Never Say Die Black Label Tour @ Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom in Denver, Colorado (3/4/17) [Review]

Review by:
jdrightright

Photos by:
Emma Ceaglske


Saturday was a highly anticipated night for the rowdy riddim heads of Denver. Together Reload Productions and Rebudz formed like Voltron to bring the people a massive show. The line-up featured the heavy hitters from Never Say Die Black Label: SKisM, Trampa, TrollPhace, and Ponicz. Along with Denver's own !Tyro and contest winner Bloodhound. The place was hot and sticky for such an intense display of dubstep, it was almost to much to handle.


This was the most extensive stage production I have ever seen before at Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom. There were nine lasers all together, two coming from the back of the room to the front, and seven on stage zapping over the crowd. It was a literal river of light flowing in the air just above the people on the main floor. From above on the balcony so many beams were glowing that you could barely see the hundreds of people dancing underneath. Absolutely epic laser show indeed, and you know I love me some lasers.

Starting off the night was DJ mix contest winners Bloodhound. They got it going with a few hundred peeps who made it out right at eight o'clock. Denver has the most dedicated crowds, the guys from Bloodhound were stoked to see such a good turnout so early in the evening. They were hype and got the place in the mood for a night of fire. Bloodhound did a very good job with their live mix keeping it fresh and fitting with the theme of the night, dark bass music.

Next was the homie !Tyro, possibly the most talented producer in Denver and emerging fast in the game. Lately !Tyro has been doing big collabs with his friends and fellow producers like Detrace, Shank Aaron, and for his other project Slabs. For the second half of his set he brought up Detrace for a little impromptu b2b which was proper lit. !Tyro was a perfect way to transition into the Never Say Die Black Label squad, he is probably not far from becoming a part of their crew. His crushing dubstep and creative production will soon lead him to a label like Never Say Die I'm sure of it. The most memorable part of !Tyro's set was where he had the crowd sing along to "Woo Boost" by Rusko. It was hilarious to hear everyone yelling out "Wub, wub, wa, wa, wa, wub wubb." To close out his set !Tyro shared some brand new music which was just straight daggers of bass, so crisp and clear the music stabbed you in the heart.

New to me was Ponicz, one of the amazingly talented guys representing the NSD Black Label. I have never had to privilege to see Ponicz before and what a treat it was. He, like all of the Never Say Die producers, is very clever in how he mixes his live set. Starting off he was sort of melodic and eerie and then all the sudden he pulled out the wubs! Extreme riddim and helicopters through out the course of the set. Well constructed transitions and unpredictable changes, this is another theme of many of the artists SKisM endorses. Anyone can spin some music, but a Never Say Die artist will brilliantly twist it into a whole new feel as only they know how to do. Ponicz fits in well with the NSD Black Label and with talent like his he could headline a tour before long. 

The boss man SKisM took the middle of the rotation, and as always he was essentially flawless. He came out with a track that said the word "mosh" and immediately half of the room turned into a mosh pit. It was incredible to see the energy of the room amplify so quickly. If you don't realize it, you should, SKisM is always the best DJ at the show. He never slips up and always has something you haven't heard yet. Not only that he will create triple and quadruple drops live. You rarely see him with his headphones off for longer than ten seconds, because he is always working to perfect his live mix. It's overwhelming how many drops were packed into his hour on stage! SKisM is a great conductor for the crowd too, he always knows exactly how to bop around and dance to every song he is blending into the set. If you ever feel lost just watch him and he will guide you to where the changes are coming next. He loves to switch out the drop at the last second for a harder one, and he does it so well. To close his set it sounded like SKisM had all four of the CDJs spinning with a massive quad-drop, it was beautiful.

It was now time to go hard, as Trampa took the stage. My god does he know he to get things riled up, after about thirty seconds he had more than half of room moshing again. He yelled out to the crowd, "Hey Denver! Enter that mosh pit right now!" This set was a complete headbangers ball, hair was flying around as were bodies, just utter mayhem through out. Trampa has very fine tuned skills with his live mix, he always kept you guessing what was next. A particular section I remember Trampa built up one song, then right before the drop started a second build up, and when that build was at the peak he switched to a third track for the drop! His style is non-stop drops, just about every thirty seconds it was appropriate to flail extremities. Trampa is a mad man on the decks, a perfect example of the Never Say Die Black Label and just how hard they can go.

