Zomboy, ill.Gates, & Kicks N’ Licks at The Trocadero

The latest edition of Bass Nation hit the legendary Trocadero on Friday, May 16th. The event, featured  “The Outbreak” tour with sets by ‘Kicks N’ Licks’, ‘ill.Gates’, and headliner, ‘Zomboy’. Locals ‘Get Up’ and ‘Architekt’ held down the opening slots.

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There’s nothing quite like a show at the Trocadero. The venue is a blast from the past with its high ceilings, wrap around balcony, and stellar acoustics. Unfortunately we weren’t able to make it in time for Get Up’s set (we love supporting our local talent) but we were there in time to catch the majority of Architekt. Architekt constructs sets you can bang your head to. Whether he’s dropping some sick bass music beats, some filthy death metal, or a crazy genre bending array of everything in between, he is the perfect guy to kick the night of right. The real question is, will he be rocking his sick new ‘Independent Philly’ t-shirt at his next gig? Only time will tell. 

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The duo of Kicks N’ Licks was up next as they brought their West-Coast derived vibe to Philly for the first time. From the moment these guys hit the stage, everything just clicked. Dropping a slew of bass music favorites intertwined with several of their own unreleased creations, Kicks N’ Licks had fans salivating from start to finish.

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Even a novice could tell that these dudes love what they do. Their energy on stage was easily matched by those in the crowd in a symbiotic relationship that spanned over the entire 60 minutes. First time in Philly? Check. Last time in Philly? Not by a long shot. If the fan reaction was any gauge, we’re sure they will be back before long.

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ill.Gates hit the stage around 11pm for a set we were eager to catch. We saw ill.Gates recently at the Excision show at the Electric Factory and we we thrilled to see he was back in town again so soon. It’s always nice to see a DJ on stage getting as sweaty as those in the crowd rocking out to his set, and Toronto’s ill.Gates certainly fits that mold. His glitched out bass sound is infectious.

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What set his set on Friday night apart from the last time we saw him is that he created it completely live! To up the ante, he even had a video camera set up, tied into the large video monitors on stage, to give the audience an up-close view of his hands and his set up. This let everyone see exactly what he was doing. We’d love to see all DJs have the balls to do this. Press play DJs beware!

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ill.Gates set was a great mix of several genres and (notably) featured some brand new remixes (like “Raise Your Fist” by Destroid), “Straight Outta Compton” by NWA, and “E X P A N D E D” which he produced with Bassnectar. We also had a lengthy chat with him backstage and can tell you that the man loves his fans and the love that Philly has shown him.

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Zomboy’s headlining set featured a slew of bass music and electro tracks and was a total onslaught on the senses from start to finish. Perhaps we’re just getting old but it seemed as if the sound in the Troc on Friday night was turned up, WAY up. It didn’t seem to bother anyone but the building was literally shaking during parts of Zomboy’s set.

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Zomboy seems to have two energy levels: ‘All Up In Your Face’ and ‘Mind Exploding’. His oft-used machine gun gestures at the crowd are apropos of his non-relenting style of “killing it” from start to finish. He dropped several of his own tracks over the course of his 75 minute set but a few of our favorites were “Mind Control”, “Where We Belong”, and “Hoedown”.

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When the night wrapped up at 1am, another successful Bass Nation was in the books. While several fans no doubt headed home to recoup their energy (and hearing) for the rest of the weekend, many headed off to the late-night Twurkaholics after-party that was taking place across town.

[Photo credit: D. Jacob Miller Photography]

[Article by David J. Miller]

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Please let us know what you thought about the show in the comments box below the photo gallery!

You can view additional photos in the gallery below (click thumbnails to enlarge):

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