My car hurtled to the Inland Empire Saturday night towards the much anticipated “Project Z”, which promised to be a grand marrying of two of Insomniac’s hardest brands, Basscon and Bassrush. These brands represent their hardstyle, hardcore, drum and bass, and “bass” music as it’s increasingly being called, I guess to obscure the fact what’s really being played is hyped up dubstep.
The techno rabbits invade Project Z! – photo by Mike Ortiz
Parking was 15 bucks if you didn’t want to risk your car getting jacked in San Bernardino that night. I think $15 is actually a pretty fair price, considering most cars are filled with 4-5 people going to these shows. I had no problems getting in or out. Getting into and out of the party was pleasantly hassle free unlike some events I’ve been to over the last few years that seem more like a slog through airport security than a concert.
Upon entering the NOS Events center, I was surprised to feel that “old school rave” feeling amongst the crowd. I even, I swear to BASS, smelled Vic’s Vapo-Rub at one point. The party featured two arenas with amazing lights and sound, and a walkabout area that featured merchandise booths, food trucks, some spray paint graffiti murals, and a small sound system playing a lot of rawstyle. Plus, there were various places people just hung out at and chilled.
Project Z ravers! – Photo by Mike Ortiz
Musically, the high point of the night for me was SNAILS. This surprised even me, as I usually stick to the Basscon arena more than Bassrush. But, the production in the Bassrush arena had a bit of an unfair advantage. They got the fancy video screens and lighting rig from the old Circuit Ground arena from last year’s Nocturnal Wonderland. It’s an amazing set-up and it was nice to see it utilized for the harder styles.
The sold-out show was a testament to the marriage of the two brands that some might argue should have never been separated in the first place. America has always like breaks with their kick drums and it’s arguably the distinctive sound of the rave era. The 10,000 ravers that filled the NOS Events Center Saturday might be the vanguard of a new style of American rave music unencumbered by the prejudices of the European establishment. We shall see!
Just when you thought you knew about everything that happened at EDC this year, we bring you the most overlooked, but perhaps most exciting development that happened under everyone’s nose. Fortunately, former Earache USA whirlwind and now ANOMIEdia’s CEO, Jim Welch, was on hand to give us the eyewitness account of what went down.
Lenny Dee and Rob Gee at EDC – photo by Jim Welch
It was a big year for the harder styles at Insomniac’s Electric Daisy Carnival. A stocked hardstyle line-up and a closing set on the Basscon: Wasteland stage by hardcore power Angerfist attested to the magnetic draw of the hard electronic. But there was another significant disruption of the status quo that went practically unnoticed even by the tea-leaf readers and crystal ball gazers who make a career out of divining Insomniac’s next moves…
Rob Gee rocking EDC hard! -photo by Jim Welch
Calliope was the Greek Muse of heroic poetry, and puttering along the Las Vegas Motor Speedway’s terra firma on EDC Day 2 was the apt-named Kalliope Art Car. This otherwise cute and unassuming converted bus actually packs a 70,000 watt sound system, and this night carried three old school legends that have steadfastly dedicated themselves to furthering the art of the rave. These heroes have continued to promote new and underground music ceaselessly for decades and were seemingly snuck into the party in the dead of night… a portent of things to come? I speak in order of appearance, Lenny Dee, Rob Gee, and Frankie Bones.
Lenny Dee lays down the hard electronic at EDC. – photo by Jim Welch
Despite the old school credibility all three of these artists bring to the table and their bona fide historical significance to the American rave scene going back to the early 1990’s, they have been surprisingly absent from the larger American festivals. In some ways, it might be because they still have never slowed down. Each has in his own way, like true artists, continued to pursue their art. So, they didn’t really fit into EDC’s usual “old school” area, the Upside Down Room, and were still a little too edgy for Basscon or Bassrush. Enter: Kalliope! and kudos to Insomniac for figuring out how to bring these guys to the attention of a new breed of ravers.
That said, I, like many of you, was stuck in the massive traffic jam that night and missed this part of the rave I wanted to hear and see most. As most of us didn’t have the privilege of following the Art Cart, we have tried our best to recreate the experience for you. Check out Jim Welch’s recount, and we’ve posted a re-creation of Lenny Dee’s set that he made for us. Frankie Bones actually managed to record his set, and we hope to get something from Rob Gee soon. At the end is my interview with Frankie Bones preceding the fateful night. Enjoy and look to the midnight horizon!
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!
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!