Closing out the night was the big man TrollPhace. Right away he addressed the crowd saying, "You know this is the last stop on the tour right? I can't think of a better place to be." TrollPhace slammed on the gas pedal and never let up for his whole hour on stage. He got the mosh pits going again, and was able to match Trampa's intensity with super hard hitting bass. During a section of the set he slowed down and told everyone, "Here's a new future bass song, I hope you'll fux wit." He started to play a melodic build up and then all the sudden; dubstep cannons! TrollPhace gets back on the mic, "Did you think I was fucking serious dude?" We were all trolled live by TrollPhace, absolutely classic! He left the room breathless and couldn't have done a better job closing out the night and the Never Say Die Black Label Tour.

Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom was ablaze after a show like that. This was one of the hottest and sweatiest shows I have ever been to. Partially due to the amazing performers, but also because of the dedicated bass warriors that represent their city in Denver. Let's not forget the superhero promoters that put these events together Rebudz and Reload Productions. Stay up to date with show announcements and contests by following both on all social media platforms. Big props to Emma Ceaglske at Eyediola Photography for capturing such brilliant images for us all to enjoy. Coming up next month you can catch the Hyper Future Tour at the Ogden Theatre with the another chunk of the Never Say Die squad including: Eptic, Must Die!, Gentlemens Club, Shank Aaron and more. Peep the link for tickets. Love and luck to everyone in the Denver bass family, see you all soon. 

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Bass Works @ Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom (7/23/16) [Review]

Review By: jdrightright

Photos By: Stetsen Colt Mathias

Saturday was one of the best concerts I have ever attended. The third annual Bass Works, put on by Rebudz and Reload Productions. This show brought together a huge line-up of hard hitting bass pushers. The ticket included Skism, Must Die!, Virtual Riot, Midnight Tyrannosaurus, Pogman, and also !Tyro. It was sold out and a line wrapped all the way around the building at Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom leading up to doors opening. The place was electric all night and every performer came through with the fire.




The Masterpiece Ballroom was quickly filled up as those in line made their way inside. A custom stage setup was built in order to add visual effects to go with the music. The stage included three LED panel sections, two on the sides and one large wall in the center behind the booth. They were all linked together so images and designs could be displayed as a large wide single piece, or separated and used for three different images. On the sides the two LED panel walls were left open in their centers and inside the openings lasers were installed. The lasers created a river of light just above the crowd with the fields set to hit the areas between the main floor and the balcony. The graphics and laser operators did a great job adding a visual ascetic to enhance the booming mixes.

Promptly at eight o'clock !Tyro took the stage and he went right to work. This was not your typical opening set, and !Tyro is not your typical producer, he goes for the jugular every time! Heavy bass and only the most choice wubs will do in a live !Tyro mix. He brought out the homie Detrace for a little cameo, they have been working on new music together so look for another sick collaboration single to come soon. !Tyro dropped a bunch of killer tracks, one I remember in particular was "Spellbound" by Eptic. As he wrapped up his set !Tyro introduced the next performance, a back to back set by P0gman and Midnight Tyrannosaurus.


As soon as Midnight Tyrannosaurus took the mic everyone grinned. He started off by yelling, "Yoooo Denver! I'm Midnight Tyrannosaurus!! Where my DOOM fans at?" He was met with a rather loud cheer, the Denver bass fam loves him lots. This was an explosive back to back set in which P0gman and Midnight Tyrannosaurus really showed out. P0gman brought his grimiest bass and Midnight Tyrannosaurus too, combined they presented a well balance dose of dub. Almost throughout the entire set Midnight Tyrannosuarus was hilarious to watch, he had some of the deepest headbangs in the room. P0gman is much more technical, but he definitely made it fun bouncing around to the bass. There were lots of spin outs at the drop faking out the people, but this was just to fire up the crowd even more for the next drop sometimes it was the same drop a second time. This was a monster back to back set that got the place hyped up for more.

