Goldroom & Autograf @ The Royale

Goldroom and Autograf with Eau Claire
October 5th, 2016 at The Royale Nightclub
By: Anita Wu

On a crisp autumn evening, I swung by the Royale to check out Autograf and Goldroom, two electronic artists who had recently been appearing on my radar, without many expectations but an open ear.

The show, which featured three acts on the bill, had a smaller turn out that I had anticipated. Eau Claire, a young producer I was unfamiliar from Washington, DC, started the night. She played a lively set which included upbeat, catchy tunes in a nu-disco style but was met with little reception. Though people started moving towards the front, her appearance seemed more like a background DJ rather than an act that had opened for Flight Facilities last year. The lighting was rather substandard and the noise level was slightly meagre, but I assumed the AV techs were saving the better effects for the main acts.

Half an hour later, Autograf, a trio from Chicago, came on stage. With two keyboards, a drum set, a guitar keyboard and pan drums – Jake Carpenter, Mikul Wing and Louis Kha got the crowd amped up with their mixture of EDM and future house. Starting with their recent single, “Future Sauce,” fans started dancing as the atmospheric scores filled the room. Loud crashing drums helped add to the ambience with the switching green, magenta, pink, and blue backdrop lighting. Dressed in all black with leather jackets and hats, the boys appeared to be laidback but were evidently enthusiastic about playing their first gig in Boston. Transitions between each song were smooth, and a remix of Odesza’s “All We Need” got a significant uproar from the late 20’s crowd. Cutting up the vocals and changing the tempo of the distinct tune, people swayed with their hands up in the air while the group moved from one remix to the next. Stevie Wonder’s “Superstitious” got the same treatment with Jake thrashing away on four steel pan drums. Marvin Gaye’s “Heard it Through the Grapevine” and their original song “Don’t Worry” was met with clapping hands but their biggest club banger “Metaphysical”, which features an infectious drop, helped continue their high energy set. Autograf even introduced their new track “Nobody Knows”, a moodier composition with chord progressions that were different to their usual tracks and featured a slower build-up. Finishing off with “Dream”, their most popular song, the crowd got rowdier – prepared for the main act to come.

Not long after, the second main act, Goldroom came on. The four piece is based in Los Angeles, but the night was a homecoming for the main producer, Josh Legg. There was a slight delay at the start of the set, with the lighting forming a blue haze which put Josh’s band members, Nick Sandler, Mereki Beach and Chela in a slight vignette but as the set went on, the effects and songs came together well. “Silhouette”, “Back to You” and ”Retrograde” from their debut album West of the West kicked off the show and the crowd filled up fast. Vocalist Chela sang impressively, happy to work the crowd, moving from one side to the next and shouting out to friends of hers who had relocated to Boston and had come to the show to provide support.

Similar to Autograf, Goldroom also played an unreleased song called “Spread Love”. This had the stage flooded in rainbow colours and consisted of lyrics that mentioned sticking together despite the rough times around us now – a cute but slightly soppy sentiment.

Personally, I had come to the show to hear their songs “Till Sunrise” and “Fifteen”, both of which I had only encountered heavily remixed versions of each. They were fun to hear in person and Goldroom did a good job finishing with “Fifteen” which was as emotive when stripped down from the production I was familiar with. Goldroom’s set included a lot of synth-based electro pop that reminded listeners of the sunny haze of LA. Together with Autograf and Eau Claire, Goldroom’s set was an enjoyable experience, though lacking in depth.