Snakehips consummate steamy sold-out set at The Indy

Photos by Justin Yee // Written by Molly Kish //

Snakehips with DJ Dials, Mikos Da Gawd //
The Independent – San Francisco
January 9th, 2015 //

UK production duo Snakehips rocked a sold-out crowd last Friday night at The Independent with their signature glitchy beats and sample-heavy, half-sped house grooves.

Supported by opening sets from Mikos Da Gawd and a humbly apologetic DJ Dials, the packed venue was antsy to get their swerve on with the London outfit in the building. Although faced with technical difficulties, DJ Dials made the best of the situation by warming the crowd up with a personally-curated playlist of 90’s hip-hop and R&B. Ending his set somewhat abruptly due to issues with his equipment, he made a classy exit, apologizing for the mishap and letting Snakehips take the reigns the rest of the way.

Snakehips’ Oliver Lee and James Carter, in the meantime, wasted no time, breaking into their 2014 remix of Raury’s “Cigarettes”, which whipped the crowd into a sultry sing-along as fans bounced along to the duo’s downtempo take on the soul/pop ballad. With little stage production to offer, Snakehips kept their set focused directly on the music. Instead, entertaining the crowd with their onstage chemistry and a backdrop screen that simply displayed their moniker, Snakehips pulled material from several mixtapes and sprinkled in some of their own individually-released remixes, too.

A jammed-packed, steam-filled room broke out into a frenzy on several occasions throughout the evening, responding most passionately to the duo’s remixes of Wild Belle’s “It’s Too Late” and The Weeknd’s “Wanderlust” as well as their brand-new track “On & On”, which features Australian vocalist George Maple.

As Snakehips gear up for what undoubtedly will be a heavily-booked festival season this spring and summer, it was quite a treat to catch Lee and Carter in such an intimate setting. With talk of a debut album making the rounds and several of their mixes finding their way onto music blogs like Hypetrak and British radio stations like BBC Radio 1, Snakehips definitely should be returning to the Bay Area in the near future.

If you slept on their show this time around, do yourself a favor and keep yourself informed about their next U.S. tour. At the pace these two are escalating up the dance charts, you wouldn’t want to let them slither past you a second time around.