Say Hello to Vello Virkhaus of Vsquared Labs, the world's leading creator in internationally renowned visual experiences for live entertainment and brand activation. He has worked with a number of your favorite artists ranging from Korn, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Sting to electronic ground breaking acts such as Amon Tobin and Infected Mushroom. Large scale festivals such as Coachella, Ultra, and this weekend's Electric Daisy Carnival, cannot go a show without the visuals of VJ V2 and if you have been in attendance at any of these events you know exactly why. His visuals are stimulating and energizing. The images are always inspiring. We caught up with V2 during all of the Indio desert madness and in preparation for this weekends installment of some more desert fun we'll give you a sneak peak inside of the creators brain. Without further adue, we present you Vello Virkhaus.
Late night party people + early morning risers + midnight marauders we have the bass fix for you. Tonight/early tomorrow Saturday Morning May 12th from 4am - 6am our brothers in bass will be providing with you an onslaught of lower level infrasonics to sooth your soul. Radiobomb will be dropping 2hrs of bass on KPFK 90.7FM's Aziatik Rhythmz. Gracing the wheels of steel will none other than DJ APX1 (Ghetto Life, Tonz o Drumz, I Love LA) + Subflo (Bassrush, MixnBlen, Radiobomb). In addition to the madd music they'll be giving back to the supporting community with a whole grab back of giveaways to help get your party on. Eccentric and I will be making the trek to the KPFK studios to join them in studio to experience the music first hand. You can experience the music as well with the following means: KPFK 90.7FM Los Angeles + KPFK 98.7 FM Santa Barbara + KPFK 93.7 FM North San Diego + KPFK 99.5 FM China Lake + www.kpfk.org WorldWideStream. Call 818 985 5735 for your shout outs and a chance to win the giveaways.
Bassrush and Funktion continue to bring a range of bass music from all over the world to warm the walls of Dim Mak Studios in Hollywood for all in attendance. Last week we experienced Foreign Beggars take and break the stage, truly a historical event. Tonight, the World Famous Do Lab gets in the mix bringing some of Alpha Pup's arsenal to the Studios. Nosaj Thing and Free the Robots will be providing the beats and the bass along with Bay Area's Thriftworks. Check out Nosaj Thing's mix from Mary Anne Hobbs last weekend to get a taste of tonight's rhythms.
This was my first time attending a Bassrush event as well as attending an event at the Dim Mak Studios in Hollywood, formerly known as the Cinespace. Bassically (see what I did there?), I didn't know what to expect, which I felt was a good thing, because it meant that I had no expectations (good or bad) walking in. After spending a good amount of time looking for parking, I finally was able to get to the venue. Although I was a bit late, I managed to get there right when Reso was starting his set.
No introduction needed for Breakage, the man representing bass music so deep that Pete Tong describes it as music that communicates with whales and deep sea creatures. Having experienced his performance at last years Coachella I can attest to what Mr Tong has stated. Many selections from his latest release titled Foundation [purchase @ Beatport | Amazon], currently out on Digital Soundboy, are staple tracks in not only my dj sets, fabricated's sets, but on Dank Radio as well. His track Justified was my introduction to his sound and I later become obsessed with tracks like Old Skool Ting and Hard after hearing them for the first time during his BBC Radio 1 Essential Mix. His set later on tonight is surely not to be missed. Don't sleep on tickets. You don't want to be sorry you did...
Afrojack @ SNS Arena | Photo Source: Together As One's Facebook
Now that I've had about a full day to rest|recover|reflect on the insanity I partook during the last moments of 2010 into the first moments of 2011 I can finally share some of the highlights of Together As One [Go Ventures + Insomniac Events]. I'll explain things in the order I experienced them and I'll focus on some of the musical moments that really stood out for myself and the crowd. Following these highlights I'll share a couple comments and suggestions for future events. Let's begin...
Saturday Night Sessions Arena Afrojack [ Official | Facebook | Twitter | Youtube ] The first song we heard when we stepped into the Saturday Night Sessions Arena was Show Me Love by Steve Angello & Laidback Luke feat. Robin-S. The positive energy of the arena was electrifying. Everyone was singing, dancing, merrymaking and we knew things were just getting started. When you take that amount of energy and double it, that's what occurred when Afrojack dropped his remix of Show Me Love right after the original track.
The crowd also went wild when Pacha On Acid began to play. There's just something special about hearing the build up from 3:45 - 5:12 in a giant sized arena with the bass thumping and possessing you to move your body in ways you didn't know they moved. To be honest with you, I don't get many songs by Afrojack until I hear it live on a massive sound system. Case in point his recent track titled, Replica. Once I heard it in the arena it made perfect sense.
Bassrush Arena Nero [ Facebook | Twitter | Youtube ] With all the posts we've done with Nero on Dank Radio you can probably guess the excitement I had to finally ring in the new year with these guys at Bassrush. I would be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed when I only saw one of the two forces behind Nero. But no matter I had the music to bring my spirits back up.
I've been playing their Essential Mix over and over for the past couple weeks and their set consisted most of the key tracks you'd expect. Early in the set you heard their In The Middle Remix and it seemed like the crowd wasn't too familiar with that track from my vantage point. The crowd however did respond when they heard MJ Cole's Sincere ( Nero Remix ). Let's just say the ladies got expressive at this point.
In a matter of moments I finally got to hear the set of songs I've been waiting to hear on a proper sound system. Nero's remix of The Jets Crush On You sounded spectacular. I missed it when they played the track at Audiotistic and was waiting for this soung to drop during their set. The moment when they played Downlink's Factory + Chase & Status' Let You Go (Nero Remix) + Nero's Welcome Reality was amazing. The passion behind the lyrics of Let You Go over Welcome Reality is perfect for a massive's speakers.
We stayed for a handful of the Drum & Bass tracks but had to make our way to the Together Arena for Laidback Luke. One thing that stayed with me was what the MC's said about Bassrush. They were happy for the continued growth of the LA Bass scene and how more people are accepting of the music and declared that Bassrush would never ever leave the scene and stay until the very end.
Together Arena Laidback Luke [ Official | Facebook | Twitter ] What more can I say about this guy that hasn't already been said. I've seen him a handful of times throughout 2010 and each time I see him perform he does something new/different that blows my mind. And after each set I'm extremely inspired and driven to practice even harder.
The best way to describe a LBL set is that the crowd's energy fluctuates between 80% at it's lowest point and reaches it's highest at about 120%. In essence he always manages to keep the energy at a constant of about 100% throughout his sets. Don't ask me how the math works, It just does.
LBL used his remix of iSquare's Hey Sexy Lady to build the crowd up for the countdown. Which was very appropriate especially with the "People people put your hands up" lyric. After the yelling, confetti, and toasts he brought the crowd back in with his & Steve Angello's track Be. And just when you thought things couldn't get even wilder he drops Timebomb (Original Mix).
After Timebomb he proceeded to drop a continuous stream of audio bombs that prolonged the special feeling felt during the point of countdown. If I can recall, he did a combination of Duck Sauce - Barbra Streisand & Fake Blood - I Think I Like it that made the crowd erupt in excitement. In every LBL set there's always a time when you say to yourself, "WTF?! is he really playing this?". During that night it occurred when he played Bruno Mars - Just The Way You Are. Just as the song was playing with the ladies singing their hearts out and the guys confused with the song choice he drops his remix of Dirty Talk.
With all musical journeys piloted by Luke a flight wouldn't be complete without a dash of Dubstep thrown into the mix. Despite the negative reaction of some audience members he still manages to guide us through the turbulence and get us from point A to point B.
Wolfgang Gartner [ Official | Facebook | Twitter ] Just when you think the TAO attendees were beginning to run low on fuel Wolfgang Gartner picks up from where Laidback Luke left off and continues the party well into the night. 2010 was a good year for Wolfgang. He solidified his production status with a slew of continuous bangers which culminated into his signing with Ultra Records. He also left us with a special going away 2010 present in the form of an Essential Mix.
The moment he strung together Mr Oiozo's Rubber + Beyonce's Single Ladies + Mumbai Science's Gold I was in awe. It truly was one of those "OMFG I can't believe you just did that?!" moments. Another song that caught the whole tent's attention was MC Lyte - Cold Rock A Party. I never thought I'd ever hear that song at that type of event. One song I NEVER thought I'd ever hear that night was Jodeci - Freakin You. If anyone knows who made that remix he played that night please let us know in the comments section!
Aside from the random songs he through into the mix to throw us off[in a good way] he included all his crowd favorites: Wolfgang's 5th Symphony, Undertaker, Yin, and his latest tracks Illmerica & Space Junk. All in all it was a great set and despite the crowds chants for an encore he only teased us and left us wanting more.
Comments + Suggestions 1) Disorganized Entrance: Bicycle racks to snake the line and organize the concert attendees in a more orderly fashion. Additional staff to do ID/Ticket checks & security pat downs. A third GA entrance point. We understand that if you want to get in quickly to an event you need to show up early and be patient. But this is never an excuse for a lack of planning by event organizers. 2) Running out of Water in the Arena: Periodic refilling[once every 30min during peak hours of 9pm-12:30am. Once an hour from 12:30am-close] of each station by additional push-carts or golf carts. The best example of this was during Coachella. Even when a station ran out, it only took 15 min. for a cart to come around and refill the buckets. If costs per additional people power are an issue you need to remember that water is a BIG sell at these events, more so than alcohol[no hard data. just based on observation]. 3) Countdowns out of sync: Better communication between each stage through walkies/synchronized clocks|computers. Sound/Tech guys easing up on the alcohol consumption before the countdown[i did front of house at an all ages venue for 2 years so i know there are certain shows when you say "F(*)ck it I'm partying w/ everyone else"].