Next up was a personal favorite, Skism. He is one of the founders of possibly the best dubstep label in the world, Never Say Die Records. He started his set with a raunchy remix of "Like A Bitch" by Zomboy, and everybody put their hands up promptly. Skism is known for his exemplary live mix skills, and he showed those skills off at Bass Works. He puts together brilliant double drops, and for an hour he was just flawless in creating fresh transitions. Skism got into some classic songs like "Experts" and he had an amazing double drop using Flux Pavilion's "I Can't Stop" and another hard banger. One of my favorite things that Skism does is build up to the drop of one song only to switch it up right at the drop with an even better drop. His ability to match up tracks is so elite, everything is put together seamlessly blended. Skism was in boss mode, his set was layed down perfectly, never a dull moment. Huge love for Skism and what he does, one of the greats for sure, in my eyes he is a living legend.

More than anyone else performing at Bass Works the most intriguing for sure was Virtual Riot. He is just now on his very first tour of the United States. This was his first time in the Bass Capital and he was very impressive. Virtual Riot creates a huge variety of stunning electronic music, his productions are incredibly crisp and clean. I have been rocking out to his library of music for a few years now and I anticipated a lot from his live set. He met all expectations with a dynamic live mix jolting the room into a frenzy. Virtual Riot has a clever technique in mixing, he will leak in a little tease of the upcoming track as he is either building or winding down the previous drop. It works well and lets you know what to expect for the next drop. Virtual Riot got into some of his ill drum and bass tracks in the middle of his set as well as some awesome nintendo sounding stuff. He made a point to drop a dubstep remix of the Pokemon theme song as part of his outro section, and that made me smile so big! Virtual Riot will be back to Denver performing at Beta on a special Gravity Friday September 2nd. So if you missed Virtual Riot you have one more shot to see him thanks to Reload Productions. Or maybe like me you want to see him again already, follow the link above for tickets.

Closing out the night was Must Die! He got his set started with some booty poppin music, but soon after he switched it up into hard headbanging bass. Must Die! has a number of label affiliations including OWSLA, Never Say Die, Smog, Firepower, Rotten Recordings and more. He has a lot of style in his productions and in the live mixes he puts together. Must Die! has been on the scene for a number of years now, but for me he really took off after his album Death & Magic dropped back in 2014. Some of the music Must Die! makes can be described as two robots arguing, and I love to eavesdrop on a good robot argument. To close the set Must Die! mixed into his remix of the song "Emotional" by Flux Pavilion. What a perfect way to end the night, because it was emotional, lots of feels were shared with good friends.

Once again Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom provided a wonderful setting to get sweaty with the Denver bass family. Rebudz and Reload Productions really overdid themselves with this line-up! The show sold out before the event, and if you ask me I'm surprised it didn't sell out earlier with how much firepower they came with! Stay on top of the Rebudz and Reload Productions social media outlets for future show announcements, I heard there is a doozy coming up! Big love to everyone who made this such a badass show.

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MUST DIE! - "Project Ghost" - Song of the Day - [6/26/15]

MUST DIE! has one of the hardest songs out there with "Project Ghost." From the album Death and Magic comes a mean dubstep song that is sure to stick in your head for a while. No time is wasted getting to the drop, just a few samples from a speak and spell and then boosh! MUST DIE! will be a Beta Nightclub tonight in Denver along with LAXX and SKisM for a huge Never Say Die Records throw-down.

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SKisM - "Experts" - Song of the Day - (10/25/14)

You can't mess with SKisM, the guy is an electronic music mogul. He's one of the founders of Never Say Die Records and an incredibly talented producer too. His label has some of the best producers represented including - Zomboy, Eptic, HeRobust, Far Too Loud, LAXX, Habstrakt, Megalodon, and more. This song "Experts" is a hard dubstep jam, a perfect representation of what SKisM is all about. He likes it mean and grimey, although still with high production quality and amazing bass. Go check out the Official Never Say Die Website for new music and touring information from their team of sicko producers.

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501 - "And It Begins" - Song of the Day - [9/6/14]

501 rips it up on this song "And It Begins". If you haven't heard of 501 before you are in for a treat, he is a very unique producer and he is affiliated with two of the best record labels in electronic music. I first heard 501 from Skrillex through his Mothership show on satellite radio, he dropped the 501 remix of Zedd's "Shave It" and I had to hear more. 501 gained a large following from his EP called Headrush / Falling Skies a huge release on Never Say Die Records back in March of 2012. This song "And It Begins" comes from the Beat The System EP also put out by Never Say Die Records in October of 2013. For more awesome 501 music get on his official soundcloud page here.

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