The Westcott Theater presented the city of Syracuse with another night of heavy bass and hard dubstep. Budding dubstep gurus Ganja White Night [10] rolled through on their Origins Tour with the support from two very talented DJs and producers, Dirt Monkey [11]and Subtronics [12].
The show began at 9 p.m. and remained loud and lively up until Ganja White Night’s set ended around 1 a.m. The crowd wasn’t substantially large at any point throughout the night, but it was obvious that fans came out because of their passion for the artists. Although the show wasn’t a complete sell-out like other crazy nights at The Westcott, it still made for a unique Tuesday night.
The lineup attracted the typical crowd that frequents Westcott's EDM shows, with familiar faces in the room that also attended Datsik and Space Jesus' shows the previous week. Usual "wook" attire was certainly present, with fans sporting pashminas, custom pins on their snapback hats and harem pants. A few fans were seen with LED gloves giving mini light shows to other members of the audience. As the crowd began to fill up, one excited fan looked around the room and exclaimed, “The weirdos are out tonight, and I’m loving it!”
Philadelphia-native Subtronics opened up the show at 9 pm with a discernible eagerness to get people on their feet and ready to head bang. He threw down tracks with such unique sound design that it sounded like you were listening to a new dubstep genre. Subtronics is known for his “heavy, texturized robot bass music” that has a signature “crunchy” texture in the bass. He’s said to draw influences from other dubstep artists such as 12th Planet, Excision, Rusko and Downlink. Subtronics is certainly a talented producer and DJ. He used a vast amount of samples in his music and four CDJs that queued up four tracks at a time. He closed out his set with two brand new tracks from his most recent EP, Depth Perception, that featured fellow electronic producer Boogie T on one track and another with the second opener of the show, Dirt Monkey.
Dirt Monkey took the stage and kept the crowd moving as they patiently waited for the headliners. Patrick Megeath, the man behind the act, resides in Colorado and carved out his home niche in the Denver dubstep scene. The sound design in his tracks combine old school dubstep with crisp sounds and trippy, wonky feels. He kind of has a wobble to his bass that sounds very much like Ganja White Night, which makes him a perfect support act for the tour.
Finally, by 11:30 the headliners were ready to take the stage. Ben and Charlie, the two masterminds behind Ganja White Night, came out in their matching red bomber jackets and immediately threw down the hard-hitting bass. The Belgian duo not only DJs during their sets, but they also incorporate live instruments, like a piano, into the mix. Their music combines a number of different influences such as early UK bass, dubstep, reggae vibes and even some future bass, but has that signature Ganja White Night wobble that makes them so unique.
Their stage set added to their performance so nicely, with visuals that looked like original drawings made specifically for the Origins Tour. Overall, their set was a lot chiller and more downtempo compared to the sets that they are usually known to do, especially at festivals. Ben and Charlie noticeably loved being on stage, and they had everyone in the crowd getting down and groovy by playing a few of their popular songs, like "Samurai," "Champagne" and "Mr Nice." As the set was coming to a close, they played "Flava" and almost the entire crowd sang along, everyone head banging and smiling ear to ear.
Ganja White Night’s set made for a very chill Tuesday night that could be argued as the perfect vibe. Drinks from the bar were flowing and fans had a perfect amount of room to get down and dance freely. The Westcott outdid themselves yet again with a great show. Subtronics, Dirt Monkey and Ganja White Night are certainly welcomed in Syracuse and it’s no doubt that the city would love to have them back again.
