Bassfaced Road Trip: Shambhala 2008
Shambhala is everything that a music festival should be. So much so, that you begin to convince yourself that there is no possible way this could actually be happening. Unlike any other music festival I have ever been to, it got exponentially better with each passing second and just when you thought a moment couldn't get any more perfect, an even better beat would drop or there would be an occurrence that would bring your jaw to the ground the very next minute.
There is something about the energy felt on that farm during this weekend that will never be able to be explained with words or captured in pictures. There is a connection made between the audience themselves as well as a symbiotic relationship between the audience, promoters, and artists that makes for one of the most unique concert experiences in the world.
We began our travels in Seattle, recovering from Skream at Nectar and getting on the road heading Spokane bound. As the bland scenery passed by, beats were bumping, and the pre-show butterflies had already started churning. We headed north to BC and crossed the border in one of the speediest crossings I've ever had the pleasure of being a part of. The border patrolman was also kind enough to remind us that if we gave him all the drugs in our car now, that we would only have them confiscated but would be able to proceed into Canada with no trouble. What a nice gesture. : )
We proceeded into BC and eventually found ourselves on the side of the road in line waiting to get into the site. After an hour wait, and a 5km drive on a rocky path through the woods to get there, we finally set up camp late Thursday night and decided to head down to the Rock Pit. There we caught the end of Atomic Hooligan as well as DJ Kev's set with MC/Beatboxer Shamik. The opening night ended up turning out a bunch of electro, with Shamik dazzling the crowd with impressive beatboxing and beatmatching skills with DJ Kev.
Friday started off by heading down at noon to the Living Room stage, an awesome set-up on the beach complete with a refreshing 10-ft wide stream to raft down or cool off in. The duo of Luscious Beats started the day off right with some tropical sounds, blending beats and live percussion on a beautiful sunny afternoon. Next up on the beach, things got a little bit filthier with the duo of Subvert and Excision throwing down an afternoon dubstep session. Excision tore the place apart with an OSC- 'Rockers Delight' mashup, as well as dropping 12th Planet & Emu's massive new chune 'Control.' We headed down to the beach again around 10pm to catch eDit performing his album "Crying Over Pros For No Reason" in its entirely, using a Rhodes organ and Ableton Live. Staring out onto the woods from the beach after his set, you could begin to see lightning starting to outline the clouds in the sky, as people began cheering with every flash.
We then made our way over to the minimal tech-house sounds of Seattle's own Lawnchair Generals at the Village stage, who provided easily one of the highlights of the weekend. As the storm drew closer, thunder began to blast along to the basslines being felt on pK's 90,000 watt system and a necessary rain began to fall on the audience who all erupted at the continuous crashes of thunder. At one point, the projection screens and lights were completely turned off on the stage, as the lightning above became the eye candy.
After the Lawnchair set, we checked out NYC's own The Rub performing in the Fractal Forest, a pyramid DJ booth in the middle of a circle of woods, complete with lasers and 8 projection screens hung from the treeline outlining the stage. I was a little let down by their set, but they were definitely playing to the crowd and keeping their set to more of a rave atmosphere than the hip hop I'm generally used to hearing from them. After the Rub, Ana Sia threw down one of the more impressive sets of the weekend, playing long after her alloted slot was over down at the beach stage. As we headed back up from the beach at around 4:30am, we heard the beginning dialogue of Caspa's remix of TC's "Where's My Money" and had to run over to the Pagoda to see who was spinning. Lo and behold it was B. Traits, a 21 year old DJ from BC who threw down some of the hardest beats felt all weekend, as her blends of Drum N Bass and Dubstep kept the Pagoda stage partying until 7am.
Not bad for a first full day in paradise.
The Hip Hop showcase early Saturday afternoon in the Village got the crowd rocking with an impressive showing of turntablism, as well as a breakdance battle set up in the middle of the dancefloor. Saturday night, the Village was yet again the place to be, with DJ Nu-Mark, Ed Rush & Optical, and Evol Intent headlining a solid 5 hour block of mind-bending music. Evol Intent decimated the Village with some of the hardest Drum N Bass I've ever heard. As daylight began to break over the hills, we ventured back down to the beach to catch Bassnectar's dawn-sunrise set which consisted of more downtempo music than I am used to hearing from him; a welcome surprise after 4 hours of chest rattling DnB. Music blared until 10am as Saturday night eventually blended into Sunday afternoon.
