Social The Live Show Review Thread

Saw Feed Me on Tuesday, best night of my life!

I just wanted to spread the love with my fellow BL'ers, if any of you have the chance to go to a show of his, I'd recommend dropping all prior engagements and going. He has more energy, passion, talent, and control of the crowd than any producer I've seen. And the set, needless to say, was mind blowing! I've always yearned for a more fulfilling experience in the US rave scene after hearing so many stories from close friends about the EDM culture in the UK, and I think this was the closest anyone I could have gotten. It was such an overstimulating and euphoric time, I literally didn't think the 6 tabs of acid I dropped had worked until I walked out of the show. Words continuously fail me in capturing the perfection of it. I can honestly say that if I had to pay as much as I would have to for an Ultra ticket and it was just three days of Feed Me, I'd gladly buy one for myself and a friend.
 
What other shows have you seen recently? I gotta say I wasn't impressed by Feed Me when I saw him at Lollapalooza.
 
Jon Huang / J. Phlipp / Claude Von Stroke @ The Mid, Chicago, IL

Cajual Rercords affiliate Jon Huang started things out. I had not heard him play before but he was a very good opener. He warmed up the dancefloor with some nice jackin house blended with a slightly progressive edge. The tempo was just right to get things moving without wearing out the crowd. The set moved well, building and releasing tension in all the right places, and the band dynamics stayed even; no huge drops or bass face moments, just funky house designed to move bodies.
7.5/10

J. Phlipp took over the decks next and dramatically switched styles from jackin house to jukin', bass-heavy, footwork-type tracks that jumped between 4x4, half-time, and moombahton riddimesque. The track selection was not bad but I didn't care for all the rhythms she dropped. Her style, on the other hand, brought the party to life. The way she'd slowly build into the next drop without using the same "roll through the beat repeat values" technique was refreshing. Through a combo of looping, filtering, and sample dropping, she'd built to each climax and finally blow up the club with the most bass-heavy parts of each track, then break it all down and do it again. She worked the crowd into a frenzy for about an hour and a half until the headliner appeared.
8/10

Claude Von Stroke seamlessly took over the decks and kept the momentum Phlipp built going until the lights came on. It is easy to tell that CVS enjoys his work simply by watching and listening to him play. He never lost his smile and interacted really well with the crowd. His set contained the expected bass-heavy, funkier, pared-down, side of modern tech-house. Driving 16th note hi-hat rhythms were absent but there was a whole lot of ticking hats on the upbeat to keep things funky while morphing, jumping, basslines put crazy expressions on everyone's faces. The best part of the night came when CVS dropped Ganja Cru's "Super Sharp Shooter". I heard the beginning vocal and it brought me right back to the mid 90's. For a moment, I felt like the oldest head in the building. I took a look around and suspect that I may have been but that's okay. I felt like I was 18 all over again.
8.5/10

The venue was pretty decent too. Security was friendly and respectful. There was not as much room to dance directly in front of the booth as I would have liked but I found a nice spot off to the side to groove. Most importantly, the sound system there was absolutely stellar and the overall vibe that night was fantastic.
 
Nero at House of Blue in Atlantic city 12/17/11
Rating: 5/10
One of the worst..no the worst show I've been to by far. Only the shorter guy from nero was there, and he played for about an hour and 10 minutes. No light show, no enthusiasm while mixing...just a dreadful show. Only good part was that I've never rolled harder in my life, but that didnt even make up for it.

Best shows were all at electric forest 2011, 10/10 for everything, wont even try to describe that place with words.

Bassnectar 10/10 rating all 3 times Ive seen him, simply and amazing artist especially live. Blows my mind every time.

Deadmau5 10/10. I HATE his music but i went with my friends and tripped on some foxy methoxy. One of the best times of my life, the light show and his talents are unmatched despite his music being not that great when not live. It was actually much better live, and Ive started to appreciate him a little bit more for his music.

