The Summer season is finally here and as the climate warms up and temperatures rise outdoors, so will the dance floor at Electronic Tuesdays! This past Tuesday night we gathered on the dance floor to embrace yet another massive lineup of bass music presented by none other than Sub.mission. Not only did the night’s lineup feature an impressive roster of some of Colorado’s sickest local talent battling it out in the May Winners Showcase battle, but headlining the 1st installment of Electronic Tuesdays for the month of June, we welcomed London’s very own Sukh Knight & Squarewave from New World Audio! Coming in fresh off of groundbreaking performances at Infrasound Music Festival in Wisconsin over the previous weekend, the London duo had us losing our minds as we raged in the mud at The Beach Stage and I couldn’t wait to catch them bringing that raw, uncut, UK sound to the Mile High City on Tuesday night!
The dance floor was completely packed, the subwoofers were flexing, and this past Tuesday night was one that won’t soon be forgotten! Whether you joined us at Cervantes’ Other Side and danced the night away with us or weren’t able to make it out, this week’s edition of The Rewind is here to give you a feel for how the night went! Check it out!
As soon as doors to the venue opened, the Electronic Tuesdays crowd made their way on to the scene and awaited a fully loaded night in bass music from beginning to end. Weekly host ‘XTS’ graced the microphone and welcomed everyone to the dance floor as the first installment of June’s E-Tuesdays was set to launch. The night began at 9:00pm as local DJ’s Ghost, Davi-D, Jang, & Wadada made their returns to perform in this throwdown and remind everyone what they’re made of. Having won their previous DJ Battles during the month of May, each artists brought their A-Game as they faced off in this showcase battle where only 1 DJ would emerge as the winner and advance to perform a time slot at an upcoming Sub.mission show. Making the most out of their 30 minute time slots to get the crowd moving early in the night and set the tone for Sukh Knight & Squarewave, each battler made quite the impact and put on memorable performances and once again proved how talented and diverse the local music scene in Colorado really is. This week’s battles were comprised of a wide series of styles and genres ranging from Drum&Bass/Jungle, Tear-out Dubstep, and even some more minimal, deeper 140 sounds as well. After a heated battle among the 4 selectors, DJ Wadada beat out the competition and was crowned the battle champion for the month of May. Be on the lookout for the Fort Collins resident ‘Wadada’ as he will be making his return to perform a time slot at an upcoming Sub.mission show in the near future!
WADADA
Now that the battles had come to a close and the audience had been properly warmed up, it was now time for the one like Squarewave to step up to the decks and kick things up a notch! From the moment that he took the stage, Squarewave instantly captured the entire crowd with a fierce and relentless approach to bass music that caught everyone’s ears and had bodies moving throughout the entire venue. Having seen the badman perform the last time that he was in Denver alongside Sukh Knight at a previous installment of Electronic Tuesdays, I knew to fasten my dancing shoes and get ready for some hard hitting bass lines and gut-wrenching drops. The majority of the tunes that Squareawave played out during this set were relatively new to me, along with arsenal of new and exclusive material from the New World Audio imprint. Among the wide array of tunes that were rinsed, one of my favorites happened to be the track ‘Taser’ from underground dubstep badman, Arkwright. The tune had the dance floor hitting optimal vibrations and we couldn’t get enough!
SQUAREWAVE
Next up in the night’s rotation, it was now time for the don himself, Sukh Knight to take the decks and make some noise! Hailing all the way from London, the birthplace of dubstep itself, Sukh Knight is a name that has become synonymous with old school 140 sound and he is a true innovator when it comes to bass music since the early days. His distinct sound is unmistakable and emulates a modern day evolution of the older, reggae/rootsy dubstep styles combined with today’s more aggressive ‘riddimy’ styles as well. Maintaining a stage presence that was calm, cool, and collected, Sukh Knight got straight down to business and made a true impact in his Denver return. Hyping up the crowd and dropping tunes like ‘Interstellar’ and ‘Hustlerz’ from his latest EP as well as dance floor bangers ‘Diesel Not Petrol’ & ‘Ganja Dub’ the one like Sukh Knight made it clear that he was here to annihilate the crowd and he did nothing less.
The clock had hit 1:00am and the energy throughout the entire venue was peaking by the time that Squarewave would join Sukh Knight for a massive back-to-back set to close out the night! The pairing of these two artists is a true deadly combination and this closing set was one of the rowdiest performances that I have experienced at an Electronic Tuesdays in recent years. As I looked out into the crowd throughout the night, I noticed the demographic was made up of old-school heads as well as a younger, newer generation of enthusiasts that were all getting down and raging in unison. The sound of Sukh Knight & Squarewave captures various generations of bass music lovers and does not discriminate any age group or background.
From the moment they took the decks in this tag-team set, the London Duo brought those classic old school UK feels to Denver and put on performance that was nothing short of legendary. Tunes like Egoless’ ‘Like A Nuclear Bomb’ , Coki’s ‘Spongebob’, Kaiju’s ‘Justice’, and an arsenal of Kromestar dubplates ignited the crowd and had me re-evaluating whether I was still in Denver or if I’d been transported to London where this bass heavy sound originated. By the time it was all said and done, Sukh Knight & Squarewave had completely destroyed the dance floor at Cervantes’ Other Side and in every direction that you looked the crowd was full of smiling faces with clapping hands that demonstrated their appreciation for this legendary duo. Whether you are an old-school dubstep head or part of a generation of newer listeners, the story of UK Dubstep can’t be told without an honorable mention to New World Audio generals, Sukh Knight & Squarewave!
SUKH KNIGHT B2B SQUAREWAVE
Big ups to everyone that made it out and took part in such a huge night in sound as Sub.mission launched us into the first Electronic Tuesdays of the month of June with a bang! See you all next week for performances from Yheti, Gloominoti, Dillard, & more!
Author: Carlos Galvan