It has come quite apparent in the last few years that while the majority of major cities in the U.S. have thriving electronic scenes based in the genres of house and trance, that Philadelphia has grown as the anomaly of the group. With cities like Miami, New York City, and Las Vegas continuously bringing names like Armin Van Buuren, Calvin Harris, and Tiesto to their dedicated fans, names like those don't seem to blow ticket sales sky high in the city of brotherly love. Friends in Philly tend to find themselves bonding over head banging and mosh pits rather than VIP tables and expensive bottle service packages. The grass roots bass scene has allowed for three major companies to rise above the rest taking the city by storm with the most stacked, and original bass bills Philly has seen since the early rise of Bass Nation shows at the previously praised Soundgarden Hall. Catharsis Collective, EDM Entertainment, and University EDM have built themselves as the rightful kings of bass music in Philadelphia, and Saturday night they provided us with yet another night we will never forget.
With the show being titled Anitfreeze upon it's first announcement, we did not know what to expect from this lineup. Previous lineups with titles such as Vicious gave us a clear view of what to expect, absolute vicious bass fueled mayhem. What we got from the Antifreeze show was a plethora of non-conformational bass music. The lineup featured Webster Hall resident Laetus, up and coming production phenom Phiso, and UK dub maniac Funtcase. All three artists proved their potential on Saturday night and from the moment we stepped into the venue to the moment we breathed fresh air at the end of the show, there was no lack of aggressively inspired fun for the whole crowd. Laetus warmed the crowd up with a majority riddim set, giving fans their first taste of the recently popularized genre. During his set, it seemed prevalent that the greater half of the crowd present was the realest of Philly's riddim gang. With the crowd warmed up, the easy transition into Phiso's set provided the perfect build in atmosphere and energy. The young producer showcased his new mixing talents throughout the entirety of his set. While the transitions weren't perfect, the track selection was on point and the set contained a vast number of VIP's and rare tunes that sent the crowd into a frenzy. We can't wait to see what a little more live performance time does for Phiso's sets, he's sure to be in the mix at the peak of dubstep in the next few years.
Finally, the moment had arrived. Out walked the masked madman known as Funtcase to huge roars from the crowd. Something that is very special about Funtcase's sets is his unparalleled stage presence. It seems that half the time, the UK dub god is having more fun playing his sets than the people getting down to it in the crowd, and with no fault on the attendees at the show. The set was filled with the best of the best when it comes to England's dub scene, mixed together with a surprising amount of drum n bass which while we expect to a point from Funtcase, still had us in awe. Dropping jump up tracks left and right it seemed the crowd somewhat didn't appreciate the tone of the set overall, but in our opinion it was a perfect reading of the rest of the show that had occurred so far. The crowd had gotten filthy for the last two sets straight and needed a little extra pep in their set. Something like that is rare to be seen by an up and coming DJ, but a pro like Funtcase can cater to any type of show or room that he needs to, and we love him for it. Thanks to District N9ne and all the promotion companies involved for another splendid night, we can't wait to do it all over again next weekend!