Excision 10/10. Ive seen him 3 times, nothing compares to the raw energy and filthiness of an excision show, simply amazing. Never skanked harder in my life.

Borgore 7/10. Terrible dj but he got the crowd going, good vibes and energy, was a pretty fun time despite his not so great music.

Flux/doctor P 7/10. Reallllly fun show, flux sucks at DJing, but Doctor P saved the show by absoultely killlllling it. Would definitely see then again.

Pretty lights 9/10. At electric forest...one of the better shows there, simply amazing shit, had everyone grooving hardcore as midnight came for 4th of july.

Tiesto 6/10. at electric forest...was tripping far too hard to enjoy it, and he was shit in comparison to the string cheese incident who blew my mind before tiesto came on.

Electric zoo...afrojack 7/10 not such great music, but had amazing vibes/energy, one of the best vibes ive felt. armin van buuren 5/10-cool light show and confetti, but i just think his music is boring. mimosa 8/10-guys got talent and killllled it even at 1pm.

Dirtyphonics/Funtcase/liquid stranger 100000/10. (10/10) best fucking show ive ever seen. Funtcase is absolutely FILTHY, guy is insane and had me dancin like a mofo. Then dirtyphonics comes on and absolutely MURDERS it. Never seen so much energy in a crowd before, definitely my favorite show. Everyone i talked to that went agreed it was the best night ever. SEE DIRTYPHONICS. One of them pulled me on stage cause i said it was my birthday and let me stage dive, great night.

too many shows to review, but the best...imo..are excision, dirtyphonics, anyone off of circus records, bassnectar, and deadmau5 (for the experience not the music).
 
Rusko
Congress Theater, Chicago, IL
NYE
3/10

Okay I'll keep this short and sweet. With all the DJs/Groups that were playing in Chicago on NYE this is the show that all my friends decided to go to. I wasn't very excited at all for it to begin with but with everyone I knew going I felt like I had to. I got there about 9:30 the security wasn't as bad as I had expected, I've heard and experienced how hardcore the security can be there. I go out on the floor and the first thing I notice is the shit sound. I sounded to me like the opening DJs were just being played on the PA and was as loud as the songs that they play before sets or at the set break. This is a big deal to me because If I can't feel the music I won't be able to get into the music. It was the first of three(?) opening acts. They played some decent dub and some great house to get everyone going. I got over the sound problems and the crowd problems and allowed myself to get into the music. I danced and grooved for about an hour, until I looked at my phone and realized that it was almost midnight and Rusko was no where in sight. So about ten till midnight they kill the last opening act, and gave us dead air That's right DEAD AIR! no PA music no flashing lights to keep us all going. NOTHING! We all stood there waiting for 9 min till Rusko came out and immediately did the count down. It was so anti climatic that it was sickening, this along with all these goddamn teenie boppers pushing and just not giving a fuck about anyone else. I was actually starting to really get into the last DJ before Rusko but once they killed all the "vibe" that was it for me. I had lost the will to give this DJ/show a chance. I watched that balloons fall and all that jazz then I got out of the floor. I spent the rest of the night wandering around the vip & balcony area just wanting to go home. Then to top it off Rusko played 90min and thats it, he didn't even take us all the way to the end of the night. (shaking my head) The only good thing that happened that night was the few drum & bass songs Rusko played but they were short lived and still somewhat uninspiring. Fuck Rusko's (NYE performance) and Fuck the Congress (I've given them so many chances and every time I go there I never want to go back) I should have gone to the Disco Biscuits :(
 
SleepingTaper said:
The only good thing that happened that night was the few drum & bass songs Rusko played but they were short lived and still somewhat uninspiring. Fuck Rusko's (NYE performance) and Fuck the Congress (I've given them so many chances and every time I go there I never want to go back)
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To make a bad event even worse, a girl got gangraped that night outside of the Congress. She didn't have ID so her crew went in w/out her, leaving her to find her own way home. Apparently, some vicious pervs got her before a cab did. I wouldn't be surprised if it was drunken V-Live patrons that did it.
 