After arriving virtually at the end of EDC day one, I decided that I would arrive before the doors even opened on day two because missing a line up on any day, especially Friday, is just uncalled for to a die hard fan of hard dance music. But then something occurred in the middle of my journey through the “Basscon WasteLAND” that even I was surprised about…
Day two was opened by Mekanikal, who was playing as I went down the log flume ride to cool myself down. He played very well, and with a few more obscure tunes than the other headliners for the event, which was appreciated, because by the time Max Enforcer had come on it was pretty much the same context (and tracks in other headliner’s sets) throughout the rest of the event. Bioweapon was the biggest deal of day two for this writer, because just like at Basscon’s standalone wasteland event, they played more aggressively and played older tracks from the 2008-2010 period that I couldn’t help but dance and sing along to, which is an awful idea when you’re trying not to go all out at the very beginning of a day at EDC to conserve for the later portion of the evening. I was working on catching up on media, but through friendly sources I was told that Brennan Heart may have been the act that stole the show. He was one of the acts that not a lot of hardstyle fans had gotten to see prior to EDC and he played all of the tracks people were hoping to hear, and apparently the one track that stood out the most was “Wake Up!”, Brennan’s track with The Prophet.
This was the last I was going to see of the WasteLAND stage for night two, and as I was heading over to the BassPOD stage to see drum and bass hero, Andy C, when a fire had broken out on top of one of the orbs that were in the middle of the crowd, and they had shut down that stage until the situation was taken care of an hour and a half later.
Upon walking back to the car, I couldn’t help but think about a few things that have apparently popped into my head throughout night two…I found myself to be more impressed by the BassPOD stage in multiple instances but at the WasteLAND stage, the impression hasn’t occurred yet (although I know it is about to Sunday evening). Is this because each act played a lot of the same tracks in their sets? Is it because each act, with the exception of Bioweapon, had the same, seemingly reserved sound? Or is it because a lot of the mainstream style sounds of hardstyle are just simply running their course? It’s hard to tell at this point, but I found it an interesting observation (and feel free to leave any comments on the matter).
Sunday night has a lot more unique acts in store such as Wasted Penguinz, the set I’m looking forward to most, Radical Redemption, whom I’ve never seen before,and of course, the man with the mask, Angerfist, who is playing the closing set of the event. Tonight also looks like the night that I am going to want to stay at the hardstyle stage instead of wander over to the drum and bass stage looking for a better show.
Until then, The Hard Data will be posted up at GABBERFEST 2016: America’s Hardest, which you can view LIVE right here on Grooveo: https://www.grooveo.com/home?groove_id=204
Here is our second international headliner for this year of GABBERFEST: America’s Hardest! Djuke, also from Germany (though half Italian), will be visiting the U.S. for the very first time, and what a better way to debut in Las Vegas than with guns blazing! Here is what you need to know about your day one headliner…
Will this be your first time in America?
Yes it will be my first time in America and I’m very happy to be a part of this amazing event in Las Vegas!
How did you get your start in hardcore music?
My start was at a famous club in the Netherlands called the Peppermill Music Palace. This is the place where it all began! 1998 was the first time I visited this hardcore discothek and saw the DJ’s playing really great stuff from the old days and to this day I’m still infected; every weekend and I’m at a hardcore party, even as a guest. A year later I bought my first pair of turntables and some records and started my DJ career in the year 2000 in a little club in my hometown. Today, it’s hundreds of clubs, dance halls and discotheks all over Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Spain (where I started) and now in Las Vegas, it’s been amazing!
The logo of Djuke
What’s the hard dance scene like where you currently live?
The scene in Germany is up and down. Sometimes it looks like it will be bigger and better but sometimes I’m not very happy with it. Most of the people are in an uptempo hype right now. But it all goes in cycles, things come and go, you know? The good thing is that the events and festivals in Germany have more than just one area so most of the time there are a lot good styles like hardcore and oldschool at the same time. We have big name festivals such as Army Of Hardcore, Hellraiser, and a lot of other crazy events where find thousands of party-freaks together and it’s wonderful and all, but my favorite place to party is in Holland!
What do you think about the current state of harder styles in America?
The only thing in America that must be pushed is hardcore music and the other harder styles! A look on the other genres and you find the biggest names worldwide, is it possible with the harder styles? Yes it is!
Will you be attending EDC this year as well?
No I am only in Vegas for a few hours on Friday, to look at the city and all the lights, then it’s back to Germany for me.
Anything that you’re looking forward to most on your trip?
How the beer in America tastes! That being said, I’m also very curious to see a completely different party crowd that I haven’t seen in 15 years. I’ve only ever seen American partygoers on TV and I’ve never seen anything about the hardcore crowds or events. I think it’s going to be very interesting and I’m very much looking forward to this!
Is there anything you want to say that we haven’t asked you about yet? Do you have any upcoming projects or tours to promote, or anything special or shout outs you want to say?
I’m currently building my own studio! There are plenty of plans for new productions for the years to come. I can’t announce anything just yet, but plenty of collaborations with some bigger artists and you will find it everywhere online! Keep an eye on my website and my Facebook where you can download my livesets and stay up to date on my touring and productions! And lastly, Las Vegas, I’m happy to be a part of this Gabberfest and I know we will have a blast together! See you all very soon!
Djuke in the studio. Getting ready to slam Gabberfest hard!
You can follow all of Djukes antics on his social media:
