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| Barry Can't Swim @ the Fox Theater (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Barry Can’t Swim rode a popular wave into the Bay Area this weekend with a sold-out Warfield Theatre show in The City on Saturday and a Sunday Fox Oakland concert that saw as packed a main floor as I’ve ever seen. The live show Sunday saw the famed UK Producer (aka Joshua Mainnie) wowing the crowd with a headlining set that went beyond DJing to include live guitars, keyboards and drums and entrancing lighting.
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| Barry Can't Swim @ the Fox Theater (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Confession here, it was my first time covering Electronic Dance Music and when opening DJ Laurence Guy walked on stage to his platform promptly at 8 pm, I surveyed the very sparse crowd and was skeptical of the ability to fill the Fox on a Sunday night. But this was a crowd that put the “fashionably” in “fashionably late” as the colorful quickly filled in the floor.
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| DJ Laurence Guy @ the Fox Theater (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Halfway through Guy’s one-hour set, most of the audience had arrived and by the time he finished, the two levels of the Fox’s ground floor were a writhing sea of arms, color and sunglasses. Projecting the inspiring message of his 2020 house music single “Your Good Times Will Come” behind him throughout the set, Guy’s music and presence were both positive and upbeat throughout and while they may have come a bit late, the crowd was deeply drawn in and quite enthusiastic throughout his set.
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| Barry Can't Swim @ the Fox Theater (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Barry Can’t Swim took the stage at 9:30 pm – not just to do a DJ set, but the “band” version of his act where he was joined by drummer Cameron Easton and keyboardist Hanna Jacobs. Barry Can’t Swim himself not only dj’ed but often played keyboards and guitar. He was just a few weeks removed from playing huge sets at Coachella for the second year in a row (he headlined the Quasar stage) and brought big show energy to the Fox. The young crowd showed no signs of weekend fatigue or pre-Monday trepidation as they moved and screamed throughout the show as lasers shot above them and the golden Buddhas glowed on each side of the stage.
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| Hanna Jacobs of Barry Can't Swim @ the Fox Theater (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
For me – the uninitiated – the show was energizing and musically interesting. Barry Can’t Swim’s show silenced any of my reservations about EDM’s lack of instrumentation as both he and his supporting musicians were constantly in motion and demonstrated excellent musicality. I was at least a few decades older than most of the crowd but was inspired by their passion and energy for songs such as “The Person You’d Like to Be”, “Blackpool Boulevard” and “Can We Still Be Friends.” Truth be told, I was impressed but also could not make the full Sunday hang into the late night. By the time Barry Can’t Swim finished the night with the crowd favorite “Sunsleeper” - I was headed for sleep myself.
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| Barry Can't Swim @ the Fox Theater (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
And for those who might wonder how Joshua Mainnie came up with the Barry Can’t Swim name, he has stated it was simply inspired by his friend Barry - who cannot swim.
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