Bassnectar Electrifies Fans During Back to Back Sold Out Shows at The Factory

If Bassnectar drops bass in your face then Philadelphia must be two faced. That’s because the god-father of bass music opened the month of May with not one, but two sold out shows on back to back nights at the Electric Factory.

To his intensely loyal fan-base, Bassnectar is more than just a performer, he is a way of life. Much like Dead-Heads went on tour across the country following the Grateful Dead, Bass-Heads trek far and wide to get as much of Lorin Ashton as their minds, bodies, and wallets will allow.

The Bassnectar family is a community of people that look out for one another and those in need, evidenced by the two night clothing drive that took place outside of the Electric Factory. Fans were encouraged to donate items which were then provided to the less fortunate members of Philadelphia.

As further proof of Ashton’s respect for his fans and their well being, all concert-goers were permitted to bring a sealed bottle of water into the show to aid in their hydration. Once inside, water was also for sale but numerous free-bottles were also given away through-out the night by the Bass Ambassadors working at the show.

Once you factor in that his DJ and production skills are out of this world, his lighting and visuals are are a show in and of themselves, and that he routinely plays for well over two hours per event, it’s easy to see why he was one of the top three ticket selling DJs in 2012 (along with Tiesto and Deadmau5) topping out near a quarter million tickets sold.

Having seen Bassnectar numerous times, interviewing him at Ultra Music Festival 2012, and being admittedly big fans of his large music catalog, we were excited for the double dip of bass to kick off the month in style.

The first show, on Wednesday May 1st was sold out weeks before the doors opened to fans at 7pm.

The opening set of the night was given to Thiftworks. The California based DJ with ties to our area did a nice job of setting the stage the for the rest of the evening. It would be unfair to say that he warmed the crowd up as the audience members were already hot with anticipation before they even set foot inside the venue.

Up next was Detroit”s Griz who seems to be everywhere these days. We had to chance to catch him at SnowBall Music Festival back in March and were anxious to see him again on our home turf. With the venue already packed, Griz took over around 9pm and showed why he is a heavy-hitter in his own right.

His soulful, funk-infused bass sounds had the Electric Factory charged up and going hard. He’ll be making the rounds across the U.S. this summer and we highly suggest checking out his set if you have the chance.

Just after 10pm, with numerous Bassnectar logos already emblazoned on the gigantic digital wall behind the turntables, Bassnectar hit the stage with the image of a huge fluffy puppy on the screen behind him.

Playing his signature mixture of hip-hop, rock, and just about everything-else infused bass music, Bassnectar took Philadelphia on a journey into the far reaches of euphoria and sanity.

To say that the Bass-Heads lost their minds for the next two and a half hours would be putting it lightly, very lightly.

With the Electric Factory so packed that it was nearly impossible to move throughout the balcony, let alone the main floor below, the night became one big, hot, sweaty, head-banging affair.

Night two, on Thursday, May 2nd, had many similarities to night one but several differences as well. Griz was replaced by Michal Menert, who rocked the mic as well as the decks.

Night two also had a “Red, White, and Blue” theme and fans came out adorned in patriotic gear and sporting patriotic Bassnectar totems.

Because Bassnectar has such a strong following, he wouldn’t disrespect his fans by playing the same set two nights in a row. Yes, there are some elements that carry over from one night to another, especially his signature hits, but everything from the track selection to the visuals were unique to each show.

Once again on night two he played for more than two hours, in which the audience, energized by every single bass drop, returned the vibe ten fold. Even those few people we spoke with who had been dragged to the show by their friends, admitted that by the end of the evening that they were full Bassnectar converts.

There is just something about the man, his fans, and the way everything comes together at his shows (especially the smaller venue performances as opposed to larger festival ones) to form a magical experience that will make a fan and a believer out of almost anyone.

Don’t take our word for it. When he comes to your town, grab your friends, grab a ticket, and go experience Bassnectar for yourself.

Be sure to “like” Independent Philly on Facebook and follow us on Twitter!

[photo credit: Steve Garfinkel Photography & D. Jacob Miller Photography]

You can view a ton of additional photos from both nights below (click thumbnails to enlarge):

 

 

 

 

 

Interview With Markus Schulz: Get Ready to Scream

Call Markus Schulz “butter” because the man is on a roll. He’s recently traveled across the globe with Armin Van Burren on the “A State of Trance (ASOT) 600” tour, announced a new partnership, and dropped a new album. As if that weren’t enough, he’s about to embark on his own “Scream” album bus tour which will make stops all across the U.S. in April and May.

He’ll be rolling to Philadelphia for a stop at Soundgarden Hall on Thursday, April 11th (with The M Machine) and we had a few quick questions for him (with an in-person interview to follow) before his performance here next week.

