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Articles, Events, Reviews

Field Report: Trauma Live’s Harder Styles Tour 2016: Los Angeles

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The first leg of the Harder Styles Tour 2016 culminated in Trauma Live’s home town, Los Angeles, CA last night, and I continue recovering from it as I type these words, dear reader. After dropping off my bud Nickolai at 5:30 am, I couldn’t help myself and indulged in that classic Angeleno vice: doughnuts. Sure, I screwed up my shaky gluten-free diet, but I needed the extra sugar rush to make it up that last bit of the 405. I inhaled an apple fritter—daring the last few exits to where I remembered my bed was. I crawled into it at 6:00 AM for the first reasonable amount of sleep that I had the chance to partake in since Thursday.

Posted by Joel Bevacqua on Monday, February 15, 2016

(DJ Mad Dog broke the chain in LA once again!)

I had to stay up every minute I could though, to witness a pioneering concert tour that will be long remembered. Future promoters read this line-up and weep because you will never see anything like it again: The Prophet, Scott Brown, Rob Gee, Vortex, Placid K, and Super Marco May. BAM! All certifiable legends in their own right, combined with hardcore superstar Mad Dog, and the first ever American appearance of Amnesys and The Melodyst who represent the next great wave in hardcore EDM/techno, or whatever the hell we are calling it now. Put that in your pipe and smoke it man, that line-up happened and I got to see the whole thing 3 times (save a couple hours in San Francisco because of a complete flight scheduling disaster).

I was an hour early to the Los Angeles show at Club Nokia, mainly because I was playing the very first set in the VIP lounge with DJ Mindcontroller. We were assigned the task of representing classic rave on vinyl with our set, which we gladly delivered to the old school heads. We couldn’t help playing some real cheezy stuff though. I mean, I hadn’t played the Lords of Acid’s “Take Control” in decades, and this was the perfect scenario to indulge in such vice. We were followed by Lostboy and Demigod, who represented the more UK breakbeat sound for the most part.

Demigod gets classic!

Posted by Joel Bevacqua on Tuesday, February 16, 2016

(Demigod gets classic!)

Thee O, Steve Loriah and Scott Brown (playing classics) followed it up in fine fashion, apparently, but I can’t directly report on them since I was busy downstairs at the time getting hammered by hardcore. Like the last Trauma show, there was so much going on in both sound areas you always had to make critical choices. You were going to see and hear something great, and miss something great no matter what you did.

I chose to be in the main area at about 2:00 AM where Placid K ruled last night. He laid down some brutal hardcore law during his short set that brought demons young and old out on the dance floor. A tough, driving, crushing kick is what this crowd wanted, and he hit ‘em with it perfectly.

Who was this crowd? It was classic LA hardcore, but with lots of new faces. Yeah, there were plenty of old schoolers, but it was definitely the newer hardstyle and rawstyle generation that filled the floor. Placid K has played in LA a few times earlier, so he knew how we want it served up, and he dished it out hot.

Amnesys at Trauma LA

Posted by Joel Bevacqua on Monday, February 15, 2016

(Amnesys hammers the crowd at Los Angele’s Club Nokia)

Earlier in the night, like a fly on the wall, I got to hear a few DJs bitch about their set times in the dressing room, which happens frequently with DJs. Since there were so many stars on the line-up, the max set time was 45 minutes, most got 30. I had seen Amnesys in Edmonton, and he was great, but forced to constrict his set into 30 minutes, I dare say it might have been even better. His mixing was fast and superb. He actually used the effects on the Pioneer mixer, rather than just pretending to do so like some other EDM superstars. The guy can mix, its that simple, and he condensed all the power of his set into a small window that made it hit even harder.

