Three Reasons The BOOGIE T.OUR Should be on Your Radar
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Three Reasons The BOOGIE T.OUR Should be on Your Radar

Kicking off last week in his stomping grounds of New Orleans, Boogie T is lacing up his shoes and heading out on the road for a massive spring tour.

What are we talking about? The BOOGIE T.OUR of course, which is meant to spread the good word of the newly-minted BOOGIE T.RIO. Boogie recently formed the band at last year’s Electric Forest, alongside drummer Frank Castro and keyboardist Andriu Yanovski.

He’s gathered up his cool cat collective of jammers along with two heavy bass supporters in Mersiv and Vampa. Together, they’ve embarked on a slew of cross-country dates from Austin to Denver, Portland to Nashville, St. Louis to Washington DC, and everywhere in between.

River Beats was invited over to experience the tour’s early stages on Boogie T’s Dallas stop and we’re still all-grins from the evening. The energy of the show was a huge takeaway, along with loads of technical and musical innovation. However, the biggest stand-out of the BOOGIE T.OUR was this: Boogie T is forming a movement.

So without further ado, here are three reasons the BOOGIE T.OUR should be on every electronic music fan’s radar this spring.

1) It’s clear Boogie T is forming a movement.

The mark of a good artist is a clear talent on the mic, or the decks, or whatever their instrument of choice may be. The mark of a great artist is their ability to master all of them simultaneously. Boogie T has shown this kind of mastery.

But the mark of a musical godsend is their ability to create a movement around their art. Music transcends everything (or most things). The point of a movement is to create something that descends from that realm and into the real world of you and me.

We’ve seen this in the movements built by Bassnectar, Pretty Lights, GRiZ, Porter Robinson, and newcomers like REZZ and Illenium. They’ve become prophets for their cause. What’s clear from the BOOGIE T.OUR is that he’s definitely wishing to go into this direction. Although it’s not quite clear where his cause intends to go just yet. 


2) The GRiZ fam vibes are strong with this one.

Boogie delivered two full sets: One as a dubstep DJ and another as the lead of his three-piece jam band act.

First, Boogie went to town with his two bandmates. He bounced between the vocals, keys, and shredded the guitar, while his longtime friend (Castro) took to the drums like an animal, and New Orleans musician-about-town (Yanovski) took to the keys and synth bass.

The three-piece act performed live, fully improvised cuts of GRiZ’s recent catalog. The crowd sang along in unison with smiles plastered ear-to-ear. But it wasn’t this alone that made the show stir up mad GRiZ vibes. At any given moment, fans were helping one another with water, embracing in hugs, and creating an overall energy of love and togetherness in the space. After the show, this energy poured out into the streets.


3) It’s the perfect blend of filthy bass and jam band perfection.

Nevermind that Vampa and Mersiv pulled in their respective bass-heavy fanbases. Although each opener threw down a uniquely different style of bass music, what we’re talking about here is Boogie T’s double-headlining slots.

After an uplifting jam act, it was time for the crowd to get down and dirty in the bass. Boogie T played plenty of his own tracks, with a few unreleased IDs, and a bevy of singles from his buddy SQUNTO. It was here where fans were taken back to Boogie’s nostalgic sets of Lost Lands’ Executioner sound camp, Electric Forest’s Tripolee stage, and EDC Orlando’s CIRCUITgrounds.

Everywhere you looked, pashmina-donning music fans were crowding a venue usually crawling with Kandi-kid ravers. The show was practically a threshold for the local bass head and jam band scenes of Dallas. More than our own family gathering, we were noticing the new faces of our “wooky” counterparts.

The space was crawling with Louisianans from this side of Shreveport and Bossier City to Baton Rouge and NOLA. It makes sense given how Boogie T is from the boot state. Yet, his traveling fanbase is more indicative of one clear fact. What Boogie T is doing is fashioning a powerful movement.

There you have it…

Anyone who’s familiar with Boogie T’s upbringing knows why he wanted to grow from the bass scene and into the jam scene. Raised in the Creole culture of Louisiana, Brock Thorton’s young training began in jazz, folk, and Bayou gospel. It wasn’t until he heard Bassnectar’s remix of Nelly Furtado’s “Magical World” that he decided to enter into the world of dubstep.

The result is Boogie T’s growing catalog of bass-infused compositions with groovy guitar riffs and jazz/hip-hop-inspired improvisation. All of which fans are increasingly seeing played out on the road. That’s the emphasis of the T.OUR. That’s the reason this tour is a must-see event of spring.

For tickets to the Boogie T.our are available on his website.

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