After taking most of the day to recover and prepare for Sunday night, it was time to head down to the Village and enjoy one last night of fun in paradise. We arrived to the sounds of Excision ending his set, playing a recent release off of Rottun Recordings. You can find Excision's full set available for download HERE. Next up on the decks was Subvert, the man behind the 90,000 watt system, who played a set of glitchy dubstep and hip hop. As his set winded down, Skream started getting his dubs ready as we all knew we were all in for a wild ride. I don't know if I will ever experience or feel music like that ever again, body completely submerged and swimming in basswaves under the stars.
Skream started his set off with a nice disco tune to tune up, and then began to drop the business. Playing out his own tune 'Lemon', J@kes & Joker- '3kLane', Rusko- 'Soundguy Is My Target', Kulture- 'Steppin' Outta Babylon', as well as the tune of the summer right now, Chase & Status'- 'Eastern Jam', Skream pushed that soundsystem to the absolute limits. An impressive, but far too short of a set, Skream encored with his remix of Rusko's 'Jahova' and then gave up the stage to Bassnectar as we headed down to see A. Skillz in the Fractal Forest. Some of the freshest music I've heard in a while, A. Skills threw down some impressive remixes, most notably the remix of Dizzee Rascal's track 'Flex'. B. Traits then put on a clinic yet again this time at the Rock Pit, throwing down Drum N Bass, Dancehall, Reggae, and a solid 30 minute block of dubstep tracks from the likes of Rusko, Coki, Caspa, and Chase & Status.
All 4 members of the Glitch Mob then took over the Village stage, a highlight of which was their remix of Weezy's 'Lollipop' which actually made the song tolerable. After Glitch Mob it was then off to the bassline sounds of Trouble & Bass' Drop The Lime, who threw down some incredible tracks as well as his bassline remix of Rusko's 'Cockney Thug.' Ill Gates took everyone to the break of dawn in the Fractal Forest, playing a massive 3 hour set that was a perfect end to Shambhala.
As long an entry as this was, I still feel like it will never do the event and experience any justice at all. What I can say, is that if you have any love for electronic music, partying, good people, and British Columbia; do yourself a favor and check out this festival because it is without a doubt one of the best parties in the world.
Expect some pictures in the near future.
Happy Shambhala!
see you all next year.
- the Bassfaced crew
There is something about the energy felt on that farm during this weekend that will never be able to be explained with words or captured in pictures. There is a connection made between the audience themselves as well as a symbiotic relationship between the audience, promoters, and artists that makes for one of the most unique concert experiences in the world.
We began our travels in Seattle, recovering from Skream at Nectar and getting on the road heading Spokane bound. As the bland scenery passed by, beats were bumping, and the pre-show butterflies had already started churning. We headed north to BC and crossed the border in one of the speediest crossings I've ever had the pleasure of being a part of. The border patrolman was also kind enough to remind us that if we gave him all the drugs in our car now, that we would only have them confiscated but would be able to proceed into Canada with no trouble. What a nice gesture. : )
We proceeded into BC and eventually found ourselves on the side of the road in line waiting to get into the site. After an hour wait, and a 5km drive on a rocky path through the woods to get there, we finally set up camp late Thursday night and decided to head down to the Rock Pit. There we caught the end of Atomic Hooligan as well as DJ Kev's set with MC/Beatboxer Shamik. The opening night ended up turning out a bunch of electro, with Shamik dazzling the crowd with impressive beatboxing and beatmatching skills with DJ Kev.
Friday started off by heading down at noon to the Living Room stage, an awesome set-up on the beach complete with a refreshing 10-ft wide stream to raft down or cool off in. The duo of Luscious Beats started the day off right with some tropical sounds, blending beats and live percussion on a beautiful sunny afternoon. Next up on the beach, things got a little bit filthier with the duo of Subvert and Excision throwing down an afternoon dubstep session. Excision tore the place apart with an OSC- 'Rockers Delight' mashup, as well as dropping 12th Planet & Emu's massive new chune 'Control.' We headed down to the beach again around 10pm to catch eDit performing his album "Crying Over Pros For No Reason" in its entirely, using a Rhodes organ and Ableton Live. Staring out onto the woods from the beach after his set, you could begin to see lightning starting to outline the clouds in the sky, as people began cheering with every flash.
