Social The Live Show Review Thread

Thizzerfershizzer said:
The 5/10 on justice I can agree with, but why the boot on HARD? It was a really nice event IMO. Music was awsome, crowd was great (they were actually there for the music rather than there to get fucked up), and there wasnt a crazy mini-riot like there was at HARD Summer! IMO HHM kicked some ass.
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I just had a hard time with security. They were real assholes to us. Anyways, I could have swore I saw Deadmau5 played that night. I remember seeing him walking around. I also wish they had a wider selection of music.
 
Hard time with security?!?! Security was extremely cool that night!!! They kinda stayed out of everyone's way. I never once had a problem with them, nor did I see anyone else having one.

and yes Deadmau5 was a special guest that night. His set was whatever, IMO not as good as the first time I saw him. I left after the first two songs and went to see 2manydj's who rocked the house for the second night in a row.
 
Acid Eiffel said:
perhaps you could type out a review?
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my bad

Pretty Lights
10/10

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljdn72EbvY8

Absolutely jaw droppingly amazing show. From the moment derek vincent smith (producer man behind the midi's XD) stepped on stage and start tearing it up, I could not stop dancing. He played around a 3 hour set, with many songs spanning all of his albums, including several remixes (DOA, MIA paper planes (or w.e) and possibly others XP). And to top off his amazing emotionally filled music, there is an absolutely amazing light show going on, with a huge LED screen behind derek and then the lights scanning the crowd and what not. Enough to melt even a sober persons face off. The energy never let up either, he kept that whole place bouncin till like 2 in the morning, and he couldve kept going. The worst part of the night, me and my friends all agreed, was when the music stopped playing.

Also

Bassnectar
9/10

The only reason i give him a 9 for the show i saw, was the base wasnt as intense as i had hoped. But that wasnt his fault it was how they had set up his system. Other than that, he had nosaj thing open for him who left with snoop doggs gin and juice, which just fucking set the perfect mood. Then bassnectar entered stage left and the raging began. He also played around a 3 hour set, that everyone in the venue was bouncing to. Actually bouncing so much i could literally feel the dance floor moving up and down (no i wasnt THAT fucked up where it was just me XP). Again absolutely amazing energy and vibes, definately will see again. And he too has a pretty sweet backdrop and light show XP, his visual effects people do a good dude makin the backdrop video on the fly

heres a video from that night too...bassnectar comes on at around 4 minutes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mV6lGtciSjs
 
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^ Bassnectar is hit or miss for me. I've seen him blow the roof off, but I've left before his set was over, I was so disappointed. You're lucky you got a good set.
 
^ huh, to each their own, i've never seen a bassnectar performance I haven't liked.
 
Alright everyone, here's my review of the line up of HARD NYE (Destructo, DJ Mehdi, A-Track, and Boys Noize)

Destructo
4/10

Only reason I put him up here was just so I could go over every artist of the night and to let everyone know he is an artist that can be missed. He's booked for every HARD event because he helps run the show, so you'll see him if you attend a HARD event. Personally I think its great they have him open up the show as it gives everyone time to get water, go to the bathroom, and it gives you the option to show up a little late so you dont have to wait in line for hours. His DJing skills are lacking. I gave him a 4/10 for song selection really.

DJ Mehdi
6.5/10

Mehdi started slow but by the end of the set I was wanting more. He started off with some minimal-esque music which he let carry on for a bit longer than he should have, however after 30 minutes (of his 2hr set) he started to get with it and it started to liven up a bit. One thing I didnt really like was the fact that he did two drops that were identical to his holiday set he put out on his podcast. While the drop was nice and the songs were great, I didnt like the fact that he didnt think up a new way to drop the two songs. Kinda felt lazy IMO. Overall thought it was a good set. Song selection was good, mixing was good, vibes were great, and I would love to see him again.

