Review By: jdrightright
Photography By: Emma Ceaglske
For the final Saturday in April the Denver dubsteppers went ham at The Gothic Theatre. An annual bash known as Bass Rising from Rebudz and Reload Productions stacked up a monster line up for the people. There were six artists that came through: Synoid, Hi Im Ghost, Chime, Hekler, Infekt, and Midnight Tyrannosaurus headlined the show. This was a perfect blend of premium wub and everyone loved it.
Previously Rebudz and Reload Productions had not held an event at the Gothic Theatre, this was a night of many firsts. A number of the artists had never played in Denver before either. Nexus Productions brought their brand new HD-LED panel walls and boy were the crispy! The visuals were top notch for this event with a big wall behind the booth with a slight concave curve. In front of the booth was a smaller panel wall with a slight convex curve creating an aesthetic effect. Surreal Laser also brought a pair of laser boxes to add even more to the optical splendor. The stage looked absolutely beautiful and the skilled technicians did an awesome job matching up with the music.
First up was Synoid, a fine dubstep producer out of Florida. In the future he may end up here in the bass capital, he was telling me he would like to move out here to Colorado. He got the place pumped up with immediate vibes. The lower tier of the venue was full right away and they were ready to get down to some Synoid bass. His style is full of wubs, and he got the people involved chanting to the beat "Hey! Hey! Hey!" Towards the end of his set Synoid went down into the crowd and entered the mosh pit himself. He went super hard to close out an excellent opening set.
Next up was a duo called Hi I'm Ghost, made up of Nathan Davis and Tiago Nunez. Nathan is the son of the Korn front man Jonathan Davis, and Tiago was formerly producing under the name iNexus. They always keep it spooky together and put on a hell of a show. They got into some classic Skrillex stuff with this set and went full flex on the crowd like a rude boi should. When one of them was hyping up the crowd the other would keep the decks kicking out drops. Lots of energy on the microphone, and they orchestrated some solid mosh pits. Towards the end of the set Hi I'm Ghost got the laser treatment as Surreal Laser fired up the beams.
The room really got shaking as Hekler took the stage. He is a bit mysterious and was a new artist for many to see live and he showed out. Now the graphics and lasers were going strong, the stage productions was A+ rated by the better bass bureau. Hekler has a ton of big tour dates right now, he is playing at festivals and all over the country in venues of all sizes. His set was so wobbly, he went deep down low and all over the place with bass. Dirty dubstep was a theme as he weaved together a superb set, I remember hearing some Flux Pavilion remixes and other intense drops. I always enjoy seeing an artist for the first time and this was a pleasure to rock out with Hekler.
A very exciting Denver debut performance was up next with Chime taking control of the sound waves. This was highly anticipated by many in the bass fam, and Chime brought a super fire flower to enable him to throw fireballs. I love his nintendo style, mixing some chiptune sounds with intense dubstep drops. A special guest was in the building, none other than Stabby from the Never Say Die Black Label. Stabby was here to help promote a new track that he and Chime worked on together, and to headbang of course. This new track is now out on Buygore and is called Permadeath. Chime also just recently put out a brilliant EP called Experience Points which I have had on repeat ever since it dropped. Chime was very animated on stage bouncing around and the people followed suit. He would punch the air to the melody on his drops. His progression was infectious, I didn't miss a moment of his time on stage. The music forced you to dance along it was so intoxicating.
Getting back to that riddimy hard dubstep the room adjusted their undies for an epic set from Infekt. He went one deeper than anyone prior and Infekt completely rekt the room, in a good way. He was putting down some of the most grimey raunchy bass music and all of my squad was freaking out. Mosh pits throughout the set and it was awesome to see that in a venue that doesn't mind it happening. Also some dedicated strong necked individuals flung their hair all over the place to Infekt's mix. The speakers were blaring out bass right until the end of his hour.
Right away the people noticed when Midnight Tyrannosaurus took the stage, and everyone started screaming. Dude is definitely a legend in the Denver bass family, and he always comes through with a prehistorical dope set. Recently Jason moved out to Colorado, so we should be seeing him even more which is awesome! The Gothic Theatre is a perfect venue for his electrifying bass productions. Sicko mosh pits were continuous for Midnight Tyrannosaurus, he kept it hype and went hard at the same time. I love watching him react to the drops on stage, he deals out bass playing cards at the crowd like a dubstep Gambit from X-Men. As always his energy is out of the atmosphere, constantly moving a dancing around in the booth. Towards the end he brought Synoid back out and gave him props on a killer set, also acknowledging all the others who threw down at Bass Rising too. To close out the night he went into some Dubloadz and other extra strength drops.
What a night at the Gothic Theatre, tons of firsts and all of the coolest people were in the house for this stupendous line up. Bass Rising has never been this massive, and it's going to be tough to top it next year. I have every confidence in the world that Rebudz and Reload Productions will always one up themselves with bigger and bigger shows as they have for years. Shout out to Nexus Productions and Surreal Laser again for providing a top notch stage production. Also big thanks to Emma Ceaglske from Eyediola Photography for her lucid images from the night. Next up is the Never Say Die Black Label showcase on June 9th at Summit Music Hall, follow the link for the line-up and tickets. I hope to see you all there.