Independent Philly: Your upcoming Scream album bus tour is making a stop in Philadelphia next week and you’ll be playing the Boom Box festival at Penn State as well. What can your fans expect at one of your shows if they’ve never seen you spin in person before?

Markus Schulz: Between festival and club gigs, it differs hugely. At festivals, with the shorter set lengths, you need to come with something more compact. At club gigs though, that situation reverses. Playing across a broad span of electronic music, it (a club gig) allows me to explore all the musical areas I’m into – everything from deeper progressive and techno-ish moments, to tough trance thrash, and then off the cliff top dive down the Schulz rabbit hole!

I love to play the longer sets. To put that in context, New Years Eve last at Avalon in L.A., I spun for 12+ hours straight. For this tour, sets will lean more in the extended set direction.

IP: Do you prefer to be in the studio producing or out on the road playing gigs?

MS: As a DJ/producer, one never takes preference over the other. They are both entirely different (yet naturally linked) practices. They both offer completely diverse, yet equally enjoyable highs. One takes place on stage, in front of thousands of people; the other is capsulized and away-from-the-public. From that I can imagine how fans might think that DJing is the preference. Not the case though.    

IP: What can you tell us about your New World Punx partnership with Ferry Corsten?

MS: Ferry and I started playing together b2b last year and working on a few reboots of some of our old, not-forgotten favorite tracks. “New World Punx” is a sort of formalizing of that. The name comes from my ‘The New World’ track and Ferry’s ‘Punk’ track. It’s now this kind of umbrella name/term for what happens when our two sounds meet. We’ve just finished playing the opening trio of nights/sets and the response has been incredible. Can’t wait to get stuck into more of them.  

IP: Tell us a little bit about your experience on the A State of Trance 600 tour…

MS: As you’d expect, every ASOT season offers another best new level in terms of what it delivers. 600 though has made an almost impossibly large leap. It started around ‘amazing’ and every gig since has just got better and better. Ultra last weekend was off the hook – an incredible atmosphere. I think this weekend just gone by however managed to top it. Ferry and I played a New World Punx set at Madison Square Garden and I know it’ll be a night I’ll still be recalling in 20 years time.  

IP: Would you like to give a shout out to your fans in Philadelphia?

MS: Sure! Guys, Philly is a place I love to play and it’s been a touch too long since I’ve been back. We’ll be putting that to rights next week though! Looking forward to seeing all you next Thursday night at Soundgarden Hall. Be in no doubt: unicorns will be slayed!

We can’t wait to be on hand to cover Markus Schulz set at SGH as well as get his answers to a second round of questions! We’ll hope you’ll join us Philly for  what promises to be an amazing night of Trance music.

Click here for full event details!

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Ultra Music Festival 2013: Miami’s Music Mecca

Ultra Music Festival 2013 expanded to two full weekends for their 15th anniversary (with Miami Music Week sandwiched nicely between the two).

While a few acts were specific to one weekend or the other, the majority of the performers were on hand for both weekends (albeit not always on the same stage as the other weekend).

Independent Philly hit Miami mid-week between the two Ultra’s, in plenty of time to catch some of the warm up events and all of Ultra weekend 2.

We kicked off our coverage on Thursday, March 21st at the W Hotel in South Beach where Sol Republic, Motorola, Trident, and SiriusXM joined forces to present the Moto Music Lounge.

The invite only event served as pop-up studio for the SiriusXM UMF broadcast and saw a slew of DJs and celebrities roll through to give interviews, hit the decks, or just relax and mingle.

Thursday saw names like A-Trak, Rony Seikaly, Krewella, Calvin Harris, and Afrojack make appearances.

The music was loud, the drinks were cold, and everyone had a great time, removed from the much larger crowds at other Miami area events.

It was the perfect way to kick off the week with a very hectic schedule ahead for Ultra.

Last year, we made a point of covering as many sets as possible at Ultra’s eight stages. As a result, we had very little time to actually listen to any one set for more than 15 to 30 minutes. In 2013, we pledged to spend more time at each set we photographed. The result was less running between stages, a better experiences, and some very tough calls about some stellar choices for overlapping sets.

On Friday, Ultra Music Festival weekend 2 kicked off at 5pm with Hard Rock Sofa & Swanky Tunes on the Main Stage. From the second the gates opened to fans at 4pm, there was a constant stream of people heading into Bayfront Park in downtown Miami.

The five guys behind the decks did a great job of kicking off the Main Stage, making those in the crowd rage from the opening beat, despite the grey skies and gentle rain that began to fall around 5pm.

