The X Tour, featuring world-renowned DJ and dubstep/electro/drum n’ bass producer Excision, stopped on Friday, March 23rd and Saturday, March 24th at the Best Buy Theater in New York City. Armed with a brand new lighting rig known only as “X-Vision” and 100,000 watts of sound (with speakers designed specifically for dubstep), Excision was intent on creating an absolutely one-of-a-kind concert experience that would rival some of the biggest performers in the EDM community. With exceptional support from Liquid Stranger and Lucky Date, this show was guaranteed to be something special.After waiting on a massive line of eager fans stretched across multiple blocks, I entered the venue just in time to catch the beginning of Liquid Stranger’s set. Born in Sweden, Liquid Stranger excels in producing unique songs that still retain his particular “flavor”. His tracks span multiple genres, but since he was opening for Excision, his set was focused on heavy dubstep and drum n bass. Although the speaker system was not even close to “max” at this point, his hard-hitting bass lines got the crowd moving in no time. Even as an avid fan of all types of EDM, I wasn’t a huge fan of Liquid Stranger, but by the time he finished his set, I was a changed man. Switching between genres effortlessly, Liquid Stranger threw down some absolutely destructive beats (his collaboration with Messinian, linked below, is an especially filthy example) and did a great job of warming the crowd up for the next heavy hitter, electro-house sensation Lucky Date.

Hailing from Chicago, Lucky Date (Jordan Atkins-Loria) took the stage and what can only be described as complete chaos ensued. As the crowd began to pack the dance floor to capacity, Lucky Date dropped an incredibly varied electro-house set consisting of some of his personal productions as well as some of the best tracks in the genre. Although Lucky Date was confined to a small table and DJ equipment, the lack of visual stimuli was overrided by his skills on the decks and his incredible song selection. Dropping bomb after bomb, including Zedd’s unreleased dance floor killer “Shotgun” and the Space Lace’s remix of their very own “Ho’s and Disco’s”, Lucky Date had the crowd jumping up and down to the very last kick and snare. If you ever get the chance to see Jordan throw down, jump at the opportunity! Check out his new killer single, “I Want You,” below to get a taste of what you’re missing.

And last, but most CERTAINLY not least, was the man himself: Jeff Abel, Canada’s dubstep shining star more commonly known as Excision. As he took the stage on top of his massive X-Vision light setup, the energy in the crowd reached a boiling point. As the first signature Excision basslines emanated from the MASSIVE subwoofers, the collective look on the crowd was one of absolute shock and awe; never before has so much sound and BASS been compressed into such a small space. Each kick was like a punch in the face; and the basslines vibrated everything in the room uncontrollably, spilling drinks and causing the crowd to involuntarily put on their best bass face. Excision’s skill as a DJ are nearly unparalleled, and his time behind the decks showed as he took the audience on a dance-floor destroying journey through the mystical land of dubstep, drum n bass, and electro. Excision’s set included his unreleased bootleg/remix of Skrillex’s smash hit “Equinox”, one of his many original collaborations with Datsik, “8-Bit Superhero”, and even moved into a slower, 110 BPM minimix to change up the vibe again. No track was allowed to drop twice before Excision had another banger spooled up and ready to go. It’s an absolutely brutal trip into the deep, penetrating basslines; the words of Excision’s title track off his newest album (featured below), X-Rated, explain it best: “I exercise dance floors, leave ’em exhausted….I exert stress when I export beats / That exhilarate the hard and exterminate the weak.” One of the uncontested kings of dubstep continues his reign of terror with the X-Tour; check to see if he’ll be stopping in your town on Excision’s Facebook page.

Written by Zachary DiLuzio

Liquid Stranger: Soundcloud Facebook

Lucky Date: Soundcloud Facebook

Excision: Soundcloud Facebook