, the first of multiple mosh pits opened in the center of the main floor area, and lasted until the final drum sounded on the drop.  

What So Not’s set was an impressive amalgamation of his older, intense works and crazy live edits with the more serene and contemplative new material from Not All the Beautiful Things (2018). By the end of the concert, he had played bits and pieces of just about every song from the new album. During the main set, songs such as “Warlord,” “Goh,” and “If You Only Knew” entered the live scene with even more energy and power than their album versions.

Others, such as “We Keep on Running” and “Stuck In Orbit” made for important lulls between the otherwise high energy and aggressive set. “Severance” and “Adieu,” both from the Divide and Conquer EP (2016) also marked slow moments in which the crowd came together to sway in unison to some of What So Not’s most memorable melodies.

Just as What So Not made sure to focus on his new material, he did not fail to revive some of his all time biggest hits as well. Pop-Inspired masterpieces “Better” and “High You Are” were early plays in the night, and helped to set the tempo for the show. Later on, the brooding but equally heavy “Gemini” stood out from the already amazing set. However, the most powerful of these performances came near the end of the main set, in which What So Not played his incredible remix of RÜFÜS DU SOL’s “Innerbloom.” From the slow, brooding intro with RÜFÜS’s inebriating vocals to the hybrid, percussive lead melody over a classic What So Not trap drop, the song had the crowd’s attention for its entirety.

After a brief intermission, What So Not returned to the stage for an encore which consisted of three songs from the newest album. The first, “Be OK Again” marked the first single of the album and had many listeners singing along with Daniel Johns’ featured vocals before the classic pulsating future bass chords washed over the crowd. “Bottom End” followed, and possibly brought the heaviest section of the entire night as the high, squeaky lead synth led into the metallic and mechanical boom of the powerful drop. The set ended on the slower note of “Us,” which also serves as the album closer on What So Not’s newest album. As Daniels’ vocals swirled and collided with the smooth synths and arpeggiating melody, the crowd interlocked arms and swayed as one. As the song came to a close, What So Not took his leave despite continuing cries from the audience for more music.

On both the debut of his live show and his “All the Beautiful Things” tour, What So Not delivered an unforgettable show.  Between his enticing melodies, creative live edits, incredible percussion and low end production and generally incredible feel for the crowd, the show delivered both a meaningful and energetic experience.  At the beginning of the tour, What So Not said he hoped to create an “entire world that people can step into.” It seems, however, that once people stepped in to it, they had no desire to step out.

Written by Jacob Green