One of my friends saw Rusko recently and said that he got on the mic and some point during his set and said in his English accent "If anyone has some puhhhcocets or oxxy-contin, please come to the stage". I don't remember what show this was but ew. Judging by your review of his gig the drugs and fame are getting the best of him.
 
^ That was on indentity tour in Atlanta. A few of my friends went to Rusko and were so dissapointed... and that rape thing is just so terrible, I was tearing up just reading the sun times article. I am kind of drunk right now :) So I will write my report of how amazing big Gigantic was tomorrow.... along with a few others (Digitalism, Caspa, Gigantic Underground Conspiracy which is marc and aron from disco biscuits, dom and jeremy from big G, chris from conspirator, and ben from underground orchestra). Thanks for the report on Rusko man! Hope everyone had an amazing new years.
 
night one of lights all night was the most amazing experience of my life. i had never been to a festival/massive before. i got there right when dada life was playing and they put on a great early set. then i took 2 mda tabs and randomly saw a good girl friend of mine and we stayed together the whole night. i got really fucked up and didn't know who was playing or what time it was but i was just getting lost in the music, it didn't matter what was playing. then flux pavilion came on and me and my girl got all the way to the front and she grinded on me the whole time. flux pavilion completely murdered the night. i would do anything to go back.
 
|>R()|)!G/-\|_ said:
To make a bad event even worse, a girl got gangraped that night outside of the Congress. She didn't have ID so her crew went in w/out her, leaving her to find her own way home. Apparently, some vicious pervs got her before a cab did. I wouldn't be surprised if it was drunken V-Live patrons that did it.
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Wow that sound fucked up and what's a V-Live patron.
 
STS9 New Years Eve Run (12/27/11, 12/29/11, 12/31/11)

12/27/11
Set 1: Tap In > Equinox, Mischief of a Sleepwalker, Dance > Inspire Strikes Back, Squares & Cubes, Ramone & Emiglio, Hubble

Set 2: 4 Year Puma > Kaya > Open E, And Some Are Angels, Evasive Maneuvers > Kamuy, Monkey Music > Moonsockets

Encore: STS9

9/10 - The first night of a five night new years run at the Tabernacle and holy shit did they start it up right. No laptops or pads for this show just the tribe and their instruments. They dug into a lot of really old material for this show which was a super nice treat. Great crowd, great vibes, A++

12/29/11
Set 1: NIN > Tooth, F. Word, Lo Swaga, We'll Meet In Our Dreams > Jebez, Hi-Key, Oil & Water, Wika Chikana

Set 2: Really Wut?, Beyond Right Now, Peaceblaster 68 > Peaceblaster 08, Gobnugget > Grizzly, Orbital > Simulator, NewNew 4UU

Encore:Water Song

9/10 - Was hoping for a possible axe the cables set on this night but alas it didn't come to be. Still a killer show, the peaceblasters sent me right back to Rothbury 2009 and beyond right now, gobnugget, jebez, and grizzly were all some of the best versions I've ever heard of those songs. All in all a great tribe show but I've seen and heard way better from them.

12/31/11-1/1/12
Set 1: Artifact, New song, ABCees, Inspire Strikes Back, King Pharaoh's Tomb, Circus, Vapors > Aimlessly

Set 2: Countdown > Auld Lang Syne > 20-12, Scheme (reworked), EHM, Breathe In, When the Dust Settles, Arigato, Moonsocket > Instantly, Rent

Encore 1: Shock Doctrine
Encore 2: The Spectacle

11/10 - Past perfection. Could not have asked for anything more. Oh man, seriously epic in every sense of the word. I really don't even know what to say after that, the setlist really explains everything. They were on FIRE, I mean seriously they came out and did it like nobody else can. Every song was reworked and absolutely perfected. The countdown was epic and hearing them play 20-12 in the first moments of 2012 was just absurd. I shed tears during this performance...and danced my ass off like I haven't in a while =D I get mad chills just thinking about it. Hell yeah!!!
 
levictus said:
Wow that sound fucked up and what's a V-Live patron.
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V-Live is a nightclub notorious for attracting the sort of guys that stock up on roofies like I stock up on groceries. It's located about 1 block away from Rusko's venue.
 
