Bass Storm @ Summit Music Hall in Denver, CO (12/23/17) [Review]

Review By: jdrightright

Photography By: Emma Ceaglske


Twas the Saturday before Christmas and all through Denver, a Bass Storm was brewing, and the whole fam was lit. A new installment in the branded shows from Rebudz and Reload Productions. This was the first annual Bass Storm held at the Summit Music Hall in Denver. The line up was loaded with seven heavy armor piercing bass snipers. Headlining were Kai Wachi, and Phiso, with a number of producers from the Savage Society; Definitive, Bloodthinnerz, and Blankface, this along with the perfect opener Shank Aaron. Unfortunately Aweminus was not able to make it to Denver for the show, but his fellow label mates made up for his absence well with a raunchy set. This was the first real snowy night for the Denver metro area, and the people took longer than usual to make it out, but in the end the place was packed. Had it not been snowing outside, and very cold, there would have been a huge line at the door before doors opened like all other Rebudz and Reload shows. It was fitting with the flyer and title of this new gathering being Bass Storm that there was a bit of a snow storm in Denver. The room gradually filled up as the people all carefully made their way to Summit for a hell of a show.

The stage was equipped with a beautiful display of lights, lasers and LED walls. One large LED panel wall was installed behind the booth, and two lasers were positioned at the front feet of the DJ booth. The graphics were warping and shifting to the music wonderfully. The two full color lasers zapped upwards from a low stage position making a nice field up into the balcony section of the room. This was my first time eating at the Summit Music Hall and they had great NY style slices. Oh course I managed to get it on jeans, but no one noticed. The Summit Music Hall is becoming a new mainstay for these electronic throw-downs in Denver.

Starting of the night was a friend of mine and Denver darling, Shank Aaron. He was a brilliant opener for this show, fitting in well with the musical talents that would follow him. Shank Aaron has been busy with a lot of big tracks dropped in 2017, including a special Disciple Round Table release What It Is with his good homie Dirt Monkey. He went hard and tight right off the bat, satisfying both sexes who endured the weather and made it out on time. It was so lit even a blow up doll with big titties was headbanging in the front row! Shank Aaron dropped some killer tunes including a remix of Excision and Datsik's Swagger. He even had a transition from Green Day into some thumping riddim. Shank Aaron is one of the supreme producers that we are beholden to get to see often here in the bass capital.

Next was a big chunk of time dedicated to the guys repping Savage Society Records. Three substantial names from the squad went b2b2b for almost 3 hours of straight fire. Starting out was BloodThinnerz with a fitting Savage Society opening sequence, and then started a game of tag as Blankface, and Definitive would pop on the decks and mix things up. They got into a bunch of tracks and even a dubstep remix of Snoop Dogg's Drop It Like Its Hot. The Savages shouted out a ton of big names as they blended in music from their favorites. Excellent job of building up to wobbly drops, and they all worked very well together in the b2b2b format. You could see the wheels turning in the heads of the upcoming tag, each of the guys would continue to one up each other with the next track and it got pretty intense. Closer to the end of the set each of the guys spun an ill drum and bass song and the people reacted just as expected, hyphy! It was really cool to see BloodThinnerz, Blankface, and Definitive all incorporate their flow together for a massive b2b2b set.

It was a big task to go even harder, but Phiso was ready with bass cannons. He came out and said, "Ay! I'm Phiso. Yo!" He got it going with a hard dubby mix of GTA's Red Lips and that was litty. Phiso got the room filled up and ready to mosh the emotions out. Phiso is good with his timing, he always knew when it was necessary to spin the decks back and restart the build for dramatic effect. Then he would bring overwhelming bass at the drop, always strong hitting dub. The crowd was very active during Phiso's set just as he orchestrated. Phiso went proper hard for his outro, and this lead nicely into the final performer, Kai Wachi.

Last on stage closing out the first annual Bass Storm with a blizzard of low frequencies was Kai Wachi. He opened his set with his track Demons and the people wailed out at the drop, "I got demons in my head bitch!" For the most part during his set the room was lit up by only lasers and graphics, making a sicko visual aesthetic. He was a dark figure masterminding the decks with a scintillating flavors of riddim, dubstep, and more. Kai Wachi would come out in front of the booth a dance with the people in the laser beams. Definitely made the room dance to his music with a naughty string of songs. He went on the mic and said, "Yo, if you feeling this shit I need you to make some fucking noise!" Accordingly the public screamed for more. Kai Wachi got into some brand new beats and let everyone know when it was a fresh bass line coming. Back on the mic again Kai Wachi let the people know, "This shit here is for the headbangers." He never let up for his whole hour on stage, it was breathtaking right until the end.

What a night, despite the snow Denver showed up ready to get moving. The first ever Bass Storm made an impression on the souls of the bass fam, and they won't soon forget it. Summit Music Hall has not seen the last of these compelling displays of electronic dominance. It has only just begun, and I'm sure if Bass Storm becomes an annual show even more hype will come in the future. Much love for Emma Ceaglske from Eyediola Photography for again catching the best moments of the night in crispy images. Make sure to follow both Rebudz and Reload Productions on all social outlets in order to stay on top of show announcements and contests for tickets. Shouts to all my friends who made this such a fun night, you know who you are.