Show Review: Groundscore 10 Year Anniversary at 1015 Folsom

Groundscore 10 year anniversary 1015 Folsom w/ Audio Angel, MC Duh, Genome, Shimon, Fierce, Aphordite, Jayvon with MC XYZ, Rascue, Syrup Girls (Star Eyes & Siren), Lexxus,4Real, Clockwork, Felix the Dog 6/3/05

As long as I’ve been listening to Drum & Bass, there have been certain records that seemed to have spawned new genres. Urban Takeover dropped memorable records that birthed what was to be known as Jump Up. Jump Up, Hip Hop sample chocked, with rolling, big bass lines featured vocal samples in the forefront of the track. The “Drop the Funky Beats” remixes and the “I’ve got 5 On It”Luniz remix are 2 records that summed up Aphrodite in my mind. I could even go further to remember that Aphrodite used to be Urban Shakedown who put out “Do It Now” and “Some Justice”, old fantastic pieces of Break Beat Hardcore from the early 90’s. I’d never seen him play and was pleasantly surprised when Groundscore to celebrate its 10 years of throwing awesome events booked Aphrodite with excellent support of Fierce (QUARINTINE) and Shimon (RAM RECORDS) at 1015 on a Friday night. Local support featured Genome, and from Los Angeles, Jayvon with MC XYZ. And of course the ever ravishing Audio Angel and the one them call MC Duh on the mics. In addition to an already sick main room there was to be 2 more rooms of drum driven sweetness. NYC favorites the Syrup Girls (Star Eyes & Siren) where to be upstairs with Felix the Dog, Qzen and Wil, with the front room rocked by Rascue, Clockwork, 4Real and Lexxus. Damn that’s a packed house! It was to be another night of running laps around the club to catch everyone on my dance card.

D Marie from Groundscore was snapping photos at the entrance. Her smile was ear to ear. Groundscore had promoted successful Drum & Bass nights at 1015 and I was sure tonight was to be another champagne moment. A 10 year celebration and D & B on the main floor on a Friday night feels like justice. After talking to the lovely woman at the guest list table who graciously allowed my guest and I in we stormed the front room to see what we could see.

Rascue was rocking a smooth Tech House like track with plenty of dancers in front. I headed into the main room to catch Shimon shaking the floor. Shimon along with Andy C and Ant Miles make up the group Ram Trilogy. Ram Trilogy have put out so many dance floor shakers I would need to write an essay on what records they have put out. The floor was packed with crew bouncing dancing and sweating. Big long, rolling basslines, sick dubs and smooth tracks is how I felt about Shimon. His set was a great beginning to my night. I would dance to Shimon then head over to catch Rascue drop a nice beat then I loop around front to shake it to Shimon again. This went on until Fierce came on. Let me start by saying I had never seen a DJ this physically hype in a long time. The cat would not stop rocking out to each mix. A guy like that just makes the crowd more pissed. They just respond with more dancing and then jumping and then Duh would shout out a few lyrics and boom boom boom. Kids would flip their lids with each drop. The bar in the main room had a steady crowd catching drinks then heading back to the floor. I would order a vodka tonic then rush to the back of the main room to catch the maximum bass bombs. The great thing about the 1015 system playing Drum & Bass is how fucking great it sounds. The sweet spot is about 9 steps forward from the back to the middle. That is where my guts would shake with bass. Fierce then threw at the crowd what must have been a VIP remix of Thunder by Photek and DJ Die that sounded very different than the original. Above the DJ booth and the dancers on the floor Audio Angel and MC Duh were taking turns adding some vocal flavor. Around them were the hardcore dancers on risers shaking it to death. Around 1:15am I headed to catch Syrup Girls in front.

Star Eyes and Siren are both S.F. to NYC transplants who have teamed up to form the Syrup Girls. Both ladies are known for originally playing Drum & Bass but then trekked into 2 Step and Garage. Their style has currently been called Funky Electro-House and Booty Bass. I arrived to see them both switching off and dropping yummy tunes. Siren would mix a track in then Star Eyes would get back on and mix into another. The tag team aspect is fantastic to watch. Having seen both ladies long ago at Eklektic and old B.A.S.S. cru parties, it was nice to see them both back home playing together and keeping the people delighted with their track selection. Having the Syrup Girls play was a fantastic way to help celebrate 10 years of events with people who were there at the start. Having a front room playing other flavors was a nice nod to diversity. We love our D& B but sometimes getting dirty to some Booty Bass makes the night even solid. A few surprises like going from Tech House to some Dirty South Crunk style Rap noise added a nice touch of sexiness to the Syrup Girls already hot set. After taking in about half an hour I ran back to the main room to watch the end of Fierce who was still freaking out on the decks.

Aphrodite came on to the roar of the crowd around 2:10am. He played a set filled with lots of remixes. Aphrodite is one of those big D&B producers that remixes everyone. I heard an old a few newer atmoshperic junge tracks and he even dropped the classic yet still fun Luniz “I Got 5 On It” remix. That track made the floor go nuts. I was happy to hear Aphrodite’s set still had the Jump Up he is known for and a few other nice pieces. I danced up front off the side of the DJ booth and watched Aphrodite look out onto the crowd as heads got sick to his set and the Groundscore banner hung under the red lights. I spent most of the time dancing until I would get tired then sit down then get right back up and then do the Moneky, do the WOP, do the Rerun, whatever as long as I kept dancing.

I kept at it until about a little before 4. At this point I was out of breath, out of Vodka and absolutely delighted with the Groundscore 10 year party. I missed Jayvon and XYZ which I do regret. Another person I missed who I did have a chance to see at another event was Lexxus. This cat is creating quite a buzz lately and has the skills no doubt.

Next up at 1015 Folsom will be Roni Size September 2^nd as part of the Eklektic 8 year party. The streets are talking and I think its safe to say that show is going to be fucking huge!

Thanks once again to D Marie and Groudscore for making sleep deprivation my new priority of the summer.