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chitown rollin said:
and that rape thing is just so terrible, I was tearing up just reading the sun times article.
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Your not the only one. I found out about that story just after posting my review and it made me sick to my stomach. I am ashamed to even have been a part of that show/environment. I really hope that those assholes that were a part of this get what they have coming to them.
 
Haven't seen too many acts but these are most of what I;ve seen

Excision twice, both times were absolutely massssssive. He really knows how to get the crowd going. Probably one of my favs. Even if you don't like dubstep I think anyone can have a lot of fun at one of his shows. 10/10

Datsik - Another heavy dubstep dj, similar to excision in style. His Shambhala set was fantastic, if only he would release the set! 8/10

Bassnectar - His set at Shambhala was something else...hard to describe how amazing it was. Could have been the drugs...could have been the people, the atmosphere but nothing compares. Saw him again at an all ages show and he was good as he always is. I like that he attracts metal heads as well, but don't really like the mosh pit thing going on at some of his shows // skrillex shows. 10/10

Smash Gordon - If you're into straight up HEAVY bass and wobble then go to a smash gordon show, hell melt ur face off! His sets get old after a little while though, you can only take so much wobble at once. 6/10

Dada Life - A little different than what I usually see, but totally worth it! Dada Life puts on a really good show that caters to the crowd. Getting sprayed in the face with champagne and bananas thrown at your head can actually be quite fun. :P 9/10

Steve Aoki / Calvin Harris 5/10 - this was my first ever "rave"/"show" and it was fucking fantastic at the time. But if I were to go to that same show now I doubt I'd have half as much fun. The novelty of your first rave and one of the first few times I had taken MDMA was awesome....but those days are gone :'''(

Mimosa 9/10 - Suuuuper chill, was extremely baked and just groovin to his hour long set. This is definitely an act you don't want to miss out on if you get the chance to see! Wish his set had a bit more 'oomph' to it though.

Sub Focus 6/10 - The Venue was absolute crap, small...super 'clubby', not really my crowd of people either. The set was fun but really there was only a few select people actually flaling around. Shame because I'm sure he would be great if it were in a different setting.

Deadmau5 - 5/10 meeehhhhhh, crap venue, boring crowd, took some strange drugs..... one of those shows I went to just because it was deadmau5 and who the fuck hasn't seen deadmau5! Highlight of the night was ghosts n stuff, obviously.

Dub FX - If you haaven't heard of Dub FX I suggest you go look him up! This guy played right before Bassnectar at Shambhala and was amazing! His voice reminds me of the whole 'funk' feel of Shambhala. 10/10

Subvert 10/10 - Oh my god, subverts shambhala set was fuckin a+ Can't beat a harmonic melody intertwined with heavy wobbles!

Flux Pavillion 9/10 - Awesome act, a bit more of an 'electronic' style dubstep artist, with grinding synths and screeching drops, incorporates vocals very well.



That's about it I think

really want to see Skream, Benga, Netsky, and the Glitch Mob.
 
