Tag Archives: Da Tweekaz

Articles, Reviews

Escape: Psycho Circus 2017 Early Report: Less Twerking at Basscon Stage than others, thank goodness.

Insomniac’s Escape line-up this year featured the Basscon stage. Ok, that makes sense. Unbelievably, in years past that has not been the case. But how can you have Halloween without scary hardcore techno and hardstyle I ask you? So fittingly, The Hard Data was out in full force Friday bringing you the goods. We got excellent interviews last night with Angerfist and Miss K8, Coone, DJ Isaac, Pulsatorz, Crisis Era and Da Tweekaz just for starters. You can look forward to those interviews hitting the print mag and online in the next week.

Getting to the site early is always a treat. You can walk around without stress and the vibe is nice. Since it opened at 4pm, it was daylight out and we got to get a good look at what Insomniac did with the NOS Events Center this year. It is super decked-out! The past events at NOS lately have mostly centered on the two big indoor areas, but here, they erected tents for the different brands, had a haunted maze, carnival rides… it’s the best I’ve seen the NOS look in a while.

There’s a good crowd here but not so packed it is annoying. One thing that occurs to me as an old school raver going back to the early 90s, is that Insomniac’s Events, even though owned by Live Nation, still retain that old school feel that I used to get playing at big chaos events in Victorville or wherever. All it is is more polished and professional. Say what you want about Insomniac but if anyone is going to represent the true rave vibe nationwide, they are the ones to do it. As an old schooler, I can logically see the history and how it all leads up to today. So, yes, Insomniac buys ads in THD, and we’re therefore a little biased, but I stand by my statement here and I don’t think many can challenge it even considering my bias.

Now getting back to the present… Escape is about Halloween, but frankly the raver crowd looks mostly the same as usual except most have put fake blood on themselves in strategic areas. We bopped around most areas Friday night and knocked out the aforementioned interviews in between dancing at the Basscon stage. Angerfist and Miss K8 knocked it out! Angerfist was playing a lot of his new tracks and there were some frenchcore flavored ones that ripped! Also the interviews this time were really good as you will read in the future. For whatever reason, the artists really brought up some good, interesting info last night.

One thing I noticed this event was that there is way less twerking at the Basscon stage than others. Thank you! I have to say, that I feel kind of sorry for especially the girls doing this. I mean, seeing them bend over and rub their butts on guys and think it’s a dance is pretty gross. And I don’t admire the guys on the receiving end either. I mean, do you really want your girlfriend rotating her butt for all to see? If she does that for you, dude, you probably aren’t the only one. It just looks full-on sad. I know most of these girls think its popular and a “thing to do” but in the end result it makes you look like more of animal than a person with feelings and aspirations. I know its probably not going anywhere soon, but it was nice to see less twerking at the Basscon stage.

Since its 95 degrees in the day, I can’t blame anyone for wearing no more than a bathing suit to these festivals, but you know the rave scene traditionally has been an “Escape” from mainstream culture and never really embraced the over-sexed to the point of exhaustion bent of mainstream culture. Hopefully we will see that feeling come back, because if we are all just concentrating on what’s down below, we can get distracted from rising higher, and really fulfilling our potential. I’m not saying be a prude, but it is the love of our culture that truly brings us together in a positive manner so that we can form truly satisfying relationships.

So now I’m going back into the festival. This is Deadly Buda reminding you, “The rhythm is life and death!”

Escape: Psycho Circus 2017 Early Report: Less Twerking at Basscon Stage than others, thank goodness.

Insomniac’s Escape line-up this year featured the Basscon stage. Ok, that makes sense. Unbelievably, in years past that has not been the case. But how can you have Halloween without scary hardcore techno and hardstyle I ask you? So fittingly, The Hard Data was out in full force Friday bringing you the goods. We got excellent interviews last night with Angerfist and Miss K8, Coone, DJ Isaac, Pulsatorz, Crisis Era and Da Tweekaz just for starters. You can look forward to those interviews hitting the print mag and online in the next week.

Getting to the site early is always a treat. You can walk around without stress and the vibe is nice. Since it opened at 4pm, it was daylight out and we got to get a good look at what Insomniac did with the NOS Events Center this year. It is super decked-out! The past events at NOS lately have mostly centered on the two big indoor areas, but here, they erected tents for the different brands, had a haunted maze, carnival rides… it’s the best I’ve seen the NOS look in a while.

