Bass Rising @ Cervantes in Denver, Colorado (6/8/17) [Review]

Review By: jdrightright

Photography By: Emma Ceaglske


Thursday nights can be boring, just waiting for the weekend to start, and conserving energy. Not last Thursday, it was Bass Rising an annual event thrown by Rebudz and Reload Productions. This year was maybe the illest addition to the annual throw down. Headlining was Noisia with Dubloadz and a lot of powerful Denver DJs too including Fury, Detrace, TOC, and Finesse. Last Thursday was a ball of energy and the lucky ones in Denver got a huge dose of drum and bass.


For this show Rebudz and Reload put on display an array of lasers and LED panel walls. There were 4 full color lasers and 2 LED walls, one in front of the booth and one behind the booth. The LED panels were mostly used to display the DJ logos for the performers. On the front corners of the booth you could find two lasers, and the other two were hidden on the sides of the big LED wall behind the booth up on stands. Sometimes the lasers would bounce off of the giant disco ball making even more beams to touch. Cervantes was lit proper, but even more so by the talented mixes of all of the performers.

The show got started at 8pm and TOC wasn't going to make it on time, not a problem with all of the talent available in Denver. The homie Finesse tagged in for a killer introduction set. Turns out TOC was in a car accident, nothing major, so he was just running behind. Finesse took the stage and he made it his own. He got into some wonky dub and fired up the people for a night of bass music. Finesse is a badass up and coming producer reppin the Rebudz squad. He is at every show and he knows what is hot, I'm glad he got to showoff a bit for Bass Rising. In the future you will see him get deeper and deeper into the line-up for shows like this.

Around 8:30 TOC made it to Cervantes and he didn't skip a beat. He got into some filthy dub but very smooth on his transitions. A lucky few in the crowd were able to cop his merch, he had fresh shirts and hats to flip. TOC brought his folks out for the show too, and they were some of the coolest people there, I had a conversation with his Dad and he is very supportive of his son. Love to see that, a lot of stigma is placed on the electronic music scene but it is for all ages, and that was definitely a theme for the night. TOC is very high energy on stage he doesn't slow down, steady pace and that was a perfect fit for this night. I like how TOC dances to the drops, he helps you to know when the music is about to change up and when to go ham.

Next up was one of my favorites Detrace, this guy is an exemplary producer with a ton of knowledge. He is rather good at creating a live mix also and always brings some new flame to put on display. Detrace immediately got the place poppin off with melodic builds and inferno drops. His mixes are just brilliant always coming up with a new way to fake you out and that's exciting. He has great dance moves as well, often hopping around to the beat and gently turning the faders because they are hot lava! He changed it up a bit from what I am used to, getting into some dope Trap-step drops. I am always game for a Detrace set, he is awesome and perfectly represents the diversity of Denver electronic music.

It was now time for Fury! He is a master of reading a crowd. Fury has been crushing parties for a minute now, so he always knows exactly what to bust out of the arsenal. Perfect blends of drum and bass with dubstep. Plus he was getting into some video game stuff, coins were coming out of blocks and fireballs were being thrown. Fury is at full mad scientist level when it comes to drum and bass, each performance is completely unique and blunt. Fury just gets right to the point and I love that.

One of the hardest on the Disciple crew came up next, ever heard of Dubloadz? Thought so! He had a busy weekend in Denver also playing Friday night with side project and triple b2b Chode Gang. The trio of Chode Gang consists of three incredible individual producers: Barely Alive, Virtual Riot and Dubloadz. He is so energetic and nutty on stage, not to mention through the decks. He had T-Rex hands, gun fingers, and the hardest bass drops of the night. Cervantes was full of headbangers going hard to the beat provided by Dubloadz for a good hour straight.

To close the night was the highly anticipated Noisia. Definitely enlightening having never seen them before. Martijn van Sonderen was representing the trio and he is remarkable on stage. He did a great job tweaking out the beat making awkward sounds, it was so raunchy. Gotta love a live set with interesting twitches, even with just one of the trio Martijin was quick on the switch and added bonus effects to the beats. For part of the set perfectly catering to the headbangers he got into some metal n bass. The crowd was absolutely riled up by the sounds unleashed by Noisia. Martijin was so happy to be in Denver, and such a nice guy with strong European accent on the mic saying, "I had a really good time, and I hope you did too." To close out Noisia got into a really elite blend of drum and bass, and Prodigy's "Voodoo People." One of the dopest sets I have witnessed in some time, huge love for Junglists.


