Grizmatik - Digital Liberation Is Mad Freedom #DLIMF

I recently had the pleasure of seeing GRIZMATIK live at the House of Blues in Chicago after just rocking out to Pretty Lights to sum up the North Coast Music Festival. And after a show full of lazers and lights I couldn’t believe that two smaller named DJs coming together could overshadow the previous show. But boy was I wrong. The tickets I had purchased were for the balcony, the House of Blues has two levels of balconies: one is directly above the dance floor, the other is another level above that.

The first balcony was pretty packed and we couldn’t find a spot to see the stage, so I decided to venture upstairs and check out the top balcony. While walking to the back stairs I noticed a very tall guy sitting on a chair in the corner. Looking a little drunk and a little tired, he lifted his head as I walked by. I realized it was DVS! Derek Vincent Smith, Pretty Lights himself. It was pretty sweet, hadn’t I just come from his show at NCMF? I was stunned, I realized I had stopped walked and was staring. Wearing my Nuggets Carmello jersey and my Colorado Project Grassroots hat I walked up to him and give him a handshake-fist-pound combo that just made sense and told him that show was fucking fantastic.

I proceeded to the balcony to realize that it was EMPTY and it had an awesome unobstructed view of the stage below. My friends joined me upstairs, as well as new friends we had met at Summer Camp Festival earlier in the summer and had ran into at North Coast. Griz and Gramatik and guitarist Ales took the stage with such a strong presence. Alternating between Griz songs, Gramatik songs, and the completely awesome new Grizmatik songs, the show got everyone on their feet dancing the night away. We rocked until 3am. It was the best way to wrap up an amazing weekend of music in Chicago.