Before the tour began, a few heads were complaining that the set-times would be too short on this tour. I say from experience now, that is total poppycock. Set after set was awesome. It was just all the best stuff. I know that some of you who read a “10 Tips for DJs” blog post think you know about mixing when you can wax eloquently about how a DJ needs time to build his or hers vibe. You ain’t impressing me no more with this beat-to-death meme. The Trauma line-up took their best stuff, condensed it down to the ultimate essence, and working in tandem, let it rip. There was never a dull moment. It hit hard and constantly. Super Marco May, Vortex, Scott Brown (who played two sets that night, happy hardcore in the main room and classics in the VIP Lounge), The Prophet, Mad Dog, The Melodyst and Rob Gee were all freaking ON FIRE. Mad Dog and The Prophet had the biggest crowds, as they were the headliners, but the drop off to the very last note Rob Gee played was virtually nil.

This actually created a bit of a problem for me. I vowed to pass out a copy of The HARD DATA to every attendee at the show. So I lined up 4 guys to help me out, Stephen Hughes, Nickolai, Alex Murphy and Jesse Simons. So I pull these guys out of the main room at like 2:30, telling them we gotta be ready at the exit for people to leave. No one did! So basically they were all probably mad that I broke them away from the show needlessly. Everyone waited for the last note of Rob Gee’s set at 4:00 AM to leave, and fortunately those 4 hombres had my back to get our favorite ‘zine into everyone’s hot little hands at the end.

Speaking of Rob Gee, I have to give the man big props for not only his riveting sets, but his dedication to the fans. This cool cat named Jackson had drove all the way from Texas to see the show, and wanted to meet and greet the artists Something got messed up and despite buying the VIP pass and all, he didn’t get a chance to do so. So Stephen Hughes texts me in the middle of passing out THDs to tell me about this. I go back stage as Rob is getting ready to leave the venue and let him know the situation. The Gee-man hopped off the stage in a flash and was out there to meet Jackson and make sure he didn’t drive back to Texas without meeting one of his hardcore heroes. It was a great way to end a great show, and the Trauma Harder Styles Tour, leg 1, was complete.

So I have 4 days to get my Trauma-tized life back in order before I head out to Mesa, Arizona to meet up with Brandon and the SDK crew for leg 2 of the tour and another sick line-up. I mean, look at this slate of artist joining the tour and stare in disbelief:

Alien T
DJ BUZZ FUZZ
Digital Punk
Dr. Peacock
MC Ruffian
Meccano Twins
Partyraiser
Rotterdamterrorcorps
SRB / Dione
Tommyknocker

After that is Denver on Saturday, and then leg 3 is Pittsburgh and Brooklyn. So stay tuned folks, and remember, the rhythm is life and death!

Deadly Buda

Articles, Reviews

Field Report: Trauma in the Golden Bay

Posted by Joel Bevacqua on Sunday, February 14, 2016

Like opera in a construction zone, hardcore techno and hardstyle sang through the city of San Francisco last night, to the utter delight of the Bay Areas’s harder styles faithful. Fittingly, in my dutiful jaunt through the fabled city, I came upon a man doing just that, singing opera in a construction zone. I believe his name is Robert Grant. Coincidentally, in quite operatic fashion, a group of crazy Italians would help strengthen a growing Bay Area harder styles scene. DJ Vortex, Super Marco May, The Melodyst, Amnesys, Placid K and DJ Mad Dog represented the boot-shaped country and fittingly kicked the Bay Area into overdrive. They were joined by the up-and-coming Tonegenerator, legends Scott Brown, Rob Gee, The Prophet, and adroitly MC’ed by Mike Redman.

My review unfortunately is somewhat incomplete though, I must confess. Because of a scheduling foul-up at the airport, and weather delays out of Edmonton, Canada that afternoon, I would not arrive to the Regency Ballroom until almost 11:30 last night. Approximately 7 hours was spent by yours truly yesterday and night en route to San Francisco.

Finally my flight arrived in San Fran to witness DJ Mad Dog

Posted by Joel Bevacqua on Sunday, February 14, 2016

Nonetheless, I caught the tail end of The Prophet, who as expected, rocked the crowd to an appreciative hardstyle fan-base. He was followed by DJ Mad Dog, who continued his path of North American destruction, making the crowd go bonkers. Placid K followed with his signature classic hardcore style. The Melodyst picked up after that with their new school sound and the exclamation mark was put on the end of the night by Rob Gee.