There’s a good crowd here but not so packed it is annoying. One thing that occurs to me as an old school raver going back to the early 90s, is that Insomniac’s Events, even though owned by Live Nation, still retain that old school feel that I used to get playing at big chaos events in Victorville or wherever. All it is is more polished and professional. Say what you want about Insomniac but if anyone is going to represent the true rave vibe nationwide, they are the ones to do it. As an old schooler, I can logically see the history and how it all leads up to today. So, yes, Insomniac buys ads in THD, and we’re therefore a little biased, but I stand by my statement here and I don’t think many can challenge it even considering my bias.

Now getting back to the present… Escape is about Halloween, but frankly the raver crowd looks mostly the same as usual except most have put fake blood on themselves in strategic areas. We bopped around most areas Friday night and knocked out the aforementioned interviews in between dancing at the Basscon stage. Angerfist and Miss K8 knocked it out! Angerfist was playing a lot of his new tracks and there were some frenchcore flavored ones that ripped! Also the interviews this time were really good as you will read in the future. For whatever reason, the artists really brought up some good, interesting info last night.

One thing I noticed this event was that there is way less twerking at the Basscon stage than others. Thank you! I have to say, that I feel kind of sorry for especially the girls doing this. I mean, seeing them bend over and rub their butts on guys and think it’s a dance is pretty gross. And I don’t admire the guys on the receiving end either. I mean, do you really want your girlfriend rotating her butt for all to see? If she does that for you, dude, you probably aren’t the only one. It just looks full-on sad. I know most of these girls think its popular and a “thing to do” but in the end result it makes you look like more of animal than a person with feelings and aspirations. I know its probably not going anywhere soon, but it was nice to see less twerking at the Basscon stage.

Since its 95 degrees in the day, I can’t blame anyone for wearing no more than a bathing suit to these festivals, but you know the rave scene traditionally has been an “Escape” from mainstream culture and never really embraced the over-sexed to the point of exhaustion bent of mainstream culture. Hopefully we will see that feeling come back, because if we are all just concentrating on what’s down below, we can get distracted from rising higher, and really fulfilling our potential. I’m not saying be a prude, but it is the love of our culture that truly brings us together in a positive manner so that we can form truly satisfying relationships.

So now I’m going back into the festival. This is Deadly Buda reminding you, “The rhythm is life and death!”

Articles, Events, Reviews

EDC BASSCON 2017 – The THD Diaries

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The EDC Wasteland 2017 Line-Up
The EDC Wasteland 2017 Line-Up

It was once again that time of year to head into the desert for America’s largest rave, and most importantly for The Hard Data crew, the largest hard dance lineup of the year in one place. EDC 2017 seemed this year to be “by ravers, for ravers.” Though the attendance this year was not as big as last year’s, it frankly was just the right amount of people to have a really good time for all the money that one might spend going to EDC. The line-ups on all the stages were solid and one was constantly confronted with the dilemma of “who do I want to see more?” as there were great acts constantly. The Basscon lineup, however, was stacked with some of the largest names in the hard dance business and featured something for everyone. Euphoric DJs like Wasted Penguinz and Da Tweekaz, to legendary names like Isaac, Brannan Heart and D-Block & S-Te-Fan, to rawstyle pioneers like Radical Redemption and Gunz For Hire. Plus! Hardcore every night by masters Angerfist, Mad Dog and AniMe, and Miss K8!

DAY 1, June 16, 2017 A.D.

Basscon Wasteland 2017
EDC – Basscon Wasteland 2017

This EDC may have been the hottest one on record, with temperatures remaining in the 90 degrees plus range even at the blackest of night. Fortunately, there was no shortage of free, filtered water to take the edge off the heat. We knew we would spend the majority of our weekend at Basscon, but being that there is so many things to see and do at EDC we agreed that we would explore the rest of the fest that weekend as well. Walking into the festival on Friday night, however, our excitement overshadowed the extreme heat and we were untroubled as we made our way through the grounds to get our first peek at the Basscon Wasteland stage. We were immediately greeted with the pulsing vibrations of Hardstyle basslines hitting our bodies and it was as though the speakers surrounded us and the music enveloped our bodies. The stage was set to resemble ancient Egyptian ruins, and its centerpiece featured a massive scarab beetle or an Egyptian-bird of some sort that generated all sort of hieroglyphs, but it was in the “Wasteland.” Like, somehow in the dystopian future there is a resurgence of Ancient Egypt. The stage stood over the crowd with its wings outstretched and was packed with pyrotechnics, lasers and LED screens flashing colorful lightshows at the audience.

