The UK scene right now seems to have this unstoppable propensity for the most unique and youthful sounds assigned to a range of upcoming artists. For Octavian, his stand out flows and choice of merely traditionally structured beats have set him firmly apart from the drill, afro-bashment and grime dominated UK scene. Still in the early days of his ascendancy, Octavian’s already landed a co-sign from Drake, a deal with Sony’s Black Butter record label (which is also home to Brit nominated UK artist J hus), and a sold-out headline show.
Dominating social media with the frequent reposting of his breakout track ‘Party Here’, Octavian swiftly picked up support from Instagram and Twitter’s top music influencers who turned up for his highly anticipated first solo show in the Underground Chamber. Set in a Grade II listed Victorian structure, which on entrance felt like an empty derelict-type hall only highlighted the underground vibe that the show was bound to reflect.
Opening the night with a set from DJ Oneman, who took to reviving under-appreciated classics of house and old school genres with his own modern twist and insertion of party favourites, the growing crowd slowly began to fill out the open space of the building. With Octavian’s set approaching and appearances from close friends and supporting family, the show began to radiate an atmosphere of genuine support as well as intimacy.
On arrival, Octavian stood over the crowd, instantly expressing an overwhelmed and thankful vibe. Bouncing between the audience, while greeting and showing love to what appeared to be a number of familiar faces, the host and friend J Rick, urgently drew the crowd closer as Octavian got ready to begin his set. With an unusually early start for a live show, the venue although empty for quite some time began to fill up as those who had been eagerly waiting for Octavian’s set, began to flood in a swarm of red cups and puffer jackets.
Standing in front of dozens of flashlights and snapchat recordings, Octavian welcomed friends and upcoming artists as he opened up the stage with L3ON’s ‘Crash the Coupe’. His team stood close behind him, their support translating into an immense energy. The rest of the crowd lacked a sense of true energy to start off with but Octavian encouraged more as the mandem were sent into the middle of the crowd to show them “how its really done”. While the night remained calm and collected, once he’d announced his last two songs would be – ‘100 Degrees’ and ‘Party Here’, the energy in the room dramatically changed.
Sam Wise made an appearance on the stage to perform Octavian’s latest single, as the rest of House of Pharaohs stood supporting in the back. Hearing Octavian and Sam echo their verses word for word, transformed the levels in the room as the crowd started jumping in unison to the bass. For most of the song, the artists dropped their mics and listened to the crowd recite back the lyrics to ‘100 Degrees’.
Closing with his anthem, ‘Party Here’ Octavian’s contrast and combination of flows clearly amazed the audience, with a constant wheel up at the start resulting in screams of excitement as the song restarted. It’s early days and Octavian’s catalogue of music is still being built, so with a short but energetic set, Octavian left the stage and left his supporters asking for more.
As Joey from Romford, said – “I literally came down just to see ‘Party Here’ performed live and would happily hear it another three times”.
