Rockstar Energy Drinks presented Safe in Sound Festival at Buffalo Riverworks, an old grain mill that was revamped into an impressive event center, where Borgore and friends threw down vicious sets last Thursday, September 29th in Buffalo, New York.
I had never been to this venue since I have only come back to my home town last year, and have not seen anything worth attending, or checking out there. I had heard that the space was attracting a lot of locals, and tourists, to a part of downtown Buffalo that had become run-down, and a waste of lake side property with a lot of potential. This show changed a lot of those prior conceptions. Driving up on Silo City, and the Labatt Six Pack, through the old industrial steel plants, the echoes of the 90’s rave scene splattered over my mind. This was the first time Riverworks has had an electronic show of this size, and there was ample security, even leading up to the venue itself. Inside, the crowd was encapsulated in steel, garnished with a beautiful LED screen stage set-up, and starving to rave. Each ticket holder had a comfortable seat at Safe in Sound’s table, and we all were happy to make to the bass-feast.
Terravita took the stage first, and served a meaty set. They took their savage bass, sawed through viscera with vicious drop after drop. As they showered the crowd with machine-gun fire synths, all the thirsty bangers thrashed out in sync. The duo’s mixing style is definitely energetic, and they work the crowd sufficiently. There is a rough edge about how they flowed through the set, but any untamed beast will be that way. The delivery of this ear hole infestation of rhythmic chiseling was completely satiating.
After you wiped your chin off, Dirtyphonics banged up to the head of the table. Their spread billowed out like a heavy thunder-head, hot and humid. Phonics chokes you with frenzied, fast-style mixes. Their bass is not the kind that pounces, but takes more pleasure in lurking deeper, peering at you from the shadowed in-betweens of the leaves and branches. Fans will know that Phonics was a foursome; the pair that remain from the bloody dubstep-stump have taken the flailing limb, and made it writhe all on its own. It was a sentimental moment for one fan I spoke with who said Phonics had not been to Buffalo in four or five years. With this joyous return, they made the bass breathe by providing intermittent slivers of silence, while still mixing fervently. The crowd was nourished as they kept the bass raining down on them all the way through the set. I appreciated their MC-ing, laying down some organic verses, and providing inspirational words just before a bass drop funneled ragged vibrations down my throat, into my thoracic cavity.
Snails sloshed in after Dirtyphonics. The hyped bass, anthem like vocals, and sticky, sinuous mixing of Snails’ style made this an incredible set. Snails seems to create a tenuous situation between the synths and bass, and forces them to resolved their issues in therapeutic slime. The ability to mix a track that’s so twisty, it trails up the stem of the bass line, rising to the actual bud, then blooms with syrupy centers, attests to Snails popularity, and longevity in such a dynamic sub genre. His choice in songs to mix was also gummy-good and included ‘Better Off Alone’ by Alice DJ, and ‘Let the Bodies Hit the Floor’ by Drowning Pool.
Lastly was Borgore. He entered strong, blazing-chariot-style, showing off his dub-step roots, but still came through with more traditional hip-hop elements. This especially happens where it counts which is with his choice in vocals. As for his sound, Borgore’s bass drops are preceded by simple mixes that morph into complex colossi. Rich, luxurious, frothy metallic wubs built up on the thickened mix of ‘100’s’. Then in the next release a slick, sweet female vocal tongues at your ear as the 90’s-like synth thumps and ruptures into more fleshy futuristic bass drops. The blended fury brings on the warm and fuzzies, liking listening to old-school, Golden Age hip-hop tracks while wrapped up in your favorite dub-step tracksuit. The child-like innocence of remixing ‘If You’re Happy and You Know It’ into a shadowed, robotic synth-droid captures his nostalgic theme wonderfully, and the choice of an Alien Lisa Frank kitty-cat imagery behind him could not have been more appropriate. Cheekily, Borgore slams you, reminds you, why it’s called Trap, since that’s what he did with this savage-psycho-cute, chuckle set: He trapped me and now I might always call him Daddy.
Safe in Sound should not be missed if it is coming to a city near you. The prices are fair for the banquet of bass-music you will be able to gorge on. What really should stand out is the fact that this tour is trying to recreate, and incorporate aspects of what made electronic music unique in the first place, (longer shows and sets, good sound systems, and better venues to appreciate the huge sound), and that should be welcomed by hungrier fans. If you want to support artists who are taking risks with their music while still cooking up sizzling, crowd pleasers I implore you to hit up this tour, and these artist’s websites.
A few gripes I had about this event, that I feel I need to mention, were most likely glitches that can be attributed to this being the first electronic event at this venue of this size. That being said, there was no information on the parking situation (which was cash only), their system for checking tickets was whacked (left many people waiting in the rain, and cold), and there was no post about the event’s super tight security.
Check out Safe in Sound Festival’s website for city dates, and to purchase tickets.
Photos are thanks to Kainan Guo from the UB Spectrum.
