I still remember clearly my first Zeds Dead show.
It was the at House Of Blues in Los Angeles, J.Rabbit was supporting. I walked in as he was dropping Daladubz – Pink Elephants VIP, and the room went nuts. It wasn’t nearly full, and it might have only been 10pm or so, but the energy was palpable. It was around that time that Doctor P & Flux Pavilion dropped their remix of “Louder,” and hearing Zeds Dead finish their set with it was indescribable.
It’s been four years since then and I’ve seen them seven more times, including the two shows this weekend in Hollywood. In those years, they’ve released innumerable singles, remixes, and a few EPs, as well. Their music is immediately timeless, and their sets are characteristically memorable. What DC & Hooks bring to the table is an unbridled passion for what they do, and a talent to back it up.
I went to both shows in Los Angeles expecting one or both of them to resemble the show I had seen earlier in October, when I was passing through Austin, Texas. The awesome thing was that neither set resembled each other, nor the Austin set. Surely they had the discography to fill up the time, but I had seen them for a total of six hours on this tour and the vibes were different every time.
“But Matthew, trance DJs play 10 hours at a time!”
You might be right, young one. But understand that with bass music, you rarely play a full song, let alone let one run for too long lest the crowd become antsy. Bassheads are a peculiar breed – always wanting more, more, more. Zeds Dead was able to satiate me fully on three separate occasions, within two months of each other, and for that, they certainly deserve praise.
One of the biggest treats of the tour was listening to all of the new material that Zeds Dead has in store. If you weren’t aware, they have an album coming out next year. It’s just about all I can think about. New material wasn’t hard to pick out, they have such a distinct sound.
Even then, it worked seamlessly with their old material, proving that they haven’t lost touch with their core sound, nor have they alienated their greatest asset: their fans. The Fonda Theatre in Los Angeles was sold out two nights in a row, as was the rest of the tour. If you’re talking about staying power in bass music, look no further than Zeds Dead.
