Killafoe, Casuel, Maker, JD4D, Naysu, Dinolife, Blackfoul, Heavy Division, Fat Al
Shape Bar
Friday, September 12, 2014
2014 has borne witness to the rise of a cult event in Perth’s bass music scene – a scene that has left itself less and less room to rise in prolificacy or popular demand. If you’re at all a dubstep fiend or committed raver, then you might’ve just guessed I’m talking about Bassment. Edition 002 stretched a 3-4 hour line around the corner from Gilkison’s dance studio. Edition 003 sold out its entire online ticket allocation in a very literal 5-10 seconds. Taking bass music back where it belongs, the nights themselves have consistently delivered gargantuan dubstep tunes and vibes, resplendent reminders of the greatness and staying power of the genre. It was ball-of-excitement time, then, when it was announced that Bassment had teamed up with tried-and-true industry destroyers Inhibit to bring the lucky people of Perth Bar9 and Habstrakt, a seemingly perfect recipe for a huge night of explosive bass music.
The event was slickly run, and despite the huge online attendance, the line was whittled down to next to nothing within a couple hours of doors opening. Lead support for the night was local Killafoe, fresh off having his single Creation Bomb featured in Excision’s Shambhala 2014 mix, a huge nod of achievement to any bass music producer.
Following in the reliably bass-crushing footsteps of Inhibit selector Casuel, the set Killafoe provided was of a familiar surging intensity, jumping effortlessly across genres whilst keeping the focus on building a dubstep-worthy, energy-yielding atmosphere.
Frenchman Habstrakt came out and opened with Yabba Dabs, a chaotic dubstep creation from his upcoming Storm EP in collaboration with Megalodon. It left the room simmering, ready to boil over, but unfortunately what came next failed to capitalise on this. There were patches of classic grimy, glitchy dubstep, but the set was ultimately driven by house tracks such as the first drop of Mercer & DJ Snake’s Lunatic or the Skrillex, Kill The Noise and Milo & Otis remix of NRG. It pleased some, but ultimately lacked the grunge and filth that dubstep devotees have drooled and queued for with previous Bassment events, and this was reflected by a constant ebb and flow of dancefloor passengers.
The UK’s Bar9 also decided to open up with a huge 2014 dubstep artpiece: their collaboration with Datsik, Droid. This time, however, when the crowd rose in anticipation of more jumbo dubstep, they were absolutely validated. It took 26 minutes before it felt like the destructive warpath of dubstep bangers ever trailed off for a pit stop, but within the minute the crowd was sent off on a trip to yet another deadly double drop destination. Digital Gangsta by Space Laces was the crowd favourite, but it was a set predominantly built around immense originals, such as Piano Tune, the remix of Example’s Kickstarts and the remix of Dodge & Fuski’s Bring The Wobble Back, the ensuing screams carrying forward from the back of the room a clear indicator of the quality of the mixing. The room was left to Bassment slayer Dinolife, and with every huge wub that followed from that point onwards it felt more and more like being back in a Bassment sweat pit. A fitting end to a night that showcased the hunger and passion dubstep will always cultivate in Perth.
JOSH LLOYD
