Bass Control @ Summit Music Hall in Denver, Colorado (Review) [11/11/17]

 
Review By: jdrightright

Photos By : Stetsen Colt Mathias


Saturday night was full of astounding performances by a group of elite producers representing the Disciple record label. This was the annual Bass Control show held by Rebudz and Reload Productions. This year the venue was Summit Music Hall in Denver, Colorado. There was a line out the door around the block and almost all the way to Market street before doors opened at 8pm. Everyone came to get rowdy and no one was let down, the place was thumping all night.


The Summit Music Hall is a dope venue with a lot of room to dubstep and a nice open concept, as Randy Marsh would say. There is a small kitchen with pizza and other food for the patrons to purchase during shows. The balcony provides an excellent view of the entire stage from nearly all vantage points. Summit has a powerful sound system which is fine tuned to the specific performances for any kind of music from punk rock to electronic.

The stage production was fairly simple for this show but rather effective. There was one large LED panel wall behind the DJ booth displaying an array of clever visuals. Along with the stage lights were 2 full color lasers installed below the DJ booth in the front and angled upward to hit the gap between the balcony and the main dance floor. This created a nice river of beams above those on the main floor and below the balcony. Much of the night was illuminated by the Disciple label icons, and the logos of the individual performers. One addition to the stage production was a group of go-go dancers, all fashioned in black gear. The girls kept the people on point and danced well to the music for certain segments of the show.

The first producer on stage was Myro and he got it started with an OG set. He got into some classic wobbles, with songs from Circus Records like Doctor P's Big Boss, Roksonix's Music In Me, and some Flux Pavilion too. He ramped up the intensity through out his set and he did a great job to open the night. Myro was a new one for me to see live, but I am pretty sure he will be around for a while with his killer style. Before you knew it a change was being made and Myro did a good job introducing his friend and label mate Dodge & Fuski.















I'm definitely always stoked to see Dodge & Fuski, now just a one man band, but he has built a brand and the name remains the same. Right away when he got on stage he asked Myro, "Have you played this song yet?" When Myro told him he had not played it Dodge goes, "Okay, good. Let's fucking do this!" Dodge & Fuski got into some of his fire tracks like Yeti and Big Riddim Martian and accordingly everyone yelled "Yo Dodge!" Lot of headbangers in the front row did their best to keep pace with the beat by flinging their hair synchronized to the drop, it was fun to watch.


Next a new artist off my bucket list was Oolacile. He has been coming on strong lately for Disciple with a ton of releases and collaborations. He started with a custom introduction made for his set, and the people perked up as he got to the drop. Oolacile goes hard af, lots of people were wide mouthed yelling and screaming to the bass. His set could be described as a riddim video game, but he really has a unique flow to his set. Disciple is adding amazing talent to their squad all the time example, Oolacile.


Probably my favorite producer right now was the next in line to awe the people. That being Virtual Riot, a young guy with immense production talent. He's only 23 years old but he already has 7 years in the game and he has continued to stay on the cutting edge the whole time! Virtual Riot is very versatile with his live sets, I have seen him about 5 times now live and he always comes with the freshest music in multiple sub-genres. He got into some bass house dropping a raunchy Chicken Soup remix, and Joyryde's Hari Kari along with a bunch of sneaky underground bangers. I try to make a point to see Virtual Riot every chance I get, and now that he has been touring the US he has been coming to the Bass Capital a lot.

Next up on stage was Barely Alive, another bass slayer. We are so spoiled with good music in Denver and Barely Alive comes to town every few months. He always brings a very crispy set with a ton of new music to share. Barely Alive had one section where he started with Van Halen's Jump and then, just at the right point, he switched up into the illest dubstep drop. He is great at change up drops and sneaky blends during his live performances. For this show Barely Alive was not rocking his angry eyes TV helmet, just all natural bass face. He has no reason to be shy, we all adore him here in Denver.

Closing out the night was crowd favorite and audible mad scientist Dubloadz. He came out and immediately asked, "You guys want to hear a brand new one I made with Datsik!?" We all screamed yes. He then said, "You are the first fucking people ever to hear this live!" Got to love that, and my god was this some heavy stuff. Dubloadz proceeded to crush out a very wonky set with nice chunky bass drops. He did a bunch of good video game sounding beats, one was straight up Sonic the Hedgehog theme. Dubloadz seems to always have a great time hanging in Denver for shows. Towards the end of his set he got back on the mic and said, "I fucking love Denver. Let's get really dubsteppy for these last ten minutes." We all agreed, and one last burst of energy went through the crowd. Dubloadz had a very deep outro with some stretchy bass and then he slowed it all the way down and out.

This was a very successful night for Rebudz and Reload Productions. Once again coming through with some of the heaviest hitters in electronic music. The bass fam was famished after a long night of dub steppin. Summit Music Hall was a perfect place to get together and break necks with friends. Coming up soon is another one for Rebudz and Reload productions as they have Monxx and Synoid at Cervantes Other Side on November 25th check the link for tickets. Big ups to my homie and splendid photographer Stetsen Colt Mathias for his dazzling images of the night. Thanks for all the vibes everyone, see you next time.

