Aziatix - El Rey Theatre - 3/31/12
Aziatix, Dawen
Roselle Chen Fans at Aziatix concert
El Rey Theatre
3/31/12
Since producer Jae Chong formed Aziatix a year ago, they've been on the cover of Newsweek in South Korea, sold out a 10-city U.S. tour last year, hit No. 1 on Japan's R&B and Soul charts, reached No. 4 on the iTunes R&B and Soul chart and were in two showcases at SXSW. Therefore it was surprising to see the El Rey only about half-full. The fans who were there, however, were true fans, mostly teenage to college-aged girls screaming for the R&B and pop trio made up of Eddie Shin from Boston, Nicky Lee from Los Angeles and Jay "Flowsik" Pak from Queens, NY.
The fun, hour-long set was filled with slick production, poppy tunes, sweet songs about love and solid rap from Flowsik.
Opening act Dawen sang mostly covers from artists Calvin Harris ("Feel So Close"), Flo Rida ("Good Feeling"), Britney Spears ("Till The World Ends") and fun ("We Are Young"). His strong suits were two original songs "Wake Up" and "Shoes." 
Roselle Chen Dawen and Vincent Bantasan
In place of a drummer was his collaborator Vincent Bantasan, a human beatboxer on par with Rahzel, Biz Markie and Doug E. Fresh. Vince beatboxed Reel 2 Real's "I Like to Move It" and the beginning of Robin S's "Show Me Love." At times sounding like an amplified rattlesnake or a Transformer on crack, he infused dubstep into his work, making the crowd nod their heads.
Dawen's sultry, soulful voice, crooned in the style of Usher about breaking down Asian stereotypes and pursuing dreams. "Yes, I know that my face might be yellow, but that doesn't mean I'll give you SARS," he sang in "Wake Up." The hilarious "Shoes" was prefaced by his saying, "It's about to get real serious right now," then, "This is something that I used to be embarrassed about growing up in Boston," then, "I'd like to dedicate this song to everyone who takes their shoes off before entering their house." The song won the Kollaboration Acoustic 4 competition in 2010 and with lyrics like, "Baby won't you take off your shoes, or else I cannot let you through, maybe it's an Asian thing, shoes need to go outside," it's understandable why Dawen took home the $1,000 prize. He belted out the final "Shoes really go outside" in falsetto with eyes closed and emotion in his voice to a cheering crowd.
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El Rey Theatre
5515 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA
Category: Music
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