I was overwhelmed with the energetic music all night, and it was so exciting. This was the most hype Thursday night I can remember in a while. I need to stop forgetting Thursdays, jokes. Great times with the Rebudz squad and Reload Productions, always bringing out the best talents to Denver. Stay on the ball by following both at those links, they have contests for tickets, also meet and greets, sometimes with pizza! Always so thankful for Emma at Eyediola Photography with such superior images that preserve the sacred visuals of the night. More is coming soon so stay up. Laters.

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Neckbreaker Tour @ Cervantes Other Side (5/21/16) [Review]

Review By: 
jdrightright

Photography By:
Stetson Colt Mathias


The Neckbreaker Tour made a stop at Cervantes Other Side this past Saturday night. Once again Rebudz and Reload Productions came together to bring an awesome display of electronic music. The line-up included local talent Detrace, Coult45, and DJ Fury, as well as Tempest, and Habstrakt, with Dirty Phonics headlining. The moon was full, the Other Side was nearly sold out, and an energetic squad came out to rage.


The room at Cervantes Other Side is super intimate, there is no barricade in the front row so you are right up to the stage. You can basically reach out and touch the artists if you wanted to it's really cool. Rebudz brought out Surreal Laser to add some extra visuals. They had two lasers installed onto pillars on each side of the DJ booth and when the bass dropped the lasers zapped. Out back is a large smoking area with a wooden second stage structure. Early in the night out on the wooden stage, separate from the Neckbreaker Tour show inside, was a group of Christian rappers preach-styling. No one knows why.

Starting off the night was Detrace an up and coming artist representing Denver. He has direct ties to Rebudz and is a resident at Beta Nightclub. Detrace is a smart live DJ and also a very skilled producer, he got things started with some chill and melodic music and throughout his set he ramped up the hype meter slowly. I like how he puts his live sets together, he is very inventive and mixes clever transitions that blend two songs to create a whole new build up. You have to check him out if you haven't already, dude is ahead of the curve.

DJ Fury took the stage next with a special guest MC Dozha and he immediately got the collective heart-rate thumping with drum and bass music. His set also had plenty of dubstep and drumstep drops too, and MC Dozha added a bit of flavor with some freestyles on the mic. Fury always brings a massive arsenal of music, he has been around the electronic music scene for a long time. He is responsible for a lot of the amazing artists that come to Denver. Fury is a pivotal part in the Reload Productions machine, and he never disappoints. This set was extra dirty and dubby, which worked perfect to get the crowd kickin.

Next up was an impressive producer formerly from Colorado but now out in California, Danny Kim aka Tempest. I was able to chat a bit with Tempest and he's a really nice guy, always willing to talk to fans. I thought he might have gotten his DJ name from the old school Nintendo game, but he told me he had never played it. He makes deep dubstep and he put together a bangin live mix. The room started to really fill up during Tempest's set, and he got them all bouncing. Tempest did a lot of sneaky drops, where he would play the build of one song and then drop a much harder track. One drop that was exemplary united Zomboy and Flosstradamus with both drops playing at the same time. Tempest slayed the crowd and they kept coming back for more. 

Coult45 took the controls and layed down a raunchy set with a trapstep, dubstep, and drum and bass. On select Gravity Fridays Coult45 is another DJ you can find at Beta Nightclub. He got his flow started with music from the new Cookie Monsta EP, and the song "Death Wobl." Coult45 used a lot of the new music I love to create this live set, so I stayed right up front. Some of the loudest bass of the whole night came out of Coult45's mix. Lots of finger guns were shot during this set and I was one of the shooters. Coult45 closed out his set with a drum and bass segment which primed the people for Habstrakt.