Up next on the Main Stage was R3hab who we hadn’t had a chance to see since last summer at Tomorrowland. There were many fans of R3hab pressed up against the gate at the front, as was evidenced by their R3hab branded gear and homemade signs.

Ultra added some more diverse acts to the festival this year, especially on the Live Stage so we left R3hab to catch Kerli followed by Matt & Kim (who we had bumped into the day before at the W Hotel).

Kerli’s singing performance consisted of a few quick songs performed in about 20 minutes so it was hard to really get a feel for her, but her loyal fans in the crowd certainly seemed to enjoy the chance to see her perform.

The Brooklyn based pop duo, brought their usual high energy on the drums and keys while they regaled the audience with tales of everything from Matt’s love of small boobs, to Kim waxing her “cha-cha” in preparation for wearing booty shorts (which, according to her, she backed out of doing because of the chilly, rainy weather).

It’s hard to keep your energy up on an empty stomach so we took a break following Matt & Kim to grab some food from one of the numerous tents throughout Bayfront Park. We found a nice spot on a grassy knoll and enjoyed our dinner while our ears took in the sounds of Avicii on the Main Stage. Avicii got somewhat experimental with his set, which we found very enjoyable. However, the crowd didn’t seem to know what to do with it and seemed rather shell shocked. Maybe they would have preferred he play a 60 minute rendition of “Levels”.

Following our break, we returned to the Live Stage to catch Boys Noize and his mega skull structure. At this point the sun had set, literally setting the stage for a killer light show to accompany Boys Noize fantastic track selection which offered something for fans of all genres.

Finally we concluded our Friday evening at the Live Stage for a live performance from The Bloody Beetroots. This was hands-down our favorite performance of the first day and one of our top 3 from the entire weekend. Having only ever experienced DJ sets by the Beetroots (Ultra 2012, Tomorrowland 2012) it was a real treat to see the added elements present in their live show. There is no substitute for the organic sounds of live instruments and vocals.

On Saturday, Ultra was open for a full 12 hours, from noon to midnight. After a late-night out in South Beach on Friday night, we were a little slow to arrive at the festival on Saturday. Once we did, we quickly regained our energy, as the heavy bass and tens of thousands of beat freaks echoed from every corner of Bayfront Park.

After strolling around for a bit,we stopped by the Trapped Stage to catch UZ. The masked man of mystery has been rumored to be any other number of DJs in disguise because he always wears a full mask and does not do interviews. Whomever the man behind the mask is, he had the crowd running the trap on the hill top over looking the bay.

From there we headed to the Drop Zone tent which was absolutely jammed with people to see Krewella. The Chicago trio threw down a great set, completely void of some of the technical difficulties they faced during weekend 1.

After a bit more wandering and a stop for some needed hydration, we hit the Main Stage for another one of our favorite DJs, Fatboy Slim. Norman Cook has been rolling out top notch production and thrilling crowds with his life sets for decades and the man shows absolutely no signs of slowing down.

His sets at Ultra 2012, EDC NYC, and Tomorrowland were some of our favorites of 2012 and while his 2013 Ultra set wasn’t quite as enjoyable as the offerings we got from him last year, it was still a treat. There are some under 21 year old DJs out there that don’t have the energy that Fatboy Slim has behind the decks, and his enthusiasm only made his live set that much more enjoyable for the masses who packed the Main Stage to see him.

When Fatboy Slim was almost finished, we headed over to the Live Stage where Delaware based band Yeasayer was working it for the smallish crowd that had formed to catch their set. Having seen Yeasayer at other festivals (Coachella 2010, Firefly 2012) we  knew we to expect.

Their chilled out live sound was a welcome break and let us sit down in the hard backed seats of the Live Stage, and mellow out to their funky stylings. The band even apologized to the audience, saying they received a bad review from a Miami area publication after their weekend 1 performance and promised to be better for weekend 2.

With the sun setting, and our hunger once again rising, we again took a break to grab some food before heading over to the Carl Cox arena to see the UK master do his thing accompanied by a breath-taking light show.

With our energy levels replenished we hit the Drop Zone stage which was crazy packed with people for a bass-drop onslaught from Flux Pavilion and Doctor P. We stayed for the rest of their set in order to be there for the beginning of another one of our favorites, Bassnectar.

Bassnectar, whose countless fans often refer to him by his first name, Lorin, puts on a ridiculous live show infused with tracks and remixes from a slew of bass-heavy EDM genres.

The crowd, packing into the Drop Zone like sardines, got down as best they could to his set as confetti canons and kryo-blasts shot from the stage. We would have loved to see his entire set but with the buzz building about Deadmau5’s Main Stage performance, we had to leave ample time to make our way through the uncanny large sea of people that lay between the two arenas.

