I could feel the thumping in my chest even before I entered the building. An explosion of energy and breath-taking vibes filled the night air at Concord Music Hall on March 7. I was graced with the presence of a musical madman that night: Paper Diamond.

Paper Diamond, less commonly known as Alex Botwin, is a Colorado-based producer and DJ. He was formerly a bassist for the band The Pnuma Trio, which is a live electronic band that incorporated acid jazz (music that incorporates jazz with elements of soul, disco, and electronic vibes), funk, and hip hop into their music. As of 2010, he signed with Pretty Lights Music and broke out into his solo career, taking off as a pioneer of “future” music with the creation of the Paper Diamond persona.

The night of the show began like any other. I pulled up to the venue, presented my ID for security, and got my hands stamped with black X’s that signified my dedication to a night of bass and melodic tendencies of the genre-bending artist.

I arrived at the very beginning of his set, which immediately was accompanied by an intense visual show. The back wall and front of his booth were LED walls of mesmerizing color and trippy animations synced with his music.  I had the chance to talk to Alec Diaz, a regular concert attendee of Concord, and he explained, “With every [bass] drop, the visuals were insane. Best I’ve ever seen.”

The crowd was one of the calmest I’ve ever seen, considering my past experiences at the Concord. Usually, the venue has its share of arrogant fight-starters and rough dancers. However, this particular night brought a wave of peaceful ravers, with their focus set on the psychedelic music and visuals. The vibes of the night were relatively unbroken, as I looked around at the unity and flow of people’s grooves.

After the show, another attendee of the show, Erik Shockher, agreed with me saying, “[The atmosphere was] fairly outstanding, one of the nicest grouping of crowds I have ever dealt with and a very organized show.”

The energy of the show remained at–what seemed–the maximum for almost the entire night. His transitions from song to song flowed at a rate of perfection (almost) every time. I wasn’t extremely impressed with his set’s selection of songs, however I am a DJ myself, so I knew roughly 75% of the songs he played. It impresses me when a DJ plays relatively unknown music. However, for the average concert goer, this would not be an issue because they’d most likely want to hear songs they recognize.

Paper Diamond played a relatively “bass heavy” set, jumping from genre to genre, covering a wide variety of styles including glitch-hop, neon, moombahton, and of course his signature genre, trap.

For those unfamiliar with these genres, they are considered sub-genres under the face of electronic music. His more commonly played genre “trap” incorporates hip hop elements and “808 sub bass” to electronic melodies and synths. A prime example would be his track “WYLIN” made in 2014 with the duo Loudpvck.

Paper Diamond’s musical sound would be described as something, “…similar to [artists like] RL Grime, What So Not, Jauz, and Getter,” as described by concert attendee and electronic music enthusiast Nick Sparks. These artists focus their music production and mixing to music with heavy kicks and melodic grooves.

For anyone interested in attending a show at the Concord Music Hall in the future, some upcoming shows include: Shlohmo 4/17, Nightwish 4/18, Twiztid 5/1, Azealia Banks 5/15, and Slash 5/18.