Frankly all the sets I heard were just as banging in San Francisco as in Edmonton the night before. What was interesting though was the San Francisco crowd itself. San Francisco in previous decades had a robust punk rock and industrial scene, producing legendary bands like the Dead Kennedys. So, that underlying spirit in the Bay Area has always existed, and it was just a matter of time until some aspect of it surfaced again. What I saw was a spark of a new scene developing. That perfect moment when everyone in the crowd gets to know each other. It was pretty cool seeing the crowd go for it to music that was mostly new to them. Many people came for the bigger names, but were exposed to new things they liked, and got to meet like-minded individuals in the process.

It would unfair to call it the “birth” of a scene when crews like Spaz and 5lowershop have been doing underground hardcore parties for decades now. But, there was a whole new wave of ravers and party-goers getting their first taste of rocking out to a wide spectrum of the harder styles! Next stop: Los Angeles.

Articles, Reviews

Field Report: Edmonton: Trauma Live’s Harder Styles Tour 2016 .

The Harder Styles Tour kicked off with a banging kickdrum last night when DJ Vortex opened up the tour his sage-like lessons in hardstyle. The unlikely locale of this seminal outburst was frigid Edmonton, Alberta, best known in these parts as the home of the Oilers and the legendary Wayne Gretsky. I’m still smarting from the night the Oilers sneaked out of the Pittsburgh Civic Arena with a win as Mario Lemieux and Gretzky battled it out on the ice. I suppressed my prejudices though and found a lot to like in Edmonton. Most notably the crowd liked it hard, and so it was a pleasure to be in the midst of mutual transaction of hard beats and appreciative crowd.

Edmonton gets Trauma, and loved it.
Edmonton got Trauma, and loved it.

 

Despite strong ticket sales, the venue wasn’t particularly crowded, as the frigid and windy -11 degree Celsius weather kept only the most maniacal home safe in their blankies. MC Mike Redman kept the crowd psyched the entire night, straddling that perfect MC balance between chiming in at the right time and not getting’ all walky-talky. After Vortex MC Redman introduced Super Marco May. You might’ve read his interview on the THD site, and he lived up to the hype it suggested, representing Italian hardstyle in splendid fashion.

Scott Brown reads The HARD DATA
Scott Brown reads The HARD DATA

You might have thought you were in Little Italy until Scott Brown jumped on the decks and cranked up the happy. Happy hardcore that is. He even played one of my old faves, “Now is the Time.” After which he took a well-deserved rest and read the latest issue of The Hard Data, rumor has it. Amnesys jumped on stage next and played a little of everything. He started kinda slow, playing Alien T’s Hammer of the Devil, and then picked up the pace with some of his soon-to-be classics, Shockwave and Embrace the Ultimate. In the middle of it all, he even threw in some dub-step sounding tracks which was a nice change of pace.

The Prophet in Edmonton
The Prophet in Edmonton

One of the best sets of the night was next, The Prophet. Easily the crowd favorite that night, the Scanntraxx CEO busted out a surprisingly hard-as-nails hardstyle set. I wouldn’t really call it rawstyle, it was just straight banging hardstyle. I like the fact that he played “Here We Go” because of the awesome hoover in its break and its old school sound. I still think the track was inspired by Edge of Motion, but I didn’t get the chance to grill The Prophet about it, dear readers, as he was busy interacting with his fans most of the night.

Mad Dog took to the decks next, and he made it clear that 150 BPM was “not his Tempo,” because he promptly busted out his floor crushing epic, “Not My Tempo.” It doesn’t get much clearer than that, and the BPM’s instantly skyrocketed to the delight of the hardcore faithful (you can read the Mad Dog Interview in the latest issue of THD).