After fighting our way through thousands upon thousands of people, we made it back to the Main Stage in time for Deadmau5. Despite his having bashed Ultra Music Festival in the past, the opinionated DJ behind the mouse helmet returned to play both weekends in 2013.

Deadmau5 is known to play (almost) exclusively his own music and that’s exactly what he did again at Ultra. While we didn’t watch any of the live video feeds from weekend 1 (not wanting to spoil our weekend 2 experience) we did listen to several sets.

While we are big Deadmau5 fans, we were a little disappointed that his weekend 2 set was almost identical to the one he played during weekend 1. While it was enjoyable, we were hoping to hear some variation. Mix it up Mau5.

We closed out Saturday night back at the Live Stage where Hot Chip, another electronica-infused live band, was closing out the evening. We love Hot Chip’s sound and the band did not disappoint.

Rocking out hits that made everyone dance (even a few folks on crutches) it was abundantly clear that Hot Chip brings the funk. With a killer laser show and tons of confetti to boot, it was the perfect close out set for us on Saturday and left us dancing and humming as we exited Bayfront Park.

It’s funny how quickly time passes at a three day festival. You arrive on Day 1, thrilled about the three full days of music ahead of you and before you know it, Day 3 has arrived and you’re facing the final hours of the experience.

After rain on Friday and clouds on Saturday, it was sunny and in the low 90’s on Sunday. The crowd took a little longer to build on the final day, an obvious consequence of late night partying in Miami taking a toll on festival goers by the time Sunday rolled around.

Our first stop was at the Toolroom Knights stage while we hung out briefly before heading off to the Main Stage for Sunnery James & Ryan Marciano.

We had the pleasure of watching their set from the sound/lighting booth where we chatted with Vello who was running the imaging for the Main Stage. The view was excellent.

From there we moved to the top of the booth to the Red Bull Flight Deck to catch Thomas Gold who put on a killer set. We had considered leaving to catch Dash Berlin but we were happy we stayed. Thanks for not making us regret our decision Thomas Gold.

From there it was off to the Press Yacht for an interview with Krewella. You can watch the interview right here:

After we wrapped up with Krewella, we dashed off back to the Live Stage to catch Major Lazer.

Diplo & company put on one of the best sets of the entire weekend hands down.

At one point they were joined on stage by surprise guest Sean Paul to the delight of fans who packed the Live Stage to the gills.

We stuck around at the Live Stage for Snoop Dogg/Lion. Between Major Lazer and Snoop, Yasmine Yousaf of Krewella and Adventure Club (who are dating) popped up to do a surprise quick tag-team set for the massive crowd.

Snoop hit the stage to a roar of cheers and proceeded to drop a mix of his biggest hits, other hip-hop favorites (like House of Pain’s “Jump Around”) and some of his new tracks from his Snoop Lion reggae project.

While it was amazing to see Snoop perform his classics and some newer dance-infused jams (while he puffed away on stage), we were left totally uninspired by his new Snoop Lion selections.

Up next on the Live Stage was Pretty Lights who we  had no intention of missing. His track selection and light show are second to none and we stayed for as long as we could before breaking away to head back to the Main Stage for Swedish House Mafia.

Swedish House Mafia has been one of the biggest names in EDM for the past several years and after announcing their plans to retire as a group to focus on their solo careers, Axwell, Sebastian Ingrosso, and Steve Angello decided to play their final show at Ultra weekend 2.

It was no surprise that the Main Stage was absolutely packed leading up to their 90 minute set (although their were also very large crowds for Paul Van Dyk at the ASOT600 Stage and Wolfgang Gartner at the Ultra Korea stage).

After a 30 minute break following Alesso’s set, the stage was prepped for the trio to give their farewell performance. They entered from the middle of a huge stage set-up in dramatic fashion and played exactly what you would expect, all of their productions that have made the trio famous.

After snapping some photos, we returned to the Live Stage where we had chosen to see Crystal Castles as our final Ultra set.

After taking the stage fifteen minutes late (which is arguably early for Crystal Castles) Alice Glass & Ethan Cath hit the stage in a think cloud of smoke.

They dove right into their glitchy, synth-pop catalog as Glass sang (er, screamed) away into her mic while smoking a cigarette (that has to be good for the vocal cords).

Often known to be less than warm when it comes to the media, Crystal Castles was very engaging with the audience. Glass moved to the front of the audience several times from the stage to be closer to their adoring fans.

Sunday night came to a close in much the same way Friday and Saturday nights did, with a huge fireworks display and a mass exodus of fans from Bayfront Park into downtown Miami and South Beach for any number of after parties.

