Afrojack Took CONTROL of New York City with Classics and Underground Club Cuts

2 days ago 3

Afrojack’s CONTROL North American Tour opener at Brooklyn Storehouse showcased the breadth of his sound.

Afrojack and New York City go way back. He has become a familiar face on Marquee New York lineups, but his connection to the city runs deeper. The last time he headlined The Brooklyn Mirage, he performed an open-to-close set for nearly five hours, giving the crowd a full experience of his world. He has said that “Take Over Control,” one of his most recognizable, crowd-favorite records, was first played on the radio in New York, and that this city is where the song was fundamentally born. It was fitting, then, to see him return to Brooklyn this past weekend to launch his latest CONTROL North American tour.

With his deeper, more club-focused Kapuchon alias, Afrojack offered another glimpse into his musical range. His show at Brooklyn Storehouse gave fans plenty to appreciate across the different sides of his sound. For two hours, he moved between darker, bass-heavy cuts and fan-favorite classics like “Ten Feet Tall,” “Take Over Control,” and “Turn Up the Speakers.” Each of these singalong moments was met with an immediate response from the dancefloor, a rush of anticipation as those familiar melodies made fans brace themselves for the drop.

Photo Credit: Jared Sugar

Deeper into Afrojack’s Underground Sound

In between those bigger anthems, Afrojack showcased his heavier style. The techno-leaning side of his set further highlighted the underground focus of “Control,” his recent collaboration with Lucas & Steve on Black Book Records. Paired with raw, hypnotic rhythms, mechanical textures, and slightly psychedelic sounds, it marked a noticeable shift from the larger-than-life festival anthems he usually plays.

The production inside the venue amplified the atmosphere. Afrojack had teased on his socials before the show that he had been working behind the scenes for this tour, and that preparation was evident. Sharp lasers cut through the room like striking lightning. Green beams shot across the crowd, keeping the dancefloor’s rave atmosphere locked in. For a set built around the different sides of Afrojack’s sound, this was the clearest expression of his underground instincts.

Photo Credit: Jared Sugar

Between Two Worlds

That duality underscored the tension at the heart of the CONTROL tour. Afrojack is using this run of dates to showcase a side of his sound that goes beyond the usual big room anthems and offers a different perspective of his musical identity. For audience members who were expecting the more familiar Afrojack experience, that shift may have felt like a jarring departure.

That said, for the first stop of the CONTROL tour, Afrojack revealed a more confident and relaxed side to himself, one that can move between his mainstage roots and harder, driving sounds with ease. As he’s mentioned in interviews, festival sets often leave limited room for the underground and club-focused sounds he wants to explore. The fact that the CONTROL North American Tour allows him to play on his own terms was perhaps the most compelling part of his performance.

Rather than choosing between the two sides of his identity, Afrojack showed that they can coexist. For an artist with such a recognizable commercial catalog, the flexibility to step outside of it and still command the room shows that he knows exactly who he is.