Upon our arrival, TNT (aka Technoboy ‘N’ Tuneboy) had just wrapped up their set of their signature Italian hardstyle, complete with anthemic melodies and reverse-bass basslines, and it was then Atmozfears’ timeslot. While we have had the chance to see Atmozfears in the past, this weekend we wanted to make sure to make his set a priority. Atmozfears’ music career has been on the fast lane in recent years and so it was no surprise that his set delivered a diverse and entertaining mix of some of hardstyle’s biggest tracks including Noisecontrollers new track Spirit of Hardstyle and his iconic track with Code Black, Accelerate. Towards the end of his set, it was time for a water refill and explore other parts of the festival before D-Block and S-Te-Fan came on.

EDC 2017 Main stage - Kinetic Field
EDC 2017 Main stage – Kinetic Field

We elected to check out Astrix at the Dreamstate’s Quantum Valley stage for some psytrance. Trance has a history with Hardstyle music and it was fun to experience a different perspective of the ravers and to groove to their music. We then circled back through Kinetic Field and gawked at the incredible mainstage, featuring a goddess with her arms outstretched and two giant owls on either side of her. It was incredible to see the amazing artistry and meaning Insomniac had put into this concept and it translated well.

Quantum Valley blasted out the sick lasers all weekend.
Quantum Valley blasted out the sick lasers all weekend.

We then made our way back to the Basscon stage and Atmozfears wrapped up his set and it was time for D-Block and S-Te-Fan. Brandon’s bud from Boston, Matt had never seen D-Block and S-Te-Fan and he was very excited, and for good reason… that set was packed with incredible tracks from beginning to end! One of their favorite tracks (that was unfortunately was absent from their set, however) was Sound of the Thunder. Hopefully we will get the chance to hear them play it at a future show. In addition, it was during their set, that the main firework show enveloped the festival grounds. The fireworks and the classic tracks D-Block and S-Te-Fan were playing reminded us of the reason we fell in love with Hardstyle in the first place. As D-Block and S-Te-Fan finished their set we agreed that it was time for more water and to explore more of the festival before coming back to Basscon for the end of Code Black, and of course then… Angerfist!

Darkness descends on the Wasteland as Angerfist takes the stage.
Darkness descends on the Wasteland as Angerfist takes the stage.

We made our way through the thick crowd getting down to Zomboy at Basspod. Then, decided to check out the harder side of techno at the Neon Garden, where we caught Nicole Moudaber b2b with Chris Liebing, since recently Brandon has been getting into techno to supplement his hardcore addiction. While their set was not quite as hard as schrantz, the dark techno sound was a nice change of pace from what we are used to hearing. After that short break we made it back to Basscon in time to watch the end of Code Black’s set, and then it was time for Angerfist! It was at the moment the hardcore started that  we saw something INCREDIBLE happen – the crowd poured into the Basscon stage.

Angerfist - EDC 2017
Angerfist – EDC 2017

It was packed from shoulder to shoulder for hardcore! In classic Angerfist fashion, he started the crowd up with chant and repeat “when I say ANGER you say FIST…” and from there, the surprises kept coming. Miss K8 joined Angerfist on stage briefly as they played Masters of Hardcore and Dominator anthems. Then, unexpectedly, MC Villain got on the mic and reminded everyone that we were witnessing the number one hardcore DJ in the world. EDC night 1 closed with an explosion of adrenaline and at the end of Angerfist’s set we headed back to our hotel to recharge our batteries for the day we had ahead of us.

DAY 2, June 17, 2017 A.D.

It was buffets like this that put us into digestion shock, finally getting some well needed sleep.
It was buffets like this that put us into digestion shock, finally getting some well needed sleep.

Saturday we woke up with a hunger that needed tamed. Matt and Brandon elected to meet with their friend Miguel at the hotel buffet and fuel our bodies for the day ahead. From the buffet we left to Gabberfest, a hardcore festival off the strip that is held every year during EDC weekend. DJ Deadly Buda, Mindcontroller and Lost Boy were scheduled to play at Gabberfest as The Hard Data DJ team, so we went to rock out in the 100+ degree weather. Then, we made our way back to the hotel to get ready for EDC night 2.

Our ride fell through for Day 2, so we began weighing our options between the Park and Ride, or taking an Uber as we walked back into the hotel to get changed. It was at this time that an EDC miracle happened for us.

If you're Uber doesn't look like this, don't take it!
If you’re Uber doesn’t look like this, don’t take it!

We were walking through the hotel lobby and we bumped into a young couple who were dressed in war paint and rave gear, they were clearly on their way to EDC as well. After a short conversation with them we mentioned our predicament and they didn’t even hesitate to offer us a ride with them. Our ride with Caesar and Sarah was pleasant and it reminded me what raving is all about: taking care of one another, a core principle that tends to get lost in today’s scene. It was nice to meet and bond with likeminded individuals and we will forever be grateful to their generosity.

