Last month we hit the road for an unbelievable weekend of heavy bass music and dubstep in Denver. The stars aligned for the weekend, where we caught the single-day Spring Bass festival, and SVDDEN DEATH’S Valley of Darkness.
Spring Bass packs a punch with Aweminus, Infekt, Al Ross, and more
On Saturday, April 22, dubstep fans lined around the block waiting to get into Reelworks Denver for Spring Bass, put on by Amplitude and Dubhub. Colorado welcomed us to its dubstep scene with a prime lineup of dubstep and riddim artists. Upon entering the venue, sternum-shaking bass emanated from Reelworks’s massive sound system. The crowd was electric as Al Ross spun track after track of riddim classics and remixes and went back to back with Hamro for a set comically titled Ham Ross.
Credit: Michael-John Aprahamian
With the crowd begging for more, Aweminus stepped up to hit the ones and twos. As he rinsed new songs and played out crowd favorites, he surprised us with wild breaks of house and dnb tracks that left us breathless. To top off his incredible set, Aweminus brought up Digitist, Neonix, and Yakz for a special performance. Most importantly, all four artists had an absolute blast as they trolled the crowd with quirky mashups and shocked us with unreleased whips.
Credit: Michael-John Aprahamian
Finally, Infekt took center stage to finish off the night. As soon as he began playing the crowd erupted into several mosh pits. Infekt (as always) played a masterful set of riddim doubles, fakeouts, and spinbacks. After the house lights came on, fans demanded one last song, and after approval from staff, Infekt played Aweminus’s Sea Shanty to finally close out the night.
Valley of Darkness at Red Rocks
On the evening of Sunday April 23, we drove out to attend SVDDEN DEATH’s Valley of Darkness at the famous Red Rocks Amphitheater. After a short trek up to the venue, upcoming producer Vanfleet kicked the night off. She started off the show with a great set showcasing her glitchy flows and classic riddim tracks.
As the sun set, HVDES came to the stage to give us an amazing set. Her singing, mixing, and stage presence were all top notch as she played many of her numerous originals and even a special unreleased tune.
Next, Yakz and Prosecute took the stage by storm with a fully tilted back-to-back set. Together, they pumped the crowd up with a rapid-fire set of absolutely savage tunes in a mix of terrifying tunes, comical mashups, and unexpected edits.
Credit: Ashleigh Thomas
As night fell, it was time for the debut performance of the anonymous yvm3. We were shocked that as the lights and sounds started, nobody stood on stage or behind the decks. However, a silhouette could be seen behind a façade set up on stage before the performance.
With that, the performance was nothing short of jaw-dropping. The aesthetics and songs from their debut album a tragic beginning brought us to a world of its own. This project proved that the music matters a lot more than the face or faces behind it.
Credit: Michael-John Aprahamian
To prime us for the final act of the event, Apashe approached the stage. In his unique style, he performed a beautifully curated set that left no genre untouched by his one-of-a-kind orchestral and classical style. All of his music was perfectly accompanied by visuals of Renaissance art and random cuts of surreal scenes.
SVDDEN DEATH puts on a performance of a lifetime
Finally, SVDDEN DEATH took us into the Valley of Darkness. The proclaimed dark lord of dubstep took us into the depths with a set of all-new sights and sounds that left us stunned. Then, at the thirty-minute mark, SVDDEN DEATH dawned his animal skull mask and appeared as VOYD. As the first song began, VOYD levitated into the air and huge black wings sprouted from his back.
In total, VOYD’s set could only be described as a brutal cacophony. He took us into the abyss with songs from his ever popular album VOYD 2 along with an astonishing number of IDs and VIPs.
Credit: Ashleigh Thomas
The Bass Capital name, well-deserved for the city of Denver
And with that, our Denver dubstep weekend was over. In those few days, Denver had lived up to its name as the bass capital of the world. After two long nights of brutal bass music, we were tired and slightly bruised. But most of all, we left excited for the next show.
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