A special guest headliner Habstrakt from the Never Say Die Records crew joined the Neckbreaker Tour to show Denver how a true house DJ does it. Habstrakt has been pumping out the house beats for years and he is one of the pioneers of the rather popular bass house genre blowing up right now. Habstrakt accidentally cut the music right at the beginning of his set and he said, "Alright, I just made a big mistake, great way to start the night. I've got the biggest headache since 1972!" He is a comical guy on the microphone, and full of dance moves on stage. Habstrakt likes to jump-shift around on stage to the beat, and he makes it look like so much fun to be a DJ. During his set he made a point to shout out some of the producers that created the music he was mixing, producers like Eptic, DJ Snake, and Trampa all got props. Habstrakt spun in between house, dubstep, and bass house mostly but he covered almost everything. One drop in particular cracked me up, he built up to Zomboy's "Like A Bitch" and then right at the drop switched it up to Enya "Only Time." He then yelled out, "Enya!" It was hilarious to see the reaction of the people. To close his set Habstrakt changed gears and spun into some Moombahcore. The whole set was magnetic you had to get up bop around to the beats.







Dirty Phonics was the featured act on the Neckbreaker Tour and they showed us why they are so elite. The band started out as four guys all adding a little something different to their live sets. Just last year Thomas left the band so now it's down to three Charlie, Pitchin, and Pho. For this night it was two of the three Charlie and Pitchin, and they came just as hard as when it was four guys. Charlie was hopping all over the stage and built up a sweat, he showered himself and most of the front row with bottled water throughout the mix. Pitchin mostly stayed in the booth and kept the beats going hard. This was a bit of a different set than I would have expected involving a lot of genres other than drum and bass. Charlie and Pitchin blended into some dubstep, drumstep, bass house, and even trap. They played a new song of theirs still unreleased which crushed, it was a bass house and dub hybrid. The headbangers were going off for Dirty Phonics especially the girls in the front row. There wasn't much time for an encore but the guys made the people headbang with a metal-step track to close. After their set Charlie and Pitchin stayed around and autographed items for the fans, it's such a cool gesture for artists to come out after performing to meet the people who support them.

The Neckbreaker Tour came through with a rowdy night of hard bass. Cervantes Other Side hasn't been that vivacious in a long time. Denver very well may be the Bass Capital when we show out like that. Check out more of the ill photography from Stetsen Colt Mathias, and help me thank him for his visual documentation the night. It takes a special kind of promoter to put these events together, much love goes out to Rebudz and Reload Productions for all they do. More awaits Denver bass fam, stay sharp for show announcements, there are big things ahead.

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Celebrate Eight Years Of Beta Nightclub with Kill The Noise!

Returning to Denver, Kill The Noise sets the standards high for Gravity Fridays this week with Reload Production! Not only does the night taunt you already, this will be the celebration of 8 years with Beta Nightclub and they're ready to do it proper. Grab a friend, grab an enemy, bring them all because this is the show of the year! Sign up for the FREE guest list HERE!

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Bass Rising @ Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom [5/7/16] (Review)

Review By:
jdrightright

Photography By: 
Stetsen Colt Mathias


Saturday night was Bass Rising a bash put on by Rebudz and Reload Productions. The setting was Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom a classic venue for a bass family reunion. For this show the electronic label Disciple was showcased with four of their artists: Dodge & Fuski, Barely Alive, Dubloads, and Astronaut. Also one of the bass bosses from Beta, Shank Aaron; and DJ Contest winner LYZ.i were on the ticket. The building was bouncing for this massive display of wub.


The stage was filled with technology strategically arranged to stimulate the eyes. Two side LED panel walls and a large central panel wall behind the booth provided the graphics. Also four lasers in a trapezoid configuration were installed, two were raised and on each side of the inner panel wall, and two more in the front corners of the stage on the far ends of the two side LED walls. The visual display was stunning from all different angles inside.

Rebudz has been running contests where local Denver producers and DJs submit a thirty minute mix for a chance to open a show, and they had a contest for Bass Rising too. The night got started with the DJ mix contest winner LZY.i and he got the mojo going with moombahton, trap, and a little house. Having these contests is such a cool idea to help get the word out on new local talent, and there is so much of it in Denver. The Masterpiece Ballroom had a number of special guests in the house hanging out backstage too like !Tyro, Decadon, DJ Fury, and more.

Shank Aaron was up next and he always shows out. This night was extra special because his brother and fellow producer Wooli was in town. Shank Aaron brought his brother on stage to let him spin some of his new beats. One of the best parts of the whole night was just after this little back to back section with Wooli and Shank Aaron. They were both put on blast by the graphics guy who displayed a picture of the two as young children on the LED panel walls. It was priceless! Shank Aaron dabbled a bit with what he calls his AYOB music folder, it stands for Ask Your Older Brother. He explained to me that it's the OG dirty dub music, and if you don't recognize it then just ask your older brother because he'll know it. Shank Aaron set a strong tone for the rest of the artists to build off of.

