Saturday January 21 was Basscon’s return to the Belasco theater in Los Angeles. The show was a 15yr celebration of Italian heavyweight duo TNT aka Technoboy ‘N’ Tuneboy, with support from opening act Crime Family, rising America hardstyle artist Mekanikal, and the energetic Audiofreq. The night promised a flashback into some of the classic tracks that brought TNT to such notoriety, as well as a selection of the current top tracks on the dance floors. There was another prospect for the night, the hybridization of psytrance and hardstyle. The internet had been buzzing about this combination of the two styles lately, and Mekanikal, Audiofreq and TNT all promised to play their take on “psystyle” that night! Psystyle- you heard it here first!
My friends and I arrived at the show and grabbed a drink around the beginning of Mekanikal’s set. I looked around and noticed something different about the crowd- it was a very young, enthusiastic crowd who were already getting wild!
“This is her first show, we can’t wait for TNT!” I heard someone talking to their friends say. It reminded me of the enthusiasm I felt when it was raving was new to me too. The reverse bass from Mekanikal’s set echoed through the Belasco, and I expected the night would be full of it. He played his new track with Reactor and MC Sik-Wit-It, Hardstyle Made Me Do It, and we even heard his new psystyle track PSYchedelica.
Following Mekanikal’s set was the versatile Audiofreq. Audiofreq is well known for the energy he brings while performing, but he is also well know for pushing beyond the boundaries of what has been done before and creating new and exciting sounds. His set included bangers Screwdriver, Warcry, and Sandstorm Sub Sonik remix. He also gave a subtle nod to his Australian roots with tracks like You Got the Love and Dragonblood (Defqon.1 Australia 2016 Anthem) and even showed us his take on psystyle with a TBA track.
Last up for the night was the main event- 15yrs of TNT with a 2hr set! They pulled out all the stops and filled their set with classics like Tritolo, First Match 2011, Bitches, Next Dimensional World (Qlimax 2008 anthem), Internet Friends (Organ Donors Psycho Bitch rewoek), and FTS (Organ Donors “live4pillz” REMIX). They also included modern classics in their set such as It’s My Style, Mellow, CTRL, Devotion, and of course their new psystyle track Psylent Hill.
15yrs of TNT was a memorable night filled with classic hardstyle tracks that brought the genre into the spotlight where it is today, and it may have given us a glimpse of what the future has in store. Up next, Basscon returns to the Belasco on February 24 for Atmosfears LA stop of his North America GVTE tour, featuring Atmosfears, Code Black and a Tuneboy Classics set. Get your tickets here.