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Megalodon with Twine, Dack Janiels, and Coult45 @ Summit Music Hall (Review) [7/3/16]

Review By: 
jdrightright

Photos By: 
Stetsen Colt Mathias



Summit Music Hall was rowdy this weekend for a big show put on by Amplitude Presents. The line-up was essentially a triple headlined event including Dack Janiels, Twine, and Megalodon. Also Coult45 was in the house to ramp up the hype, and two lucky contest winners were also added to open the doors; Freddie Rule and Coenica.


This was my first time at the Summit Music Hall, and it was impressive. The place maxes out at about 1,400 people including the balcony. The room is set up with excellent vantage points from nearly every position in the building. When you walk in the front door you are in the back of the room next to a long two sided bar island. As you enter the room further towards the stage the floor tiers down so the people in the back of the room can see over top of those closer to the front. To one side there is a small seated kitchen area that serves pizza, burgers and other snacks. At the beginning of the night the balcony was closed and it was mostly used as an area to display the laser fields zapped out by two full color lasers installed on stage. The lasers were mounted high on pillars and angled upward to safely display the powerful beams. Later in the night the balcony was opened and the laser crew made some adjustments so that the people up there would not be in the field of the lasers. Also to add to the visuals a LED graphic wall was assembled in front of the booth in a semi-circle, mostly used to display the logos of the DJs. Summit Music Hall was close to being sold out, but even so, with how the room is layed out there are plenty of spots to view the stage without having to cram into a small space.

Starting out the night were the two DJ mix contest winners, Freddie Rule and Coenica. Freddy Rule got things started off on a chill note, and built up to some melodic dub. Then Coenica took the stage and they started to get things a bit more rowdy getting into some glitch-hop and dubstep beats. Coenica consists of Braydon Drell (The Philosopher), and Alex Williams (Baby). This was a great way to start the night and also get the word out on some fresh up and coming talent.

Denver favorite Coult45 was up next with an extended set going for an hour and a half. Not a problem for a pro like him, he is used to getting the room poppin off at Beta Nightclub right across the street from Summit Music Hall. The room really started to fill up when Coult45 came on, he always has the illest music to drop in his sets. One track he mixed in served as a shout out to the homie !Tyro, another awesome Denver producer. Coult45 has been doing a lot of studio work mixing and mastering new original tracks and remixes too. Definitely keep your eye on Coult45 he always has the club goin up.

Next on the decks was Dack Janiels and he slayed from start to finish. He started out by asking, "Where my fucking stoners at?" This had the whole place screaming right off the bat. Dack Janiels had the headbangers flailing hair and breaking necks to the bass. Dack Janiels has ties to the Never Say Die Black Label, Rottun Recordings, 40oz Cult and a bunch of other hard bass labels. He threw shout outs to a bunch of badass producers including, Habstrakt, Figure, and Dubloadz during his set as he dropped music he made in collaboration with them. Dack Janiels put together a massive bass set with huge energy and it made the room sizzle!

Dack Janiels introduced Twine and he didn't miss a beat, he just went straight into a monster dubstep mix. Twine is another artist with multiple record label affiliations including OWSLA, Disciple, Monstercat, SMOG, and more. Twine lets the music do the talking, he is very relaxed and technical while creating his live mix on stage. Every now and then Twine would direct the people and dance along to the beat, but for the most part he just stayed on point. Twine closed out his set with an incredibly hard ten minutes of filth, he dropped music from Excision and he had everyone putting their X's up to salute.

The final set of the night was from Megalodon a raunchy dub-stepper representing the one and only Never Say Die Records. He pumped out the loudest bass and the dopest new music of the night. Megalodon is on the cutting edge of hard bass music, and that's why he was trusted to put together the most recent Never Say Die Black Label compilation XL 3. The compilation includes tracks from Dack Janiels, xKore, a few Megalodon songs of course, and much more. On stage Megalodon is very animated, he bounces around and keeps the energy off the charts. He had to shout out the bass house boss Jauz as he dropped a brand new song they did together called "Shark Attack". A mosh-pit accompanied the majority of Megalodon's set right in the center of the dance floor. The bass was pounding so hard that the CDJ's were shifting and nearly falling off the table in the booth! Megalodon crushed it and the people went hard right up until the last wub.

What a night, heavy bass echoed through my head for hours afterwards! Summit Music Hall was a perfect place to rage, I hope to attend many more shows there with the growing posse. Thanks again to Stetsen Colt Mathias for capturing an exciting photo album of the night. Huge props go out to Amplitude Presents for bringing this gargantuan line-up together. They are an elite squadron in the Denver bass family who always brings the heat. Make sure to follow Amplitude Presents on Facebook for show announcements and contests to win free tickets.

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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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