We thanked our new friends and walked into Night 2 of EDC. We made it to the Basscon stage just in time to catch Italian rebel, Zatox, throw down some bangers, along with his friend and MC Dave Revan before it was time for the legend, DJ Isaac, to take the stage. As I enjoyed the show, Matt and I met up with some other friends of ours in the crowd, Dan and Sandy, and we came came up with a game-plan on how to explore some other parts of the festival. We had all seen Isaac and Frontliner multiple times and decided that we would go to Cosmic Meadow to check out Porter Robinson, and come back to Basscon for the end of Frontliner’s set before Gunz For Hire. As we walked towards Cosmic Meadow the crowd got thick with people, it was clear that Porter Robinson was “the place to be” and we decided to head to the top of the bleachers for his set.

Cosmic Meadow - EDC 2017
Cosmic Meadow – EDC 2017

From the front of the stage, to the top of the bleachers thousands of people had gathered for the amazing production of anime-themed and static Technicolor visuals of the stage, and Porter’s melodic electro pop house music. It reminded us of the size of the crowds I’ve experienced at European festivals and it made us wonder if there would ever be a following like this for hardstyle and hardcore, or if the music we loved would remain so separated from the mainstream to ever be accessable to the American audience.

Was this the new security at EDC this year? No! It was a traveling glitch music car!
Was this the new security at EDC this year? No! It was a traveling glitch music car!

We wrapped up our rest break and made our way back to Basscon for the end of Frontliner’s set before it was time for DJ Ran-D and Adaro’s live act, Gunz For Hire where they unleashed their new performance on the crowd – codename: Armed and Dangerous. Their set included several classic Gunz For Hire tracks like Kings of the Underground, Executioner Style, No Mercy, and Bolivia, and even treated us to some new music like Welcome to Deathrow and Pussy Lover. Gunz For Hire closed out their set and the onslaught of rawstyle continued with Radical Redemption. Radical’s set was probably my favorite Hardstyle set of the weekend, featuring rough rawstyle and he even ended his set with a blistering hardcore section to a manic crowd, including his track with Destructive Tendencies – Bring us Some. By the end of Radical’s set we were ready for another break and decided to check out Oliver Heldens at Circuit Grounds, the last stage we hadn’t been to yet for the weekend.

Circuit Grounds - EDC 2017
Circuit Grounds – EDC 2017

We sat off to the side of the stage and even laid back to rest, along with a dozen or so other tired ravers. EDC has had its share of casualties from the extreme heat over the years and it was reassuring to see security and Ground Control personnel come up to us to make sure that we were ok, and even offered us bottles of water. With as many people that were there it proved to me that they genuinely do their best to make sure everyone has a good time while trying to keep everyone there safe.

EDC 2017's Chill-Out area
EDC 2017’s Chill-Out area

We left our rest area and made our way back to Basscon through the chill-out area by all the vendors. We made it back in time to catch the end of Toneshifterz before closing out night 2 with Dj Mad Dog b2b with DJ AniMe. Their set showcased their unique Hardcore Italia sound and featured some of their signature tracks including Dog Fight and Cracks – the crowd was loving it! After discussing with amongst ourselves we came to the conclusion that Basscon Area has the hottest babes at EDC hands down. Our friend Matt even went as far as to say that some of those ladies could out-hakken himself and even the dexterous and limber writing crew at THD. We left the festival at sunrise and made our way back to the hotel to rest up for Day 2 of Gabberfest and Night 3 of EDC.

DAY 3, June 18, 2017 A.D.

Sunday afternoon we spend another day in the 100+ degree weather at Gabberfest and decided to hit the buffet again to fuel up. Apparently, we hit the buffet a little too hard and fell deep into a food-coma in the hotel room. By the time we woke up it was time to head to EDC and we got there around midnight where it was a toasty 90 degrees. We arrived at the Basscon stage to see the end of Noisecontrollers’ set and just in time for Da Tweekaz with MC D on the mic. Their unique style of goofy melodies was refreshing and even saw Villain in the crowd enjoying himself. During their set, Da Tweekaz even gave a special preview of their new happy-hardcore-influenced “Tweekacore” sound, which they would play at Defqon 1 the following weekend.

The last hurrah for the Basspod? Bassrush Massive was off the hook this year.
The last hurrah for the Basspod? Bassrush Massive was off the hook this year.

