Wine Glasses, Frank Ocean Leaks, and All-Night Dancing
As I walk up to the Velodrom arena in Prenzlauer Berg, I am met with an array of beautiful faces. Excitement surrounds the entrance to the concert hall. Pre Drinks and “a quick smoke” kept the Kaytranada fans buzzing outside the arena, two hours before his performance.
As we enter the building and join the crowd forming at the front of the stage, I look around and notice how spacious the venue is. I immediately start debating whether or not the concert will be energetic enough in such a large space. I often miss the days when you could catch artists in a small, crowded, sweaty, overheated venue somewhere in Kreuzberg. I definitely did not expect what came next.
The opening set, featuring Sango, pushed the crowd’s energy up a notch and surprised us with two Frank Ocean songs—one of them an unreleased snippet remixed, and the other, his infamous “In My Room” track, which Sango proudly announced he had collaborated on. He played a variety of mixes and songs, including remixed Kendrick and Drake tracks (no sides were taken here). The crowd bobbed their heads to every track.
About twenty-ish minutes after the opening set, Kaytranada enters the stage. With a wine glass in hand and big black shades covering his face, he strolls in completely nonchalant, still hyping up the crowd at the same time. Kaytranada carried this energy through the entire show, connecting with the audience from behind his setup.
Throughout the show, every time I turned around to check the crowd behind me, all I could see was dancing. Every single person was moving. Everyone in the stands was up from their seats. Whenever Kaytranada grabbed the mic and spoke, the crowd would cheer and match his energy.
The setlist was wall-to-wall bangers, old and new. As he danced through his set, wine glass glistening in the stage lights, his fans mirrored every move—locked into the rhythm for a full hour and a half, and then some. He wrapped up the night with “Be Your Girl,” a crowd favorite that had the entire arena singing in unison, sealing off the remainder of the Saturday night with a bang.
Once the music stopped and he exited the stage, promising his return to Berlin, the dancing continued. If there’s one thing Kaytranada proves time and time again, it’s that he will get you moving, even if you “don’t dance.”
