written by Sam Freund
In the last gasps of summer, house fans piled into Ann Arbor’s Necto night club for the first stop on Sam Feldt and Bakermat’s From Amsterdam With Love tour, the perfect way to give the warmer months a proper send off.
Complete with an endlessly energetic live saxophone accompaniment, Bakermat kicked off the headlining duo. Well versed in blending classic soul and funk grooves with modern house sensibilities, he used his saxophonist to create more tense builds and drops with screeching wails and soft melodies, even sending him into the crowd once—much to everyone’s delight.
Feldt favored more modern Top 40 sounds over Bakermat’s soul/funk sample, but used the contrast to his advantage by lending his house flavor to numerous remixes. He sprinkled in new material throughout the set to a receptive audience, never breaking his stride, beaming smile, or steady flow. Clearly, he knows how to get a crowd right where he wants them, and right where they want to be.
As his set came to a close, Feldt teased the finale as though each song, each synchronized hand clap, each jump would be the last. Before we left Necto, he proved that he could get everyone behind him, causing smiles almost as big as his own.