Gigantic Underground Conspiracy
Sunday, January 1st, 2012
Bottom Lounge, Chicago, IL
9/10


Let me start off by saying I've never seen the Disco Biscuits, nor am I familiar with any of their material. I've seen Conspirator at the Pandemonium Fest & Electric Forest, I really like that band but don't really know how they compare to Disco Biscuits. The Bottom Lounge is a smaller club with maybe 600 people capacity. The stage is located in a separate room apart from a "dinning" "hang out" area. In the music room the stage sits on the back wall with two hanging stacks on either side of the stage, to the right is a smaller bar and directly in front of the stage (on the other side of the room) is the sound board. The overall feel was very comfortable, the show was sold out but from looking at the dance floor it seemed like people had room to move around and everyone wasn't hanging all over each other. I took my spot directly in front of the soundboard, my back was hurting and needed a spot to lean against the whole night. This was an okay location, the only downfall was that this was the walkway for everyone coming and going. So I had a lot of people bumping me while they walked past me. The show started off with a bang. You could tell by the middle of the first song that this group has amazing chemistry. The sound was amazing! The sax came through loud and clear, as well as all the other instruments. In my experience with groups like this sometimes the electronic instruments come out a lot louder in the mix. I will give props to the sound guy on making everything just right (for the most part). I wasn't sure as to if the songs they were playing were improv or not, some of the songs seemed to polished for them to be improv material, but on other songs you could see them talking over things in between tunes. I did recognize a few Conspirator tunes and the friend I was with said that they played some Disco material too. In total they played eleven songs including an encore. They never let up, in my opinion there wasn't one dull moment to the show. With the high energy coming off the stage and the sax just wailing, I couldn't have asked for anything more. I really hope this band continues, the electronic music scene really needs more bands like this. The overall feel to this show was wonderful. What a great treat it was to be at this "world premiere".
 
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Sheeeeit, that show was like a mini BL meetup and we didn't even know it. The Chitown brethren need to get their shit together, lol.
 
^ we should really all meet up and go to a show sometime.

Gigantic Underground Conspiracy
I also have to give this show a 9/10. Like SleepingTaper said, these guys had incredible chemistry! It was awesome to end the weekend with this show after seeing Big Gigantic play the night before. They played for a pretty long time, as well. I have to say that I really have disliked the Bottom Lounge the last few shows I've seen there, but this one was different. The vibe was amazing! Being on a sunday and the day after all new year's eve, there wasn't a person in the crowd who wasn't completely into the music. What a unique show!
9/10

Big Gigantic
Oh man! What a great way to bring in the new year. This was one of the best shows I've ever been to, and it wasn't because I took MDMA. These guys went on at 11:30 and played until (correct me if I'm wrong), about 2:30. Being a live act with drums and a saxophone it was impressive to see them play that long. They had so much energy and the crowd was really feeling it. They dropped some new stuff like a Kanye West - Jesus Walks remix that they made for this show... Nocturnal (their new album) is out on Wednesday for a free download... you guys should really check it out. They are by far the best performers in the game right now, and I would have to put them slightly behind Bassnectar and STS9 for my favorite sets to attend. Dom just killed it on the sax and Jeremy was great as usual. This was my 3rd time seeing them and I know I will never miss another big G set. Flawless.
10/10

Caspa
Was really good to see the dopest ghost in town at one of my favorite venues (Metro). He played a bunch of dubstep classics and mixed them nicely with a few brostep tunes that had the crowd going wild. There was a pretty good crowd with a lot of ecstasy. It was good to be able to see a proper dubstep set as having been to Skrillex recently, but it definitely wasn't as good as Skream and Benga a few weeks ago. As for dubstep I will be seeing 12th Planet soon and cannot wait for the drum and bass show in march (netsky and high contrast).
7.5/10

Digitalism
A really cool set. I think they played for about an hour and 15 minutes and had a live drummer. Was definitely one of the more unique sets I've seen. The crowd was awful (hipster assholes), but the Metro is great so I really enjoyed this set. They played all the songs I wanted to hear - POGO, blitz, etc. A really fun time for a monday night.
7/10

I'm really looking forward to seeing STS9 soon... anyone going?? There is some great acts coming in the next couple of months, although it seems that the MID is slacking a bit. Vision has been slacking for a while as well. A lot of good shows at the Bottom Lounge, and I am just trying really hard to avoid the Congress. I haven't been there in a while and am looking to keep it that way.
 
