This past Saturday night the much anticipated Project Z returned to the NOS Center for its second annual show. The Joint Basscon and Bassrush show gave bassheads and hardstyle fans an exciting lineup including headliners like Eptic, Borgore, Darren Styles, and a Dj Isaac classic set.
I started my Project Z expedition early to avoid the ridiculous traffic on the way to San Bernardino. I got to the venue with about 30 minutes till showtime. Perfect because I wanted to see the Los Angeles based hardstyle artists, NonToxic. They did not disappoint the couple hundred of people that decided to come in early. They even surprised the crowd with a couple of unreleased singles. Next up was another American Hardstyle act Mekanikal, who played some awesome hard trap. Followed by the always entertaining Crisis Era, who decided to jump into the crowd and start a mosh pit.
Following Crisis Era, I needed to get out of the sauna that was the Basscon stage, so I wandered around the rest of the grounds and tried to find my friends. I was really curious about the Area Z stage, I did not recognize anyone on that lineup so I want to see the up and coming talent. I was kind of disappointed though, not in the music it was actually pretty good, but disappointed in the sound system. The sound was awful, my crappy Suburu factory radio had better bass than the Area Z stage, which is sad because when Ganja White Night went on later that night I could tell the set would have been 100 times better on a main stage sound system, but thats just my opinion.
After about an hour of meeting up with people and checking out some new music, I found myself at the Bassrush tent for Midnight Tyrannosaurus b2b Oolacile. The man famous for his Rick and Morty dubstep remixes was one of the highlights of the night for me, not only for the fantastic set, but because the Bassrush was just all around better than the Basscon stage. For one it was outside, so it was exponentially cooler, and the stage production on the Bassrush stage was way better. Normally I would have made my way back to the Basscon stage because of that incredible lineup, but I decided to stay at the Bassrush stage because the Basscon stage was just way to hot. The Bassrush stage and Area Z had people I have yet to see so it worked out in my favor. I was able to see Gentleman’s Club, the UK Dub Trio whom my basshead friends have been telling me I have to see. They played Woo Boost as a tribute to Rusko, who is currently battling cancer, and hearing the whole crowd sing a long gave me chills.
The rest of my night was spent exploring around the rest of the festival. Bouncing around stage to stage, meeting new people, trying some of the food truck food, and trading Kandi. Besides the sound at Area Z and the Basscon stage being worse then the steam room at la fitness, I would definitely say this years Project Z was one for the books (hopefully next year both stages will be outside). I’m excited excited for the future of Hardstyle in America, with Basscon’s following picking up some speed who knows what going to happen! Next up for me though is Frontliner, Lady Faith and NonToxic in Fresno followed by the Basscon takeover at Escape!!😈👊🏽
April 28-29 marked the return of Basscon: Wasteland to Southern California. Hard dance enthusiasts had traveled from far and wide for this show; I personally knew people coming from as far as New York, New Jersey and Arizona. Tales of the ancient ruins being uncovered to reveal a hard dance paradise had spread and all were out to claim their part of this treasure. My caravan and I began our journey through the deserts of San Bernardino in search of any signs of civilized life, and in our search we encountered a surge of ravers who were ready to party. I began my weekend sitting down with the esteemed hard dance aficionado, The Qollector. The Qollector is an archaeologist of hard dance artifacts dating as far back as the 20th century and it truly was remarkable seeing some of these curios and artifacts up close! He had booklets, flyers, CDs and more from In Qoltrol, HardBass, Qlimax, Defqon 1, and Decibel just to name a few. Check out our interview here
The next stop along our route to the Wasteland took a bizarre twist as we met with America’s Only Hardcore Terror DJ Team: Extreme Team. These poor lads must have spent too much time in the hot sun which had apparently impaired their cognitive function. They appeared incoherent and I knew it was my duty as a fellow raver to take them back to my hotel room and provide them nourishment by way of more vodka. We talked about some of their inspirations as artist, about some of their upcoming releases, and about their show at the Hardroadz after party: Arcadia The Promise Land. We have documented the encounter with Extreme Team on Facebook live that can be viewed here. As you may be able to tell, they were beyond our help and we had to release them back into the desert to fend for themselves.
We took a moment to fuel our bodies with refreshments and food before the show and then it was time to go. Our chief navigator from Uber had received coordinates of where Wasteland could be found and he arrived at our basecamp to take us there! Upon our arrival inside the festival it was clear that we were not alone, thousands of hard dance fans had descended upon Wasteland and were ready to party! The landscape consisted of one outdoor oasis with a two stages and refreshments, and large ancient temple of massive pyramids, golden sphinxes, hundreds of lasers, confetti, CO2 cannons and even glistening disco balls… it was spectacular to behold this treasure with my own eyes! The gods themselves took to the main stage and descended down upon the ravers with a relentless pounding of hardstyle and hardcore beats!
I decided to get some refreshments and walked past the outdoor stage where I watched Zany end his set with Lose My Mind. Following Zany, DJ Stephanie took to the stage. While talking to some friends, I was listening to Stephanie in the background and she immediately caught my attention in an unexpected way. She started playing one of my favorite hardcore tracks, Let’s Get It On by Art of Fighters and Endymion. I knew I needed to make it to the front of the crowd during this track as she continued to play hardcore until the end of her set! Stephanie earned the title of most unexpected stand out set of the night. I finished Basscon Night 1 with Angerfist at the mainstage. A few of the tracks he dropped were Why So Serious by Tha Playah, Fist in your Face, Just Like Me, and Raise and Revolt.
After exploring Basscon Wasteland, we made our way to the Hardroadz: Arcadia The Promise Land after party to see the Extreme Team perform. Their set began with exclusive solo set by Tim Shopp and was immediately followed by typical Extreme Team madness! The small but passionate crowd was loving the terror. By the end of their set it was time to venture back to basecamp to let our bodies recover before Day 2.
Day 2 began with a buffet of food to fuel our injured bodies, followed by a trip to the hotel’s jacuzzi to massage our sore muscles. We then prepared our caravan to go to the show once more. Unfortunately, 2 of our fellow party goers succumbed to Wasteland’s wrath and were left behind to pray to the porcelain gods in the hotel room. RIP
At the outdoor stage, I caught the end of Ruthless dropping a awesome freestyle set. His track selection ranged from tek to euphoric, to raw hardstyle and even some hardcore. Some of the tracks he played included Wolfpack, Reawakening, The Project and Lost In Paradise. At one point, he even had the entire crowd chanting Gaan met die Bannan (with a little help from myself and the Extreme Team to get it going 😜). At the main stage, DJ Isaac was keeping the good vibes going. Isaac played the crowd with Last Night Ever, Till The Sky Falls Down, but then unexpectedly Ruthless jumped onto Isaac’s set and played Gaan Met Die Bannan again!
This expedition into the dessert to experience Basscon: Wasteland was unforgettable. It was remarkable to see how large of a crowd showed up for a weekend of hard dance, how many people traveled from out of state to participate, and how much energy and enthusiasm all the ravers brought to the show! I sincerely hope Basscon will continue to pursue bigger and bigger shows and I look forward to them with great anticipation. Up next for Basscon, catch them at the Basscon Pool Party EDC weekend at the Stratosphere, at the Basscon Wasteland stage at EDC Las Vegas, and at the highly anticipated second edition of Project Z!
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!
Dedicated to the harder sound of electronic dance music.