Mad Dog at Trauma Edmonton
Mad Dog at Trauma Edmonton

The hardcore onslaught continued as Placid K, not to be out-hoovered, laid down one of the thickest hoover sounds of the night at the beginning of his set. After all these years, lets face it, there’s nothing like a huge freakinig hoover sound on a banging system to get the blood flowing to all the capillaries. The rest of his set was his signature old school hip hop samples tightly woven with that classic Italian hardcore drive, which set the stage for the new breed of hardcore heroes, The Melodyst.

They sprang out the gate with their new track “New Dawn” and when the kick came in, it sounded wicked sick. Whatever special sauce they are adding to their 909’s, I want to know because it immediately drove the crowd into a state of frenzy.

At this point, you are probably thinking, “ok, what could they possibly do next to top the night off?” Well, the icing on the cake was our own made-in-the-USA Rob Gee, who went absolutely ape behind the decks. Just when you thought you couldn’t dance no more, the Gee-Man set a fire under everyone’s you-know-whats. If there was one drop of sweat left in that crowd, Rob made sure to squeeze it out with an energetic and inspiring performance befitting the first night of the Trauma Harder Styles Tour 2016. Next up, on to the Golden State in the U.S. of A.

Articles, Interviews

DJ Vortex: Interview from Trauma: Harder Styles Tour 2016

DJ Vortex (aka Vextor) is the A&R (Artists & Repertoire) manager of STIK Records and what some people would call the true Godfather of Hardstyle. He has been DJ’ing for 20 years and producing for 15, releasing on highly respectable labels such as Tidy, Activa, Theracords, and DJ’s United (and that is only naming a few!). You can catch Vortex on the Edmonton, San Francisco, and Los Angeles dates!

What inspired your stage name?

It was actually my friends who gave me my nickname: they said I was a Vortex… of music!

How did you get into the scene?

I was a vinyl collector; my friends used to organize parties; a lot of radio stations were born; it happened all by itself.

DJ Vortex at Trauma Tour
DJ Vortex at Trauma Tour – Buy your ticket here and get a free subscription to The HARD DATA!

What was the first record you ever purchased?

I’m having a hard time remembering, but it was probably a vinyl from Pink Floyd. Techno music wasn’t born yet.

Who was your biggest inspiration in the early part of your career?

I don’t have one! I just put all of them in my “Vortex” when I produce.

Would you describe your first DJ gig?

I was so excited, like I am now before every gig.

What was your favorite party you’ve ever played? Why?

There are many, for many different reasons: sometimes for the magnitude of the party, others for the crowd or the experience I had; I love to play big festivals but also in clubs.

What important changes have you witnessed from the time you got into the scene, until now?

Basically, everything has changed. In the past you were a DJ first, and a producer second, but now they start producing and then begin to perform as a DJ but playing their own productions almost exclusively. The work of the DJ, as a researcher and discoverer of music, is disappearing.

Did you ever think you would be touring the United States? What do you think the Trauma Tour will be like?

I have already been on tour in the United States and South America, but the Trauma tour is certainly the biggest of them!

What made you want to start producing Hardcore/Hardstyle/Rawstyle music?

I just was producing the music that I liked, then at some point some people in the Netherlands began to say it was “Hardstyle”.

What is your favorite track that you have produced?

Well, I could say “Incoming”, but honestly my favorite track is always the one I’m working on right now.

DJ Vortex
DJ Vortex

What advice would you give to up and coming Hardstyle producers?

Just produce; forget the rest.

What are your top 3 favorite tracks of all time? Why?

I have too many favorite tracks, it’s impossible to choose only 3.

Are there any exciting projects you want our readers to know about?

As many already know, I also produce uptempo Hardcore under the name of Vextor.

What artists would you like to collaborate with that you haven’t already?

Ennio Morricone: the king of soundtracks; but it’s just a dream.

If there’s anything we haven’t asked, what else would you like to say to the readers of The Hard Data?

I can’t wait to meet all of you!!! 🙂