Live Review: Onra, Henri Le Blanc

The May edition of Red Bull Music Academy’s club series made it very clear that people love two things above all: good music and free gigs. Saturday night party vibes were running high in Rocket Bar’s band room last night as French producer and globetrotter Onra took to the decks. 

Groovers started filling the club relatively early, already hyped with anticipation and the buzz of a few drinks. Henri Le Blanc hit the stage first, immediately drawing a crowd to the dance floor with his bouncy remixes and party tunes. A certain air of excitement was filling the room as drinks flowed and the vibes intensified.

There really is nothing like watching a roomful of white people dancing, especially when said room is packed almost to capacity. Despite the limited space, the crowd squeezed themselves in to be as close to the music as possible. The dance floor was well and truly buzzing by the time the man of the hour graced us with his presence.

Onra insists that “you can make music out of everything”, a philosophy he manages to employ in a way that not a lot of modern producers have quite achieved. He has this otherworldly ability to spin his music in a way that compels the entire audience. Even the most inebriated amongst the crowd found the sobriety to get down and have a boogie. 

The producer seamlessly wove his way through his Long Distance and Fundamentals albums and his Chinoiseries collection, which he made using samples he found while travelling Asia. Despite a short lapse in the middle of his set and an apology tinged with a dreamy French accent, the hour was filled with crowd-pleasers. His skills became apparent as his set heightened and drew to a close with hits such as I Wanna Go Back and The Anthem. 

The stigma surrounding DJs has well and truly dwindled as artists like Onra make it obvious there’s so much more to production than sticking a USB into a turntable and pressing play. The generation of beat-makers with an eclectic and solid mix of songs for groovers and shakers is on the rise, and world-travellers like the Red Bull Music Academy are becoming increasingly important when it comes to highlighting world-class talent. 

Give people good vibes, good company and good beats, and they will dance.