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Saw Proxy, James Murphy and Bloody Beetroots at Terminal 5 in NYC. It was a free promo for the movie The Girl With' The Dragon Tattoo. I had taken about 220mg of molly on the cab ride there (unfortunately it was like the second or third time I'd taken it that week).


Got there about 4/5 of the way through proxy's set. He sounded pretty good, but it was only for about 20 minutes so I don't really think I could give him a fair review.

James Murphy - 8/10
I really enjoyed James Murphy's set. The people I was with (also rolling) were all more into harder, more intense music, so they had some gripes about what he played. If no one's seen him before, or can't guess, his set was mostly nu-disco. He played on all vinyl which was cool too. Sometimes, it sounded a little iffy (too 70s) but for the most part it was groovy as fuck. Plus they shot a bunch of lasers at the disco ball and there aren't a lot of things better than a huge disco ball when you're rolling.

Bloody Beetroots - 7/10
Pretty much what I thought it would be. Very loud, very intense, all in all, very good. I think my constant use of mdma that week was catching up to me, so I wasn't as into it as I would have been. I'm not a huge dubstep fan, but even I freaked out when they dropped into half-tempo. Definitely worth seeing; they knew how to get the crowd moving.
 
Dubfire @ Patty Boom Boom's DC 2/12/12

Dubfire is a DC local, and spends half the year here (fall/winter) and half the year in Barça (spring/summer). He's a DC local with deep roots in this city going back to the early 90's as half of Deep Dish. Since his split from Sharam, he's gone on to bigger success and he deserves every bit of acclaim he gets and then some. I'm really proud of him and I'm happy to see that he's come into his own as a solo artist because I worked for him about 9 years ago and he's the nicest, most humble guy. Anyway, when he holes up in the studio here, he usually pops out for a free secret gig or two just to test out what he's been working on. You have to keep your ear to the ground to find out about one of these gigs and they simply don't compare to the big nights at major clubs that he tends to play due to his success.

As for the gig...Patty Boom Boom's is a Jamaican bar on U street that holds about 100-150 people but has a great bass-heavy JBL system. I arrived early, not knowing how popular it would be and was surprised to see that it was largely empty. This was good, as I got to see my old friends Matt Nordstrom (half of Nadastrom, ex Deep Dish engineer) and Jesse Tittsworth, part owner of UHall and DJ extraordinaire. It was a bit of a reunion for us old Yoshitoshi label alumni.

Ali started off with some deep dub, vibing great with the Jamaican style, true to his name Dubfire. His set programming skills are amazing. As time went by, it was as though he was bringing it up a single notch for every person that came in, effortlessly, almost like he was drawing people off the street to come in and dance. As it picked up he dropped some old classics from Rhythm & Sound-With The Artists, into some old yoshi deep house, smooth and cool. A couple hours in, a live vocalist showed up. I was not expecting this, but I could tell they've been working on stuff together and wanted to test it live. Pleasant surprise. Around 11:30 or so Ali ramped it up, dropping a SICK remix of Burial-Archangel along with other things that seemed to tease little bits out of his Planet Terror remix of Radioslave - Grindhouse. He was just ramping it up and up like the immaculate professional that he is.

I had to leave around 1am due to work in the morning, but it was really truly exceptional and I can tell that he will get even bigger in 2012. He's a great guy and deserves his success, and I'm proud of him. It was great to see him but he started at 9am so I didn't get a chance to catch up with him. As far as 2012 goes, look for some new tracks with a new vocalist that really surprised me with his contribution, and hopefully we will see Burial - Archangel (Dubfire Remix) this year.

That was a truly special gig, something that I won't forget. There's something amazing about a hometown artist popping out from the studio to give you a preview of the year ahead. If this year is anything like that set, it will be a big big big year for him.

10/10

:D
 
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