We then made our way over to the minimal tech-house sounds of Seattle's own Lawnchair Generals at the Village stage, who provided easily one of the highlights of the weekend. As the storm drew closer, thunder began to blast along to the basslines being felt on pK's 90,000 watt system and a necessary rain began to fall on the audience who all erupted at the continuous crashes of thunder. At one point, the projection screens and lights were completely turned off on the stage, as the lightning above became the eye candy.
After the Lawnchair set, we checked out NYC's own The Rub performing in the Fractal Forest, a pyramid DJ booth in the middle of a circle of woods, complete with lasers and 8 projection screens hung from the treeline outlining the stage. I was a little let down by their set, but they were definitely playing to the crowd and keeping their set to more of a rave atmosphere than the hip hop I'm generally used to hearing from them. After the Rub, Ana Sia threw down one of the more impressive sets of the weekend, playing long after her alloted slot was over down at the beach stage. As we headed back up from the beach at around 4:30am, we heard the beginning dialogue of Caspa's remix of TC's "Where's My Money" and had to run over to the Pagoda to see who was spinning. Lo and behold it was B. Traits, a 21 year old DJ from BC who threw down some of the hardest beats felt all weekend, as her blends of Drum N Bass and Dubstep kept the Pagoda stage partying until 7am.
Not bad for a first full day in paradise.
The Hip Hop showcase early Saturday afternoon in the Village got the crowd rocking with an impressive showing of turntablism, as well as a breakdance battle set up in the middle of the dancefloor. Saturday night, the Village was yet again the place to be, with DJ Nu-Mark, Ed Rush & Optical, and Evol Intent headlining a solid 5 hour block of mind-bending music. Evol Intent decimated the Village with some of the hardest Drum N Bass I've ever heard. As daylight began to break over the hills, we ventured back down to the beach to catch Bassnectar's dawn-sunrise set which consisted of more downtempo music than I am used to hearing from him; a welcome surprise after 4 hours of chest rattling DnB. Music blared until 10am as Saturday night eventually blended into Sunday afternoon.
After taking most of the day to recover and prepare for Sunday night, it was time to head down to the Village and enjoy one last night of fun in paradise. We arrived to the sounds of Excision ending his set, playing a recent release off of Rottun Recordings. You can find Excision's full set available for download HERE. Next up on the decks was Subvert, the man behind the 90,000 watt system, who played a set of glitchy dubstep and hip hop. As his set winded down, Skream started getting his dubs ready as we all knew we were all in for a wild ride. I don't know if I will ever experience or feel music like that ever again, body completely submerged and swimming in basswaves under the stars.
Skream started his set off with a nice disco tune to tune up, and then began to drop the business. Playing out his own tune 'Lemon', J@kes & Joker- '3kLane', Rusko- 'Soundguy Is My Target', Kulture- 'Steppin' Outta Babylon', as well as the tune of the summer right now, Chase & Status'- 'Eastern Jam', Skream pushed that soundsystem to the absolute limits. An impressive, but far too short of a set, Skream encored with his remix of Rusko's 'Jahova' and then gave up the stage to Bassnectar as we headed down to see A. Skillz in the Fractal Forest. Some of the freshest music I've heard in a while, A. Skills threw down some impressive remixes, most notably the remix of Dizzee Rascal's track 'Flex'. B. Traits then put on a clinic yet again this time at the Rock Pit, throwing down Drum N Bass, Dancehall, Reggae, and a solid 30 minute block of dubstep tracks from the likes of Rusko, Coki, Caspa, and Chase & Status.
All 4 members of the Glitch Mob then took over the Village stage, a highlight of which was their remix of Weezy's 'Lollipop' which actually made the song tolerable. After Glitch Mob it was then off to the bassline sounds of Trouble & Bass' Drop The Lime, who threw down some incredible tracks as well as his bassline remix of Rusko's 'Cockney Thug.' Ill Gates took everyone to the break of dawn in the Fractal Forest, playing a massive 3 hour set that was a perfect end to Shambhala.
As long an entry as this was, I still feel like it will never do the event and experience any justice at all. What I can say, is that if you have any love for electronic music, partying, good people, and British Columbia; do yourself a favor and check out this festival because it is without a doubt one of the best parties in the world.
Expect some pictures in the near future.
Happy Shambhala!
see you all next year.
- the Bassfaced crew
Malente Live in the Fractal Forest
