Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Jakwob at Cinespace 1|25|11 [Concert Review]


Jakwob [Boom Ting Records] - Photo by Nightfox

My brother [e]ccentric, Ms. Nightfox, the LOL Man, and I made the drive up to Cinespace last Tuesday evening for a night of infrasonics and bass thumping music[don't worry fabricated you're joining us for the next show]. For those of you who have been keeping up with our posts you've seen our support for this young and talented UK producer, Jakwob. We've interviewed him to see what his plans were for his label Boom Ting Records and we were treated to an exclusive Hip Hop mix that was aired last month for Dank Radio. So you can imagine the amount of anticipation we had to finally see him make his Los Angeles debut.


One thing that struck me when I finally met the wobble maestro was his collective calmness. He was cool, courteous, and at ease. This common thread would ride on for the evenings turn of events. Right from the start the crowd was receptive to the songs he played. Immediately the flow of energy between performer and audience was created. Like a calm before the storm he began with a set of deep and droning sound waves that eventually built up to tracks so massive he had to spin back the record to regain control.


Jakwob [Boom Ting Records] - Photo by Cobra Snake

The all consuming sub frequencies lured the people towards the stage. The louder the thump went the closer they got. Whether it was a surreal dubstep track focusing on the sexy side of bass or a crowd pleaser banger they danced. You could see it in their faces they were there to be moved by his wobble. It got to a point where the hardcore kids started to mosh and formed a small pit. Some may argue that this has no place in EDM but as Jakwob himself stated "you can dance how ever the f(*)ck you want to to any genre of music!"[one rare example when he wasn't calm].

As the set went on we all wondered when he would drop his remix of Ellie Goulding. He had played his share of Benga beats and Magnetic Man tracks. The females sang along to Katy B's Katy On A Mission and skreamed out every lyric to I Need Air when he filtered out the vocals. All of the LA heads went wild when they heard "Now wake the F)(ck up!!!" so much so you thought Rusko himself walked onto the stage[not complaining, we love Rusko]. Right when you think the audience couldn't get any wilder during Rusko's Cockney Thug and Jahova, he drops what we've all been waiting for.

Ellie Goulding - Starry Eyed (Jakwob Remix)

It seemed like everyone had their hands up in the air singing out "Next thing, we're touching!" You could say this was the climax of his set. The part of the musical journey that grabs your attention. Everyone was so happy to hear this song, if Ellie was there that night she would of been all smiles from ear to ear. Here Jakwob took us to a higher level playing Caspa's remix of I Remember. It was as if they haven't been to a mau5 show in ages. Much respect to Jakwob for knowing what song to play and when to play it. Continuing with Emalkay's When I Look At You to Caspa's remix of Right Hand Hi he proceeded to give us what we needed.

With all of the commotion around him he kept his composure. It was as if no one else in the room existed. Not in a negative way but you knew he was in the zone and so were we. Here With Me sounded amazing that night. The cheeky curve ball for the evening was when he played Kanye West's Gold Digger into a drum and bass remix of the same song. To top the night off he played Sub Focus' remix of Rusko - Hold On. The energy that night reached a whole different state of excitement. People were dancing on stage, in the audience, and in the booths. Just when you thought Jakwob was some kind of detached musical entity he shed a glimpse of his humanity when he turned to me and said, "So that means a good review, yeah ;) ?"


Photo by Holy Mountain

Tour Dates:
2/03 O2 Academy Leicester, UK
2/04 Bigger Than Barry in Sheffield, UK
2/11 Fabric in Holborn, UK
2/11 O2 Academy Oxford (Zodiac) in Oxford, UK
2/12 The Custard Factory in Birmingham, UK
2/20 Chester, UK
2/26 Metropolis in Leeds, UK
3/04 The Empire in Middlesbrough, UK
3/11 Southampton, UK
3/12 Edinburgh, UK
3/17 TBA in USA
3/18 TBA in USA
3/19 Beyond Wonderland @ NOS Events Center in San Bernadino, CA | More Info
3/22 TBA in USA
3/24 TBA in Canada
4/02 Millenium Stadium in Cardiff, UK
4/03 Tignes @ UK Snow Sports Council

<->Nativity<->

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