MTV Review: Calvin Harris Found Love At London’s Roundhouse
By Jennifer Lynn
He may be more acquainted with Ibiza and Las Vegas these days, but summer’s all but over, and it was time for Calvin Harris to come home to the UK for his iTunes Festival performance. Playing to the Roundhouse’s Sunday night, we’re-not-ready-to-go-back-to-school-yet crowd, Calvin made sure his army of fans would be sleeping in come Monday morning.
Feeling: With Kiesza providing the support, the Roundhouse felt somewhat half-full until the flame-haired singer hit out with final track Hideaway, when a surge of bodies appeared and a mass sing-a-long occurred. Heating the venue right up, there was definitely anticipation lingering in the air as a countdown clock appeared on the DJ box, ticking all the way from 20 to one. Then on came the man himself, proudly declaring, “My name is Calvin Harris,” as chaos ensued.
The Look: Keeping it simple in a black T-shirt, it was only a later appearance from special guest John Newman that upped Calvin’s style stakes, with John decked out in a white suit jacket and black trousers. That being said, Calvin’s fist pumps are somewhat more impressive than John’s manic dance moves, which did provide us with much entertainment.
Tunes: So. Many. Hits. Kicking off with Under Control, his track with Alesso, super producer Calvin then progressed into The Source’s You Got The Love, a definite crowd-pleaser. Top ten hits I Need Your Love, Feel So Close, Sweet Nothing and Bounce went down a storm, but it was We Found Love – Rihanna’s number one smash – that really raised the roof.
The aforementioned appearance from John Newman was a great way to introduce the pair’s new track Blame to their adoring audience and, after a whole-crowd chant of Fatboy Slim’s Eat, Sleep, Rave, Repeat, Calvin helped London wave goodbye to summer with – you guessed it – Summer.
Banter: Keeping spirits high with cries of, “London, I want to see everybody’s hands in the air,” interjected with, “Camden, if you know the words to this song, I want to hear you sing along,” Calvin’s definitely got charisma.
Sweat Factor: Dripping – and we were on the balcony! Lord only knows how hot the crowd got downstairs. Thank goodness we wore black.
Summary: The only thing that differentiated Calvin’s performance at the Roundhouse from his residency at Amnesia, Ibiza, was a slightly shorter set and less powerful smoke cannons. We’ll be coming back next time you play, Mr Harris.