Following Da Tweekaz, it was time to a break and grab a cocktail. As we picked up our spiked Electric Lemonade we decided to watch Basscon from a different perspective headed to the chillout area to watch Brennan Heart’s set livestreamed on the LED TV screens. Brennan Heart had the crowd bumping non-stop, and it was only from the perspective of overhead cameras that we could truly appreciate as a whole the bouncing crowd from end to end of the area. While watching we made conversation with others who gathered by the LED TV screen and met a man, Steve, who had traveled all the way from Scotland. We have visited EDC many times before so it was refreshing to get the perspective of someone who had travel internationally. While we talked we “somehow” got on the subject of hardcore. Apparently, there is a big hardcore scene in Scotland. One of Brandon’s pals, Bass Destruction, plays hardcore in Scotland and Steve said he had been to some of the Twisted Darkside  parties he had played at! Apparently, it’s a very a small world and I made a mental note that I would have to visit sometime and party with them both.

Deadly Buda shows off the mega-Kandi Ryan Payne PLURRED him in the middle the Wasteland arena. We made him promise to keep it on "stun" all weekend.
Deadly Buda shows off the mega-Kandi Ryan Payne PLURRED him in the middle of the Wasteland arena. We made Buda promise to keep it on “stun” all weekend.

We said our farewells to Steve and made our way back to Basscon for Wildstylez and MC Villain. Wildstylez’s set was loaded with a lot of classic tracks and it was a trip down Hardstyle-memory-lane all over again. Lastly, Villain reminded us that Wildstylez was half of Project One (Headhunterz and Wildstylez) and it gave me hope that one day we would be able to witness Project one for ourselves here in the US. After we made some noise “for the very, very, very last time”, (as urged by Villain) for Wildstylez, we closed out the weekend with the goddess of hardcore herself, Miss K8, who showed no mercy. Her track selection proved to be particularly brutal for a crowd of people who had been raving for 3 days straight in the desert heat. This did not stop anyone from making the most of their final moments of the festival and we witnessed the people dancing themselves to exhaustion at sunrise in 95 degree heat!

More scenes from the Wasteland. EDC Basscon 2017
More scenes from the Wasteland. EDC Basscon 2017

Our weekend consisted of exploring the amazing sights and sounds of the festival, and while we spent most of our time at the Basscon stage, of course, the weekend was nothing short of incredible! The lineup consisted of some of the biggest names in the business and there was more hardcore at EDC this year than any of recent memory, the faithful being treated to Angerfist, Miss K8, Mad Dog and AniMe. Insomniac’s continued dedication to grow the Basscon scene is leading to higher quality production and larger crowds that ever before, and we look forward to what the future has in store for us!

By Brandon “CabZ” Caballero, Joel “Deadly Buda” Bevacqua, Alvaro “Seppuku” Manjarrez, and Matt “Matty Muscles” from Mass.

Articles, Interviews

Da Tweekaz prepare you for Denver’s OVERLOAD Festival

June is going to be a crazy month for Hard Music in the United States. Among the craziness comes the first edition of Overload Festival, Colorado’s biggest Hardstyle party to date. The lineup consists of a wide variety of acts – Code Black, Da Tweekaz, LNY TNZ, Gammer & Noisecontrollers will be taking over Denver on June 17th – a totally new experience for Colorado.

Check out the Overload trailer here:


We spoke to Da Tweekaz about their upcoming visit to Denver, and learned a little bit about their career as well.

Hi guys! We can’t wait to have you in Denver, Colorado. It’s been a long time coming. What’s something you absolutely have to do when you come out here?

Well, we definitely can’t wait. It’s really exciting to know that a festival which includes Harder Styles is popping up in Denver. What are we going to do? We don’t know.. got any tips for us? We love to spend our time discovering new places during our travels. All tips are welcome.

Good stuff! So, you guys have had quite the year already, with multiple gigs in the US lined up at the biggest Hard Music parties in the country. Can you tell us how you two crazy Scandinavian guys ended up touring the world?

Well, we’ve been DJing for almost 10 years now. And like everyone, we started out small. Doing some really small gigs in Norway and some other Scandinavian countries. We were also always producers (just not Hardstyle, until we decided to join forces – but that’s another story). We believe our music is quite unique and after a few releases on DJU back in the days, we were contacted by Dirty Workz and it all just went up from there. The last 5 or so years has been amazing, sometimes even hectic. So many countries, so many events, so much flying and traveling. We think the key is that we are quite a unique DJ duo in the scene. We produce music that other artists may not want to risk producing (Disney-tracks anyone?) and we deliver a fun, energetic and above all happy DJ performance. So, that just rubs off on the crowd.

