Some of the biggest names in EDM gathered in New York City’s Terminal 5 for a bass-filled evening of dancing, and maybe just a little bit of debauchery. The all-star lineup for the festivities included Zeds Dead, Porter Robinson, Araabmuzik, Bassjackers and Codes. For those of you who were able to attend, you’ll probably agree with everything I’m about to say; for those who were not so fortunate, make sure to get on board next time ANY of these guys are in town. I have seen plenty of EDM shows in my day; Bassnectar, Rusko, Wolfgang Gartner, Deadmau5, the list goes on and on. Therefore, I can say with confidence that Anomaly was one of the sickest shows I have EVER had the pleasure of seeing. Everyone who touched that stage was absolutely golden, without question.
After arriving at Terminal 5 around 10pm, waiting in an unusually long line, then being subjected to a pat-down that an inmate from Riker’s Island would receive, we were able to walk through the doors of the club formerly known as Exit. Only getting the chance to see about 20 minutes of Bassjackers set, I was definitely impressed with what I was able to witness. Being a fan of theirs, I have to say that they played a good selection of their own tracks, although I was unable to catch their bomb remix of Tiesto’s “Maximal Crazy”. Even though they were only the 2nd out of 5 acts on the bill, they still had the crowd getting nasty throughout their entire set. The highlight of the set was, without a doubt, when they dropped “Mush Mush”. That song is absolutely nuts, and on the awesome sound system at Terminal 5, it really got the crowd warmed up for the rest of the night.
Next up was AraabMuzik. Now, this guy is 100% unique in the field of EDM. He produces hip-hop beats for major rappers such as Cam’ron, and it is difficult to even call him a DJ in the traditional sense, because what he creates with his MPC drum machine and samples is absolute magic and very unique. Look his name up on YouTube and you will find videos of him pressing buttons in a seemingly arbitrary manner, as fast as humanly possible over dubstep beats, and creating a completely original arrangement of percussion and samples every single time. Not only is it a nice change up from the same old mixing techniques of other producers and DJ’s, but he does all of this LIVE. It was nearly impossible for me to catch a glimpse of him during the performance because the crowd was so dense, but I could just imagine him going bonkers up there the entire time. Highlights of AraabMuzik’s set included his, for lack of a better word, remixes of Emalkey’s “When I Look at You”, Flux Pavilion’s “I Can’t Stop and U Got 2 Know”, Doctor P’s “Sweet Shop” and every single one of the Skrillex songs he played. His performance was one that I will never forget; I only wish I could get my hands on some downloads of the material he puts together live.
Once we collectively stopped cheering for Araabmuzik, we put two and two together and realized that Porter Robinson was up next. Hailing from North Carolina, Porter hit it big in the EDM scene before he even graduated high school. At age 19, he is the definition of an EDM prodigy, among the likes of worldwide stars like Avicii and Alesso. His high-energy electro house is guaranteed to get even the most timid of people moving on the dance floor. The chants of “Porter! Porter!” began as soon as he was visible on stage, and it was immediately clear that his set was going to be something special. Ever since his “Less Go” remix, it was evident that this kid would blow up. I recognized that he opened with “Spitfire”, and from there, it was just pure, unadulterated electro mayhem for an hour straight. He didn’t even let “Spitfire” play into the drop, before he had another track spooled up; he used samples from tracks to tease the crowd into expecting one thing, and two seconds later, he would drop a completely unheard of track and destroy the dancefloor. After seeing this incredible performance, it is pretty safe to say that Porter Robinson is on his way to becoming one of the best DJ’s in the world. Highlights of his hour-long set include Wolfgang Gartner’s “Space Junk” and “The Champ”, Knife Party’s “Internet Friends” (one of the sickest tracks I’ve ever heard, check it out if you don’t know it), and all of his own material that he played. I was somewhat disappointed I was in the bathroom when he dropped “100% in the Bitch”, his moombahton track off the Spitfire EP, but the rest of his set was just so incredible it really didn’t even matter. I would pay time and time again to see Porter Robinson, and I’m already looking forward to catching him next time he comes around New York; Camp Bisco anyone!?
I really thought I wouldn’t have enough energy to get me ten minutes into the next set. Then came Zeds Dead, the Canadian dubstep duo, and blew all of our expectations into a million itty-bitty pieces. Their songs and remixes have an immediately recognizable filthy style to it that no other artist can reproduce. Their basslines are consistently ridiculous, and on that sick sound system, it just sounded absolutely perfect. With the release of their new EP Adrenaline just days away, catching some of their new tracks was to be expected. And did they play some new music!!! They had so much material throughout their set that they didn’t even have the chance to play some of their biggest, albeit a bit older, songs, like their Rolling Stones remix or “Coffee Break”. On the other hand, they pulled out rapper Omar Linx for their nasty collaborationss “Out for Blood”, “Rude Boy” and “Eyes on Fire”. We were able to get three out of the four new tracks that will be released on the 23rd of January; “Hit Me”, “Adrenaline”, and “Oh No”. This EP is going to be unreal, make sure to pick it up as soon as you get a chance. Overall, Zeds Dead played a show fitting of their superstar status in the dubstep community. They performed seamlessly, mixing all variations of dubstep into their headlining set.
Take my word for it and go see ALL of these acts at the earliest possible opportunity. If you haven’t heard of some of the listed acts, do yourself a favor and plug some of the track titles in YouTube or Spotify; as a guy with thousands of top notch electronic tracks on his computer, I can guarantee that all of these dudes are some of the best in the biz. So check em out, like em on Facebook, and be a supportive fan! Oh, and the next Anomaly is March 31st at Terminal 5, so if you live in New York, get down there for another equally all-star cast, that includes: Laidback Luke, Martin Solveig, Mt. Eden, Felguk, and Pierce Fulton. Be there, or fail miserably on the decision to not.
Written By Zachary DiLuzio