RL Grime @ Electric Factory 10/30 Concert Review

I had been waiting for this show for over a year. I used to hate trap music and then one day it just clicked for me, and RL Grime was one of the artists that made me love it. When I first heard the High Beams EP I was amazed, and last year when RL Grime dropped his Halloween mix (with an intro by the real RL Stine) I played it over and over for days. His debut album announcement earlier this year has kept me on the line, I’ve been waiting and waiting (and I’m still waiting). When I heard that RL Grime would be doing the first date of his tour for Void in Philly on Mischief Night I was so excited. I made sure I had tickets. I made sure I had set times so I wouldn’t miss his set. I got there right as Branchez was ending, I was so excited. I pushed through the crowd, which had less than pleasant vibes to the front. The mix started off fun, he started off with his new single Scylla, that came out just a few days prior. I was psyched, I danced. As the mix kept going though it just became a series of trap remixes of pop songs. There was none of the genre mixing that I love RL Grime for, it was straight trap for at least the first half hour of the set. Then he went on and the set just felt more and more like a set I could’ve heard any DJ play. It was such a basic EDM set and I was bored. I had fun and danced, but there was nothing that told me “this is RL Grime.” there was nothing Halloween themed, even though it was mischief night and he is known for making awesome Halloween mixes every year. He eventually played some more of his own music, dropping Heard Me and Pockets back-to-back, but I stayed for over an hour waiting for him to say “Alright Philly this is a new track off my upcoming album!!” and it never happened. I got bored of waiting and I left. Overall I was pretty disappointed. I still love the Halloween mix though and I still think he is an awesome produced and cannot wait for Void to come out, but the live experience was very mediocre. I could’ve spent $10 to go to a club and heard the same set.