Your music has a very unique energy to it. What separates you guys from the rest of the EDM world?

We like to take risks and we like to have a lot of fun doing it. If a track doesn’t make us smile, then we don’t use it. When people listen to music or visit an event, more often than not, they’re there to forget about the World, about their daily lives and just have the ultimate good time. That’s exactly what we want to give to the audience, and it also makes our job a lot easier because we have a blast as well.

We’ve seen you do some unorthodox stuff, like bootlegs of Disney songs, and tracks with crazy samples of rubber ducks and numerous video games. What inspires you guys to think out of the box like this?

We’re actually pretty geeky guys. We love to play games (from retro classics to the new adventure games), we love collecting geeky stuff, we love watching TV series and all types of movies during our many inflight hours and we can say we have quite a broad fantasy. So, basically we’re just 2 kids in an adult body. That helps a lot, although our bodies wish they were a little younger 🙂

When you guys perform, you are entirely in sync. How much time do you spend practicing your moves on stage?

Yeah, we spend at least 3 days a week working on our choreo in front of a mirror. Those fist bumps and facial expressions are hard work. Haha, no that’s a joke. In all seriousness, our “moves” just come to us naturally. We’ve been performing together for 10 years now we know each other’s style and we know our own tracks, so it’s really easy for us to keep in sync and sometimes do some out of the ordinary things. We just have fun together, that helps a lot.

You guys have a totally crazy artist name. I’m a little scared to ask this, but what is the story behind it?

Well, it’s not what you think (if that’s what you’re thinking about ;)). To “tweek” something in producer terms is to turn on knobs and fiddle around until you get that sound you’re after. Spice it up a bit with some “cool” sounding letters and there you have it.

Finally, please tell us a little bit about what you’ve got coming up this year. What can we expect from Da Tweekaz in 2017?

Well, you mentioned it earlier. 2016 was an insane year for us. We did our Tweekay16 project, after the success of the project we did in 2014. We released one track each month along with a video clip. It was so intense, definitely because we had a lot less studio time to work with in 2016, so the deadlines were killing. So, usually after such an intense project we like to keep the next year a little less hectic, otherwise we’re pretty sure we’d be headed for a rapid burn-out. So, this year we’re concentrating on our “Tweeka Tour” which is guided with some pretty awesome artwork and press photos (check our Facebook page), performing as much as possible while still slamming out tracks. Just no deadlines.

2018 will be a special year for us, so we’re working on another project for 2018 as well.

Thanks for the interview guys! See you at OVERLOAD Festival!

No no, thank you! See you there. We can’t wait!

Get your tickets for Overload Festival here: http://www.ticketfly.com/purchase/event/1454479?utm_source=fbTfly&utm_medium=am pOfficialEvent

Da Tweekaz Reading THD!
Da Tweekaz Reading THD!
Articles, Events, Reviews

EDC 2016 Las Vegas – Basscon Wasteland Recap

By Brandon “CabZ” Caballero
Follow me on Twitter @BrandonCabZ

This year marked the 20-year anniversary of the Electric Daisy Carnival as Insomniac set out for their biggest event of the year in Las Vegas, NV. This was the 4th year that Insomniac’s hard dance label, Basscon would host a stage at EDC. Thus far, we have been treated to stages of the Gas Mask Man (that has now become synonymous with Basscon), a giant One Eyed Monster, last year an apocalyptic New York scene and this years stage was promised to be an Apocalyptic San Francisco. The stage displayed a Golden Gate Bridge surrounded with shipping containers and graffiti and wrecked cars, and was being attacked by a giant crab! The stage was equipped with fireworks, pyrotechnics, 50ft flames lights, lasers and even its own go-go dancers. A stacked lineup of worldclass Djs promised this year’s Basscon as one to be remembered.

Another exciting first for Basscon was the Basscon Anthem by TNT – “Wasteland”. I recently spoke with TNT at Project Z and asked for their comment on making the anthem, they told me “We have seen the US Hardstyle scene grow-up in the USA and get bigger and bigger over these past few years. We felt like it was finally time to give you an anthem of your own!” For years American fans of hard dance who follow overseas events have wanted an anthem to hype up their weekend. For those who are not familiar, an anthem is exactly what it sounds like- it is the theme that sets the spirit for the entire weekend ahead and rallies everyone together and builds excitement for the show! “Wasteland” perfectly captures this spirit with lyrics such as “Crawling on the barren soil underneath the blackened sun, we are the children of the desert, we rule this wasteland.”

