Tour Dates

January 20 Vancouver, BC, Canada PNE Forum
January 21 Seattle, WA, USA WAMU Theater
January 23 Los Angeles, CA, USA Shrine Expo Hall
January 25 San Francisco, CA, USA Cow Palace
January 27 Austin, TX, USA Concourse Project
January 28 Dallas, TX, USA Factory
January 30 Washington, DC, USA The Anthem
January 31 Boston, MA, USA Roadrunner
February 01 Philadelphia, PA, USA Franklin Music Hall
March 09 Brussels, Belgium ING Arena
March 11 Amsterdam, Netherlands AFAS Live
March 12 Hamburg, Germany Sporthalle
March 13 Copenhagen, Denmark K.B. Hallen
March 14 Berlin, Germany Uber Eats Music Hall
March 15 Poznan, Poland MTP 3A
March 17 Prague, Czechoslovakia Forum Karlin
March 18 Offenbach, Germany Stadthalle
March 19 Milan, Italy Big Theatre – MIND
March 21 Paris, France Adidas Arena

As an arctic blast poured into the Twin Cities in the form of a polar vortex, a propulsive beat of electronic dance music provided a welcome counter to the plummeting temperature outside.

The person behind the mixers and turntables? James Thomas Smith, better known as Jamie xx. One has to appreciate the stage name for it is a nod to the band he helped form with a group of London classmates in 2005: the xx.

Jamie xx has been on a worldwide tour, promoting his sophomore album, Waves. Starting off in Mexico City in October of last year, he has already been to ports of call like Santiago, Manila, Bangkok and Tokyo. He had four sold out shows at the Park Avenue Armory in NYC. And after spending the rest of January in the United States, he finishes up his last leg in European cities like Amsterdam, Hamburg, Milan and Poznań.

In fact, Jamie has been in a constant state of touring. That’s why there is an almost ten-year gap between his second and first album, In Colour, a fan and critic favorite that was shortlisted for a Mercury and nominated for a Grammy for Best Dance/Electronic Album.

The Guardian has described Jamie as an “… unremittingly joyous DJ” and described his sound as warm, introspective and intoxicating, adding, “The best, most profound clubbing experiences take place in small, intimate venues, not in aircraft hangers.”

Unfortunately, Jamie’s fan base can no longer fit into a venue like 7th Street Entry. Still, his team made a go of capturing the feel of intimacy by turning the lights down low and ringing the dance floor with light towers to hem in the crowd. There were two sprawling video screens behind Jamie, but they would not be used until much later into his two-hour set.

The DJ’s who produce their own music can be viewed as alchemists, creating magic from strands of music. The best can even be seen in a jazz vein of never playing their songs the same way, but always tinkering, always experimenting behind that table of expensive equipment, as in “The Feeling I Get From You,” which started with a slower, pensive pace with falling piano chords, sounding like Pachabel’s “Canon in D”. Then a female singer, singing far away like she was in a distant alley filled with tin trash cans. And as the piano chords picked up to a danceable beat, they appeared to go underwater.

Why? Why not? It was fascinating to see where Jamie was headed. And by the time his team flipped on the giant video screens flashing audience members looking at themselves, Jamie was in full dance mode with an expansive Prince cover “It’s Gonna Be a Beautiful Night.” Then songs from his album like “All You Children”, “Falling Together” and finishing with “Dafodil” before waving to the crowd and sauntering offstage, the reverberation of the song still sending waves through the crowd.