GOONS TAKE AMERICA!
GTA and an evolving lineup of supporting acts are trekking around the U.S., filling venues and fueling earworms everywhere from the Windy City to the City of Angels. These guys went from working hospitality at Ultra to headlining their own tour, and now they are taking over America (and beyond).
The Goons Take America tour stopped at Echostage Friday, but was led by a couple of distinct events before the big show.
The duo, Miami-based Matthew Van Toth (Van Toth) and Julio Mejia (JWLS), did a Reddit “Ask Me Anything” (AMA) earlier in the day where they answered all sorts of questions, from “Is there going to be a new ‘Death To Genres’ mix” to “What’s your secret?”.
After interfacing with fans online, locals got some real face time with them during an in-store DJ set at Rito Loco on Florida Avenue before going to Echostage. Is this the real secret to DJ success? Tasty Mexican food? More research will follow…
@weareGTA gettin down on a pair of fish tacos at @RitoLoco mid-set before they go crush @echostage! pic.twitter.com/rikwDV7wDV
— RitoLoco (@RitoLoco) November 14, 2015
The Goons Take America tour started around 11:00 p.m. with Rich the Kid after opening DJs Ruckle and Mebaa World Peace. Rich the Kid was all over the stage and in the crowd with rhymes and gusto.
K-Camp waited about ten minutes after Rich the Kid to take the stage, and brought his entourage and energy on stage too. He may have only been performing for about 25 minutes, but it was high energy and branded with his name hyped both visually and by his MC, again he was all over the stage and got plenty of photos with fans in the crowd mid-performance.
GTA took over around 1:00 a.m., and started off with their tour intro playing over their new production staging. Double projections with trippy caricatures of themselves animated across our wide eyes. Things were being punched up a notch! And while most guests in the crowd had Sharpie Xs on their hands, you didn’t have to be of any certain age to cheer when remixes of Hotline Bling started blasting.
Immediately mixing in and out of your favorite tunes cut up with others kind-of-but-don’t-really-know, GTA leaves us looking for answers to some of these mysterious “track IDs” on their new album “Death2Genres,” to be released online TODAY right here http://wbr.fm/DTGVol2 .
They also leave us admiring their split headwear choices. The felt hat worn by Van Toth vs. a towel draped over a baseball cap rocked by JWLS was a tiny glimpse at their complementary styles, both fashionably and stylistically.
They wrapped up the good times around 2:30 a.m. with the new Tiesto & Oliver Helden’s track “Wombass” and then intro’d “the homie, Sweater Beats” and handed it over. Sweater Beats played his super funky future set with all sorts of jam gems, proving what a range of talent and sounds can be packed into one night presented by GTA.
The Goons Take America tour only has a few shows left — it all wraps up at the end of the month! And remember, each city is featuring different performances with changing lineups of artists. They stay true to their namesake, and Good Times Ahead is what they deliver.
Post by Cristina Rayas, Photos by Toby Mues