As I walked through the gates at the entrance I immediately heard the baseline bouncing from Basscon. Kutski was opening up the weekend for hardstyle lovers and kept to his motto of Keeping the Rave Alive; he had sparked the party spirit of all the ravers who had assembled far and wide to be at that Basscon stage just to be apart of a weekend packed with their favorite hard dance artists.

Other notable performances on Night 1 include Leiel, Audiofreq, who is an absolute madman bursting with unstoppable energy every set I’ve seen him play, Adrenalize , some freestyle fun with LNY TNZ, the legendary Technoboy, EDC first-timer Code Black, , Isaac, the UK hardcore DJ’s Darren Styles and Gammer who played individual sets as well as a special b2b set, and the night ended with Ran-D, who dropped the RAW on EDC from his first track, raising a big middle finger to everyone else saying “F#CK EDM”, to his last at sunrise. Honorable mention to Padaro, DJ Adaro’s father, who was partying at the front of the stage with the rest of the crowd!

Night 2 – After attending Gabberfest all day it was right back to EDC on nothing more than a few hours of sleep, but I remained optimistic due to the stacked lineup for the day. Night 2 started off with US Hardstyle DJ Mekanikal, followed Max Enforcer, Stephanie, Bioweapon (the duo of Code black and Audiofreq), Da Tweekaz and a special set where Brennan Heart showcased many new tracks from his new album I Am Hardstyle, and he even brought Jonathan Mendelsohn out on stage to sing a few tracks live! Following Brennan Heart’s performance, all music stopped at the Basscon stage and the crowd was treated to the “Basscon Experience”, a 10min firework show ending with the Basscon anthem and TNT starting their set. Following TNT was the beginning of the RAW Hardstyle for the night; Gunz 4 Hire (Ran-D and Adaro) came out and treated EDC to a particularly brutal set showcasing music and even video clips for their No Mercy Tour. Digital Punk took the stage next, and almost had to open a can of whoopass on someone who thought it would be a good idea to climb the stage and mess with the CDJ’s during his set before finally being removed by security (watch over your friends people!). Night 2 closed down with the haunter or the dark himself, DJ Adaro.

Night 3 – you can look around and definitely tell the heat, partying and lack of sleep is beginning to take it’s toll on the crowd… BUT, they don’t call it Wasteland for nothing! Basscon kicked off with a bang with a special b2b set from Canadian Duo Crisis Era and US DJ Darksiderz. Next followed a block of euphoric Hardstyle with
Sylence, Audiotricz, Wasted Penguinz. Next, D-Block & S-te-Fan, Coone and Tuneboy, entertained the crowd and prepared them for the final push of the weekend. Lady Faith took to the stage next and differed from her normal style to instead play many more RAW tracks into her set, even showcasing some Notorious 2 tracks, to prepare everyone for Radical Redemption. The army of the Radical was strong throughout the audience, and Radical himself rewarded them by playing many of the tunes that brought him to notoriety, including Brutal 5.0 and Spell of Sin. As Radical left the stage he addressed the crowd to “get ready for the #1 hardcore act in the world” and DJ Angerfist took the stage! Now, I will say, there is a high expectation for the last DJ of the weekend at the end of 3 days, but Angerfist sparked energy in the people partying and the crowd was exploding with energy that was a truly remarkable achievement at the sunrise set. The hardcore reinvigorated the crowd like nothing I could have expected, people were shuffling, hakken and there were moshpits everywhere. This was a crowd was here for hardcore and they were loving every minute of it! Angerfist’s set built faster throughout and showcased many of his popular songs, and he even included some frenchcore, and ended clocking in at over 200bpm!

angerfist EDC

When it comes to Basscon Wasteland at EDC Las Vegas, it was a success in every aspect, and a great way to spend “20 years under the electric sky”. Whether you like euphoric, freestyle, hardcore, mainstream, RAW, UK hardcore, there was something to make you happy. With the new generation of ravers now receiving more exposure to hard dance than ever had before at American festivals, it is my hope that Basscon will inspire a new wave of American hard dance artists. This is good for growth of the scene and I hope Insomniac gives them the chance to play their events one day. I also hope Insomniac continues to grow and diversify their Basscon label, and hope for a standalone Basscon event in the future, maybe even including multiple stages so the euphoric fans, RAW, freestyle and hardcore fans can have a stage of their own. The hard dance scene in the US has limitless opportunity and can be anything we make it to be. I hope for many more events with an anthem, laser and firework show to mirror the European endshows, but most importantly, all of us should take pride in the collective being we become when we can come together for a common mentality to go hard!

