Even if you didn’t attend Datsik‘s 2014 stop through Chicago at Concord Music Hall, there’s no doubt you’ve at least caught wind from fans about the infamous show. To cut a long story short, Concord’s ceiling, specifically the far right side of the venue, had literally collapsed due to the insane vibrations from the excessive bass that the PK sound is famous for. As a result, Chicago got TWO dates on the tour this year – so everybody was happy.

NIGHT 1
By: Max Litrofsky

Simply put, that’s not exactly how the Friday show went. In fact, it was a total 180 and I can confidently state it was one of the most solid filthy shows I’ve attended at Concord, second only to Zomboy, Cookie Monsta and Eptic; where I went so hard I’m 99% sure I forgot my own name (sober, of course). In all honesty, I was almost more excited to see Trolley Snatcha, as I’d only caught a set of his once before this. I’m an enormous fan of the older-school dub sound and culture, and Trolley does a phenomenal job of bringing that energy to the current climate of the genre. Datsik obviously destroyed his set, dropping tunes by the likes of Twine, Protohype, and other Firepower heavy-hitters. The grime and filth was as real as ever, as were his transitions, and being a DJ myself, I pay attention to things like that.

The upgraded Vortex 3.0 was a welcome spectacle, with improved visuals, more accurate 3D projector mapping, and totally badass, custom-built light and LED fixtures on either side of the Vortex. Without a doubt, the highlight of the night was when Datsik dropped his 100% Certified Authentic Banger collaboration with Bar9…”Droid”. I wasn’t sure if he would only play the first drop (it’s jump-up) and mix out of the track before the second wind came, however – to my complete satisfaction – the second drop happened, and having waited months for this very moment I lost my mind 10,000%, leaving me one extremely satisfied fan. Right before it drops, the sample, “we’re going to destroy you” comes in and it was as if everything went silent before I went completely bonkers.
 
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZ2Z5LeKLyY&w=640&h=150]

NIGHT 2
By: Barrett Nelson

With the first night now in the books, it felt like night #2 had an abnormal amount of anticipation surrounding it. I arrived bright and early for the wonderful Fox Stevenson, but unfortunately, his brief opening set was not nearly long enough for him to develop any type of groove while on stage. As we transitioned into Trolley Snatcha, the pace really began to pick up. Some people will make the case that his general presentation lacked the proper lights and audio (by no fault of his own), but the music itself was spot on. After rummaging through plenty of his personal classics, Trolley also made a point to mix in some big time bangers from a variety of other talented artists.

With Kennedy Jones next in line to take to the stage, the crowd could sense that a trap-heavy performance was on the way. This particular genre of music has never been a favorite of mine, but having said that, this producer did DJ an extremely clean set. Which is something any EDM enthusiast can appreciate. To close out the evening, Datsik took to the stage in an effort to give Trolley Snatcha a proper b2b send-off set (seeing as it was his final stop on the tour). Cramming himself – along with his three tour mates – into the not-so-spacious vortex setup for the final 45 minutes of his set, absolutely anything was fair game. In fact, I couldn’t even begin to recall the last time I heard so many old school dubstep hits rinsed out in a public venue. Classic numbers from Emalkay and Chasing Shadows helped to set the tone for what was an otherwise disjointed set at times. Overall, the second night showcased no shortage of bass shenanigans and sent the entire audience home with wide smiles plastered across their faces.

Final word: Datsik and Trolley Snatcha make for 10/10.

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