The one and only Barclay Crenshaw, AKA Claude VonStroke made his way to Portland this last Wednesday for his debut album tour under this new name. He played for a sold-out show at Holocene. Having recently played here in Portland as a Claude VonStroke, we were pumped to see what Barclay Crenshaw had in store for Portland.
Holocene was a new venue for us, but a great experience. Getting in was quick and easy and the vibes were great. It is cool to see the staff enjoying the music that was playing in their establishment.
Not knowing the set up of the venue, we were excited to see a seating area above the stage. You were able to see the decks when the DJ was playing. Knowing Barclay Crenshaw was a very technical DJ, we were stoked to see that the audience would be able to watch him play from above the dance floor. But this excitement was quickly squashed when the last opener finished and said Barclay Crenshaw would be playing at the other stage. Once we saw the set up of the projector and images, though, we understood why this was the stage they chose.
Local talent PRSN, and knomad kicked off the night, setting the mood and getting us dancing. When Barclay Crenshaw hit the stage you knew why everyone was really there, and the energy was perfect. The beginning of his set had more of an extraterrestrial vibe to it, paired with space and alien-like images through out his set. The trippy sounds paired well with the images.
About half way through, the vibe changed to more of a hip hop feel. His set had a lot of different moods. It was easy to dance to or just sit back and enjoy. The last song he played was mellow with a female vocalist. It was beautiful.
Going into the show we had only listened to snippets of his album so the experience would be new to us, and we were so glad that we did that. Barclay Crenshaw killed it and it seems like he can never disappoint. His energy is contagious. All we have to say is: please come back!
If you happened to miss his Portland show, make sure you buy tickets for his Seattle show on February 22 at Q Nightclub.
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