Articles, Events

Field Report 9: Basscon Wasteland Day 2

It was such a refreshing morning back at THD headquarters knowing that we get to experience another night of Hardstyle and Hardcore. Daybreaker and Murdock practiced their footwork and loosened up with a little pregame warm-up while Deadly Buda unsuccessfully begged Insomniac for a couple more comps to the sold out show. If you didn’t get a ticket to Saturday night a week earlier, basically you were S.O.L. and we felt lucky we had at least secured our entry for the night.

Day 2 started slightly earlier than Day 1 to accommodate the welcome of Adrenalize to the states! Although we didn’t get to experience much of his set, the California crowd definitely didn’t leave him with an empty Palladium, they were chanting already at 8:45! It was jam packed as we made our way in during the first hour. Malthe Mehlskov, from Denmark, is only 16 years old and is quickly taking the mainstream Hardstyle scene by storm. No matter if you caught his set or not, it’s pretty evident that this kids deserves all of our support.

Digital Punk brought the Rawstyle flavor to Baccon Wasteland!
Digital Punk brought the Rawstyle flavor to Basscon Wasteland!

We didn’t mention the visuals much last field report. The lasers, well they weren’t really lasers, they were sort of like lasers but better… they were INSANE. At times it was like a spider web of color pulsating to the music. There were mixed feelings about the shark’s head DJ booth, but thank goodness it was real and not just an LED screen. We saw Brandon Adams from SDK events and he gave two thumbs up to the shark’s head. The LED screens that were used were tastefully relegated to the background to amplify the talent on stage.

Saturday also brought the return of DJ Stephanie to Los Angeles, playing all of her top tracks including all the dance floor bangers that we are all familiar with and sung along to, she even previewed a new track of her own. At about 10:00pm, our man Deadly Buda rushed over to the QSA meet-up to see what was happening and lucked into photobombing their group photo.

DJ Stephanie returning to Los Angeles for Basscon
DJ Stephanie making her return to Los Angeles!

Seeing Da Tweekaz for the first time was a little different than anticipated, but they can certainly put on a show (more gimmicks!). They had all of their mainstream hits lined up (even though we expected more rubber duck samples) and offered the biggest surprise of the night by introducing their remix of Jumpstyle legend Mark with a K’s track “See Me Now” which was beautifully crafted into the Hardstyle sound design. After their set, Da Tweekaz caused a few mini-riots in the crowd when they walked out of the backstage and met with their fans right at the soundboard by the dancefloor. Just a few yards away, we bumped into the maestro of Florentine Gardens, Cesar Mendoza, who was rocking out with his posse.

Code Black was next. Even though his set with Bioweapon was the highlight of the entire event, nobody can deny the anticipation and excitement that surrounded Code Black’s solo set. His timing and mixing were perfectly executed, playing some very emotional and nostalgic tracks that even had some die hard Hardcore fans paying close attention (here’s looking at you Kim!) which says a lot about the impact he had on the crowd.

Code Black, the other half of Bioweapon, playing night 2 solo!
Code Black, the other half of Bioweapon, playing night 2 solo!

But this wasn’t even the best part! The majority of the night was waiting in anticipation for the rawest act of the show: Digital Punk! Although he played a lot more aggressive on the Trauma Tour, his set list was perfectly tailored to the city of Los Angeles, keeping it nice and raw, with the highlights being “Brutal 5.0” by Radical Redemption being played along with “My God”, DP’s track together with E-Force. At this point the crowd went absolutely f’n’ bananas. From wall-to-wall Angelenos engaged in some sort of hyper-mutated floor shuffle. Navigating through the crowd at this point was more challenging than Call of Duty Modern Warfare. Both nights it seemed like the crowd craved the raw sound, but Basscon struck the right balance this show by showcasing raw and euphoric together. If its all raw, or all euphoric, the sound gets boring. Having that contrast all night really made both styles pop.

Basscon must have known it was hometown legend and happy hardcore DJ, Lostboy’s birthday, because the night was closed out by UK/Happy Hardcore hero Gammer who has a ridiculous amount of skill and precision when it comes to DJ’ing, which allowed him to put on one hell of a performance. I thought the crowd would be too tired, but… no. Gammer cranked up the BPM and the crowd was jumping like jelly beans. He also kicked down some half speed madness and it’s a tribute to the SoCal faithful that they amazingly appreciated all the harder styles together as one.

Before we sign off, we want to give a special thanks to Cornelio “Atari” Cedillo for his amazing pictures, most of which can be found on our Facebook page (http://facebook.com/theharddata/). Enjoy!

California showing some love to the harder styles!
California showing some love to the harder styles!