A-Track
8/10

Ive seen A-Track three times now (including this event) and I must say this was the best out of all three. His song selection was amazing, spinning everything from bangin' electro, to bangin' hip hop (he played bigger than hip hop by dead prez which made my night!). The vibe the entire time was absolutely fantastic and I was in such ecstasy due to his set (or maybe it was the amazing MDMA I was on ;)). His spinning was great; he seemed to really be on point that night. Usually i'm kinda "whatever" on him and if I see him on a bill of an event I plan on going I just see it as kind of a bonus but im never too excited about it, but I must say, after that performance i'd deffinitely be excited to see him on the bill of an upcomming event!

Boys Noize
9/10

This was also my third time seeing Boys Noize, and he absolutely murdered it. The entire set was absolutely mind melting production wise, and mixing wise. The man really knows how to put on a great show - even with one of this CDJ's breaking 10 minutes into his set lol. The first time I saw Boys Noize he was great, but not mindmelting, and the second time I saw him he was just "alright", but this time he was absolutely amazing. Much like A-Track, he was at the top of his game that night. I now have a craving to see him again and most definitely will the next time he runs through SoCal.
 
Glad to hear boys noize represented for you. A-track seems to be growing on me too at the moment. Boys noize is playing in brisbane australia late in feb, so keeeeen!
 
I saw Jogger, Two Fresh, and Daedelus a couple weeks ago. Also on the bill was Auto Body and Wyllys. It was the after-party for an Umphrey's show so the crowd was nice size but since it was a small venue, the place wasn't too packed. Also, since it was an electronic show most of the Umphrey's frat fans didn't come. However, it did provide a bit of comedy watching some of the eddie-bauer, sweater-around-the-neck outfitted ones make gasfaces at the sounds coming from the speaker, the MIDI controllers, and crowds' dance moves for several hours. I attended the show w/out the aid of any party favors except my good friend Mary.

Jogger was first. They are a 2 piece from LA consisting of a guitar player and a gentleman working loops and controllers. Many of the songs had great indie rock guitar and vocal parts that were frequently interrupted by poorly synched breakcore style drum tracks. Some of the synth sounds were shoegazy-type pads and stuff but overall, it was a disaster. The only ones into it were the grossest of wooks and some gal who later admitted that she was "tripping bawlz, maaaaan." 1/2 way through the first song I thought to myself "This is one of those garage bands that needs to stay in the garage." Their songwriting, guitar playing, and vocal melodies are great but brought down by the electronics. 3/10

Two Fresh were next. I first read about them on Ana Sia's blog and since she recommended their "Baker's Dozen" album and normally selects tracks that fit my preferences I checked them out. From what I understand, these two beat-making twins from North Carolina have been gaining recognition. I was underwhelmed by their album but after seeing them lwith a live drummer warmed up to them a bit. The beats definitely have some boom-bap but were still pretty roughly done. It is not their studio proficiency but their enthusiasm for what they do that makes the live show fun. Watching them play, it became obvious that they put their all into their music and I believe this will help them improve greatly in the next several years. I look forward to seeing them next year and observing their growth as musicians. The highlight of their set was the drummer, who left little room for improvement. In fact, he enhanced their performance by a factor of about 7. His timing was spot on. His hi-hat stickwork and sense of syncopation over the beats was really well developed. As a drummer, I really appreciated seeing him play. 6/10

Daedelus was who I really came to see though. He played an energetic set that had everyone dancing (except the frat fans). They just continued drinking their 64 calorie beer and making disgusted faces. For those unfamiliar with Daedelus, he uses a monome controller, which is really interesting to watch. He played for about an hour and a half and throughout the set alternated between electro, house, pop, classical, and dubstep; many times doing multiple bars of one style and laying 4 bars of different styles over the first track one right after the other. So for example, he'd start with a 4x4 house rhythm and wait for the bass drop, go for four more bars of the house rhythm and then introduce a dubstep rhythm track for 4 measures, breakbeats for 4 measures, followed by a 8 bar classical interlude, and pick up with the house rythm again. The rhythm and tempo changes and their accompanying coherence or dischord made it feel like listening to the EDM equivalent of math rock. It was a good time. He's also a really friendly guy. 8/10

I left after Daedelus feeling relatively satisfied that the show was worth the price of admission. If anything, not just for the music but for a crowd that wanted to dance, face-making frat boys, and the laughs accompanying some gal's sales pitch insisting that the transformers, barts, and obamas she was pushing were the shit. A 6/10 experience.
 