All in all Ultra 2013 (weekend 2) was a blast. As always it was often difficult to choose between sets as many of our favorite DJs were playing at the same time on any given day. The sets we did hear were almost all fantastic with lots of new music being debuted. There is no place we’d rather be each March and no substitute for being there in person to take it all in. We’ll miss you Miami, see you next year!

Be sure to “like” Independent Philly on Facebook and follow us on Twitter!

[Photos by: D. Jacob Miller Photography & Jeanette Alexandra Wons]

You can view an expanded photo gallery from all three days of Ultra 2013 (weekend 2) below (click thumbnails to enlarge):

Hardwell & Bingo Players: Double Dutch DJ Invasion at Starlight Ballroom

On Wednesday, April 25th, fans at the Starlight Ballroom in Philadelphia were treated to a double dose of Dutch DJs.

The event, presented by MASS EDMC and NV Concepts, was a make-up date from a postponed show on the Winter White Tour (originally scheduled for several months ago in Trenton, NJ) and featured two huge names in the world of EDM, Bingo Players, and Hardwell.

The event kicked off with opening sets by Amenzo, Fratello, and TEGA who all did a great job getting the venue warmed up as the huge line of people outside of the venue slowly trickled inside. As often happens at the Starlight Ballroom, the crowd grew, the temperature rose, and by the time that Dutch duo Bingo Players took to the stage around 11pm, the place was already going bananas.

We caught Bingo Players on the the Main Stage at Ultra Music Festival in Miami last month as well as their gig at No Sugar Added at Nikki Beach. Paul Bäumer and Maarten Hoogstraten killed it at both of those shows and Philadelphia was no exception. Their high energy track selection had the Starlight Ballroom going crazy.

We had a chance to chat with Maarten Hoogstraten for a bit after their set and he expressed his love for playing gigs in the U.S. and loved the energy that the Philly faithful had shown them. Just in case you were wondering, they took the name Bingo Players from a friend’s AIM screen name.

While Bingo Players could easily receive top billing for a show, it was Dutch wunderkind Hardwell that took the headlining honors on Wednesday night. Just 23 years old, Hardwell has set the EDM world on fire. With #1 hits, his own radio schedule, a bevy of remixes, and an insane touring schedule, we’re  not quite sure where he finds the energy to thrill crowds night after night.

Thrilling the crowd would be an understatement for his set on Wednesday. For 90 minutes he laid down a auditory onslaught on Philadelphia with a barrage of bass heavy tracks and club bangers.

At the end of the night it was apparent that Philadelphia needs their Hardwell fix and we wouldn’t be surprised to see him back in City of Brotherly Love before too long.

You can view a full photo gallery below:

Bassnectar Drops Bass Center V on Philly

Friday, April 20th has been circled on our concert calendar for months, ever since Philadelphia was announced as the host city for Bassnectar’s Bass Center V.

The Liacouras Center at Temple University served as the venue for thousands of bass-crazy fans who packed all three levels of the building with their hoops, glow gear, signs, and totems.

We admittedly hit a snag on our way to the venue that forced us to miss opening act Vibe Squad but arrived in what we thought was plenty of time to see another one of our favorites, A-Trak. Little did we know that our photographer would be told at will-call that the venue staff had given his photo-pass and ticket away to someone with a completely different name with no logical reason for doing so.

By the time the whole thing was worked out (thank you to Bassnectar’s manager for the assist) we barely had enough time to make it inside before A-Trak’s set was over. Not quite sure why a venue would chose to turn over passes/tickets to someone who didn’t not have an ID that matched the list, however, the person who picked up said passes used their real name and the situation is being looked into. Not cool.

Once on the floor of the venue we were impressed by all of the effort that had been put into the visual aesthetics. Bassheads were decked out in costumes with some great totems that ranged from humorous to downright impressive. There were also many visual presentations courtesy of Funtown Productions and Bodypaint.ME who were on-hand to body paint anyone who wanted it.

The moment that Bassnectar took to the stage the energy level in the Liacouras Center went bananas. He has some of the nuttiest, loyal fans on Earth and it’s easy to see why. Seamlessly mixing in hits from his new album “Va-Va-Voom” as well as several of his classics, Bassnectar took everyone on a journey of epic highs and dirty bass-drop lows. Add in the crazy light show and it was a thrill for the senses.

After interviewing him at Ultra Music Festival last month, we knew he planned on bringing it at Bass Center V and he did exactly that!

Bassnectar is truly a treat for EDM fans and although our night started off a bit rough, he did more then enough to smooth it out.

You can view a full photo gallery below: