Rusko and Andy C - Hollywood Palladium - 6/1/12

Shannon Nehls OC Weekly

Rusko

Rusko and Andy C

Hollywood Palladium

6/1/12

On Friday, turntablist Andy C and dub pioneer Rusko headlined the infamous Bassrush show at the Hollywood Palladium. Bassrush has been bringing drum and bass and now dubstep to electronic music fans for over 10 years. As a sister brand of Insomniac Events' "Enhanced Concert Series," this special 18-and-over event was an appetizer of what's to expect from the bass stage at this years Electric Daisy Carnival in Las Vegas as the artists filled the venue with some incredibly hard hitting beats. 

Just a few hours before the show, Insomniac regretfully informed attendees that Andy C would not be performing his "Alive" show "due to a venue conflict and logistical issues that has resulted in his performing a DJ Set," according to their website and social media sites. Nonetheless, Andy C still threw down a sick, 90-minute vinyl DJ set. In true drum and bass fashion, an MC got on the microphone to hype up the crowd, which they were more than willing to oblige, going absolutely bonkers during a remix of Knife Party's "Internet Friends" which had the dance floor going nuts.

Shannon Nehls OC Weekly

The view from the VIP balcony at the Hollywood Palladium

Perhaps because EDC is almost here, attendance at the event was not sold out as we have seen at other "Enhanced Concert Series" shows. Sold out or not, the dance floor was packed with people getting crazy with their unique drum and bass and dubstep moves.

When Rusko came on stage giant letters with illuminating lights spelling out R-U-S-K-O adorned the wall. As he played songs like "Somebody To Love" from his latest album Songs, the lights flashed in sync with the momentum of the hard hitting bass. He made sure to please his old school fans by throwing in songs like "Woo Boost," filled with enough "womp womp womp" bass to send tremors up your spine. Some melodic dubstep was unleashed when he played "everyday" and then went into full rage mode as he played the Netsky remix. Rusko's energy on stage had the ferocity to match his music as he dropped his hits including Subfocus' remix of his song "Hold On." Though we didn't get to catch the "Alive" show both Andy C and Rusko killed it on the decks at this final EDC warm up in LA!

Shannon Nehls OC Weekly

Critical Bias: I appreciate dubstep, but it's not my favorite and drum and bass though it's fun to dance to really sounds like just a bunch of noise to me. Especially with the distracting MC screaming over the microphone the entire time.

Crowd: Loads of potential EDC ravers.

Overheard: "No kids those are not just really big CDs, it's called vinyl! OG shit." 

Random Notebook Dump: The only songs I recognized were Nero's "Me and You" and the Flux Pavilion remix of Freestylers' "Cracks." Maybe I need to enlighten myself in a little more dubstep knowledge before the next Bassrush in Las Vegas :)

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