Attack of the Infected Ravers (Quarantine: Infected Mushroom, Nigma, and more)
Nothing says "Welcome to the Philly rave scene" quite like going to a party with yellow tape adorning the interior of a venue and having ravers dress in zombie-like garb from head to toe. I mean, of course they weren't REAL zombies...thankfully... How would I look with a camera in my hand instead of my trusty Lucille to ward off the rave plague?
I kid, of course. There was no nasty raver plague or any crazy wild infected ravers on the loose. Nope, the only thing that was remotely infected was the Fungusamongus, I'm talking of course about the badass Israeli psychedelic duo, Infected Mushroom! That's right, the paramount dynamic duo of Goa and Psytrance made their way to District N9ne, a local jawn (Philly leaves quite the impression on you...) in the warehouse subsection area to lay down the most definitive raw sounds during their DJ set. Thrown by local Philly scene promoters, Kontrol Room, Underground Division, and Jus Glo, they sure know how to make a little raver girl feel right at home.
Nigma, a New York local DJ invited by the promoters to spin his signature Dark Psy flavor, and I made the journey down from the concrete jungle to the city of Brotherly Love to see what it was all about. Besides the typical cheese steak run and traditional visit to Rybrew, we were no stranger to "leave no trace" raver laws that this outer section of Philly implied. Walking in District N9ne, it doesn't leave quite a big impression on you. Small space with 2 bars, adequately sized dance floor, can't go wrong right? We're not trying to impress the queen, here. The stage, in all its carpeted glory, held a pretty sweet geometric looking figure that really held well during Nigma's dark psy impact. Providing all sorts of wild visuals that really completed every bass drop with intense beams of lights, and the occasional pulsating waves. Combined with the coordinated lights, I was rather impressed with the sound and projection artists that really paid attention to the DJ's sounds throughout the night. Really bringing in different ambiances of sound and visuals that really helped compliment the intensity of every DJ that brought it down.
I really gotta say, a set that really caught me by surprise as one of the most wild ones was Bobo. A local Philly native, Bobo spun some incredible sounds that definitely made ya girl move more than she intended to, at first. A generous blend of Future Bass, Trip Hop, and Dub, Bobo certainly had the crowd moving in 14 different directions all at once -- what more can you expect from a crowd that knows exactly how to move?! Needless to say, when Bobo came to ask me for a family photo, who was I to tell him no? The crowd sure loved him, and he certainly shows the true embodiment of "brotherly love." Bobo, you were (for lack of a better phrase) THE BOMB! I look forward to jamming out to more of your jams!
Once Infected came on, it was history. The dance floor was jam packed with ghouls adorned in lights provided from hoops, poi, and (surprisingly) orbitals! Erez and Duvdev did not disappoint from playing old school favorites, such as "Cities of the Future" and "Becoming Insane" to even recent hits like (my personal favorite) "U R So Fucked" and "Fields of Grey". By this point, ya girl was in a hazy delight of side stepping and whiskey in hand...of course dreaming of being whisked away to the deserts of Isreal dancing along with the sands in the wind. For a night that was exceptionally freezing outside, the Philly scene was heated up on that damn dance floor!
Gotta give a heartfelt thank you to Kontrol Room, Underground Division, and Jus Glo for having a dinosaur and the Nigma out for a blast! Thank you to Infected Mushroom for being nothing less than amazing as always! And a big thank you to all of YOU, the attendees and readers alike, for just being plain ol' awesome!