The Windy City. The birthplace of house music. Chicago has many names and many identities, but at its core, the city has a lengthy and long-standing history as one of America’s premier music destinations. Chicago was not only a major metropolitan center known for its distinctive styles of blues in the 1920s, but nearly a half century later, the city was home to The Warehouse, the nightclub that many history pundits point to as the birthplace of house music. Now, nearly 40 years later, Chicago is still one of the country’s foremost music cities, and last weekend, it was home to one of dance music’s fastest-rising up-and-comers.
Last Friday, the talented, multi-instrumentalist producer, Gryffin, made his Chicago debut at Double Door as a part of his Heading Home tour, celebrating the success and release of his debut original by the same name. His track, “Heading Home,” has accumulated nearly 20 million streams across Spotify and SoundCloud, and his tour has officially sold out all of its stops, marking Gryffin’s first-ever sold-out tour – an impressive feat for the young producer.
As the doors to Double Door opened and the opening DJs warmed up the crowd, there was a palpable excitement in the air as the crowd talked amongst themselves about Gryffin’s Chicago debut, and as the NYC-based multi-instrumentalist took the stage, the crowd roared their approval as the lights shined down on his unique stage set up. Gryffin was flanked by a keyboard on both sides of him, with a synth pad and a guitar rack close by, signaling to the crowd that we were in for a real treat.
As soon as Gryffin started his set, the energy level inside Double Door hit an all-time high and never came back down. The indie-dance trailblazer worked his way through a slew of his hit songs, including his remixes of BANKS, Maroon 5, Troye Sivan, and Ellie Goulding, while deftly working in a number of dance music favorites as well to keep the energy up. Double Door came to an absolute crescendo as the opening notes to “Heading Home” rang through the speakers, and the LA-based artist showed off his classical training by ripping off a stellar guitar riff that had everyone, including me, impressed.
As the show came to a close and the audience made their way out of Double Door, one thing was clear – Gryffin is a star in the making, and we were all fortunate to catch him on his first tour. Not very many artists can sell-out their debut tour across the country, but Gryffin did, thanks to a dazzling live set and even better music to match.
With the show over, Gryffin has still managed to find time to hit the studio, as he just released his official remix of CHVRCHES’ “Clearest Blue.” The stand-out remixes showcases Gryffin’s signature cloud house style at its finest, so check it out below.