To start the quad dose of Disciple artists was Astronaut and this time both of the guys were in town. Astronaut is made up of Dan and Rossy, two very talented fellas out of the United Kingdom. On stage they keep it proper hype and for this set they got into a lot of bass house. Their set was really energetic, it was impossible not to jump around too. Astronaut does a good job with the switch up drops, setting up one song then dropping another, and then switching back to the prior for the second drop. To conclude they mixed together a trap and dubstep outro leading into their label mate Dubloadz' set.

Never have I seen so many finger guns of bass as I saw Dubloadz shoot. His stage presence was incredible, it was rather entertaining to watch his reactions to the drops. For some parts Dubloadz was reminiscent of a mad scientist holding his hands in weird positions as if to gesture, "It's Alive!" On top of his amazing vibe Dubloadz put together a merciless set, just blasted the room with bass cannons. He got a big reaction to his shout out to Virtual Riot, and then he dropped a collaboration track of theirs just recently released called "Juices." Another memorable part of his set was a mega dope remix of the old Metroid theme. Dubloadz was in rare form, or maybe he's always that spunky, regardless he completely crushed it.

Barely Alive was accompanied by the homies Astronaut and Dubloadz to keep the crowd ablaze to start off. This was such a crisp set, every song sounded intense and three dimensional. Barely Alive has a hard, loud, and mean sound that bullies you into dancing. For the majority of the mix I couldn't smile, it wasn't time for smiling, it was time to rage face. Barely Alive dropped some fresh new music, one track was a collaboration with Habstrakt that is still unreleased. This track was a triple hybrid of styles with a trap build, a dub drop, and a house bridge, I can't wait for it to be released. To close out the set Barely Alive got into more of an electro mode which transitioned nicely into Dodge & Fuski.

For this show it was Rob Talbott from the duo Dodge & Fuski going solo. His mix was the perfect closing blend because he had a little bit of everything to throw at you. The very first thing he did was have the crowd prepare for Dan from Astronaut to stage dive for the first time ever. Right at the first drop Dan dove in the hands of the people and he was carried all the way around the room and neatly placed back on the stage. The whole Disciple crew stayed out around the stage for Dodge & Fuski's set. Since the squad was all chilling a bunch of the people in the crowd got signatures from the Disciple guys and free merch too. Rob was hilarious with little commentary on the mic saying things like "Dubstep is too dry," then mixing right into "International Anthem" by Flux Pavilion. He was laughing as he pounded a hardstyle drop that included samples of what sounded like the character Bricktop from the film Snatch yelling, "Put your hands up cunts!" At the end all the guys from Disciple went out for a curtain call and took a fam photo with all the crowd. Rob went right up until 2:00 AM so when the people screamed for one more song he made a compromise. He said, "I'll give you one more sound." Then Rob just scratched the CDJ pad for a split second and cut it. He is a really funny guy and that was a fitting way to give the people just a little more.

The record label Disciple is fairly new going into it's third year, and everyone affiliated is rapidly advancing the game. Founded by Rob Talbott (Half of Dodge & Fuski) and Rossy Burr (Half of Astronaut) back in 2013. Having sprung off the label Never Say Die there was already a solid foundation from which to grow. Ever since conception they have been making music that is consistently topping the charts.











Twas huge for Rebudz and Reload Productions to bring four of the Disciple artists out for a single show! Much love also goes to Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom for accommodating the ever growing Denver bass fam. Big thanks to Stetsen Colt Mathias for providing excellent images of the night. Next up is a stop from the Neckbreaker Tour with Dirty Phonics, Habstrakt, and many more on May 21st at Cervantes Other Side. Stay tuned for future show announcements too, there is a doozy coming just around the corner!

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Pendulum Brings Their DJ Set To Beta Nightclub Tonight For Gravity Fridays

The long awaited DJ set from Pendulum is finally back at Beta Nightclub tonight for a special night of drum and bass. Lead by Elhornet, the Pendulum Dj set keep the name going while bigger things are at work. Although the legends have made a return, they have yet to announce further dates for full band shows. Providing support for the night is resident Dj Fury going back to back with Mystical Influence & Roxanne. It'll be another great night in Denver so be sure to get your tickets now and come dance with us!

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