Matoma Canopy Club Review

When done correctly, tropical house music has the ability to truly transport listeners to warm wavy beaches. Bobbing your head to the pan flute and saxophone samples, you can feel the warm sun on your back, the rough sand beneath your feet, and the waves crash as they hit the shore. With the weather turning from summer to autumn, Matoma turned the indoor Canopy Club venue to a beach party last Friday night with an outstanding performance.Following opening performances by Baynk, who pulled out a saxophone and blasted glowing melodic rhythms over his DJ set, DJ Steve Void, and the California-native Cheat Codes, Matoma took the jumping crowd to a different place.His set began with The Notorious B.I.G.’s voice flowing over a warm topical beat, and the summer breeze carried throughout the night from that point on. Matoma varied genres during his two hour concert, remixing dance classics like DJ Snake & Lil Jon’s “Turn Down for What” and “Roses” by The Chainsmokers. He added a tropical feel to hip hop’s classics including “IDFWU” by Big Sean, records from Snoop Dogg, Jay Z, and Desiigner’s hit single “Panda”. He also gave the rowdy audience some of his original mixes including his hits “False Alarm” and “Old Thing Back” as they danced and crowd surfed on an inflatable swan. Near the end of the night, the tropical house connoisseur performed a sample of an unreleased song set to release in October titled “All Night”.As music moves more and more towards electronic based beats and the line is blurred between tropical house and pop, Matoma showed Urbana, Illinois that he brings more to the table: an energy that fills the room that you can only compare to a summery beach. No matter what happens to the direction of his genre, Matoma will continue to bring a great feeling to his listeners and you can’t ask for much more than that.