Big Ape feat. Party Favor
Peter Payne
Saturday, September 13
Shape Bar
For the second time in three outings, Big Ape and Shape have thrown another monster LA trap party. Following last month’s set from Gladiator, this time it was up to Party Favor to throw down the kind of hip hop-based, twerk-worthy party trap sounds we’ve lately been spoiled with.
Party Favor’s Australian tour marks the first time he’s left North America this year, having been solidly booked to this point. That time has been well spent furthering his reputation for building carnival atmospheres – he’s been flooded with rave reviews of his debut at Electric Daisy Carnival off the back of his Spinnin’ releases. This year has seen him lock down slots at the upcoming Beyond Wonderland and TomorrowWorld festivals.
Despite online ticket sales remaining open well into the week, a rarity when an international graces Big Ape, on the night enough trap wooers had been lured to Shape by the premise of a Party Favor party that when the main man hit the decks a bit earlier than expected, the room quickly flooded and buzzed in anticipation of another grand West Coast night. Quickly taking to jumping seamlessly between trap and hip hop, with brief interspersings of house and dubstep, Party Favor kept the crowd on their toes over his 90 minute set. It was a typically original-heavy mix, featuring new single Sweat, his festival VIP remix of Showtek’s Booyah, and the widely-acclaimed, already adored Bap U, which is just finding its release on Mad Decent this week.
The highlights of the set always came whenever it was announced the next track was unreleased or newly finished – there’s nothing like the satisfying tease of hearing a huge banger once and knowing it might be months before you can put a name to it. Aside from his original productions, there were plenty more trap treats for spoilt ears, including some of the finer re-works of the year, Flosstradamus’ remix of Steve Aoki’s Rage The Night Away, Styles&Complete’s remix of Rae Sremmurd’s No Flex Zone and the Lookas’ remix of W&W’s Rocket. The set was loud, intense, and thoroughly entertaining, dripping a cool sweat the whole time. Stepping up after Party Favor was Big Ape resident Peter Payne, delivering a multi-genre set built on trap and dubstep, perfect for those unwilling to give up the skip in their step just yet. After the walls of Shape had been once again thoroughly adorned by trap grandeur, the Big Ape curtains were drawn on yet another massively pleasing party.
JOSH LLOYD