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DJ sets

KR!Z 10/10 dec2009
He had a hard & dark techno set and I don't mean hard techno, because the BPMs were below 140BPM, absolutely amazing selection of music and superb DJing skills!

Marco Remus 8/10 feb2009
Good hard techno artist, with good mixing (and production) skills and a phenomenal unquestionable German touch.

Pet Duo 10/10 dec2008
The best hard techno set that I've heard so far, a must "see".

Felix Kröcher 4/10 apr2009
Good at DJing but a totally crap selection of music... schranz/hard techno was so much better then the minimal stuff he plays these days.

Cristian Varela & Bando 10/10 apr2009
I think they played on 6 decks, anyways absolutely amazing techno set! Can't wait to hear them again in the future.
edit: I'm almost sure they played on 4 decks :)
 
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Im quite envious of you that you got to see Felix Krocher. Ive wanted to see him for such a long time but he never leaves Eastern Europe. :(
 
latac said:
Cristian Varela & Bando 10/10 apr2009
I think they played on 6 decks, anyways absolutely amazing techno set! Can't wait to hear them again in the future.
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I'd love to see Varela - his 'Intecnique .02' mix CD is amazing!!! Glad you enjoyed him!!!
 
Thizzerfershizzer said:
Im quite envious of you that you got to see Felix Krocher. Ive wanted to see him for such a long time but he never leaves Eastern Europe. :(
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If you love minimal than sure, but if you think he's the (good) old kröcher than you are in for a terrible surprise. :\


I'll add more to the list later, It's been a busy year (+30 parties). =D
 
I like both, so I guess it's all good ;)

His Palazzo mix was amazing, and his recorded stuff is sooooo good. I was blasting High Pressure just a few days ago :D
 
Thizzerfershizzer said:
I like both, so I guess it's all good ;)

His Palazzo mix was amazing, and his recorded stuff is sooooo good. I was blasting High Pressure just a few days ago :D
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well to bo honest, the main problem of his set was he was performing after varela&bando, in 4 or 5 in the morning... you just can't go from proper techno to minimal... It bores the hell out of people, IMHO.
 
James Ruskin - aug 2009
8/10 Good darkish-techno, amazing set

Billy Nasty - aug 2009
9/10 Techno

Ben Sims, Space DJz, A.Paul - nov 2009
I was totally fucked up, all I can say it was amazing, A.Paul a lot of his new (good) production, Ben Sims (is there anything more to say?) and Space DJz with their jackin' UK techno!
 
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MstrKrft - 3/10
Milwaukee - The Rave November 7 2009

The tracklisting was horrible, the few songs of theirs that I really enjoy they didn't play. In fact they only played 1 of there own songs. 1 trainwreck and the opening djs had way more people dancing than Mstrkrft (who was headlining) I was very dissapointed when DJ Funk was able to surpass them easily that night.
 
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Paul Langley 10/10 jan2010
A mix between jackin' and hard techno (schranz) really good if you like the harder styles of techno...
 
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Bryan Jones - 9/10
some small warehouse in los angeles (01/23/10)

The venue was small and it was intimate atmosphere with only the true house lovers. Bryan played a damn good set last night. A nice mix of some jackin house with a touch of funk and soul. He sure knows how to tear it up on the decks. Not only can this guy mix, he's a great producer too.
 
latac, you get some pretty kickass bookings down there.
 
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