Photo Credit: Deja Voom Facebook (Alive Coverage)
It is the final day of Basshead paradise. It has hit the point where this dream vacation has become a blissfully ignorant reality. Waking up to the beautiful Mexico coasts, the fancy breakfasts, the exciting conversations of the night before, it was starting to feel like we will be living this luxurious forever. Unfortunately, the harsh reality is that this is not true. However, with this knowledge, everyone is sure to make the most of their last day in this dream.
We began the day by heading towards The Pirate Ship Party where bass music meets waterpark with slides, jacuzzis, lounge chairs, wave simulators, you name it. This was a place where you can boogie board while raging to your favorite artist. Talk about a unique environment to listen to some of the best bass music that is currently circulating the scene. Artists included FFINN, Broken Note, Conrank, Jantsen, Yheti, Digital Ethos, ILL GATES, and Bukez Finezt. This lineup is so good it is dumb. We personally were able to catch the Broken Note set. Broken Note was meticulously mixing some of the most experimental beats in electronic music. It was an absolute pleasure to watch him on top of a massive pirate ship slaying the dark feels and absolutely enjoying himself while doing it. While we moved over to the Dirty Bird Pool Party after Broken Note; discussions with those who attended the other artists seemed to prove that everyone was over the moon about how great the shows were for the rest of the day.
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As we arrive at The Dirty Bird Takeover Pool Party the atmosphere was drastically different from The Pirate Ship, yet equally as enticing. Dirty Bird is known in the house scene as the best of the best. The Dirty Bird Pool Party included artists such as Claude Vonstroke, Ardalan, and Christian Martin. House music is probably considered one of the lower tier genres for a lot of Bassheads, and it was wonderful to see so many people getting down to a different style of sound that they are not as accustomed to. This is what the Bassnectar community is all about, expansion of the mind and openness to trying new things. It is certain that Dirty Bird’s expertise in mixing house music at the highest level turned some Bassheads into straight house junkies. Plus, house music is made for pool parties, so I know this was a check off of many bucket lists.
Finally, after hitting another world-class dinner we made our way to the main stage. The first act we were able to see was the house legend Claude Vonstroke. He continued the trancing mixing that was displayed at the Pool Party. Claude Vonstroke single-handedly changed me and many others view of house music in a couple of sets. That is very impressive and deserves infinite amounts of respect. Next up was the highly anticipated Digital Mystikz set. Digital Mystikz is comprised of two dubstep legends, Mala & Coki. These two are dubstep masters and they were sure to flex it. The duo hit every spectrum of dubstep possible, from deep and low to heavy and violent. Watching them vibe off of each other and the crowd throughout the entire set was an absolute pleasure. A small detail, they were supposed to play on vinyl, but I believe the needle could not stay on the dubplate due to the intense bass from the booming sound system. This was probably the only disappointment of the entire event, as it would have been amazing to witness DJing in its purest grassroots form.
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Finally, it was time for Bassnectar. With the first two nights being nothing short of jaw-dropping everyone was eager to witness him try to one-up his previous nights. Bassnectar came out and blew the roof off of any expectations present in a Basshead’s mind. Opening with the crowd favorite “Encore” slapped with “Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock – It Takes Two” vocals on top. Any Basshead knows that many times the opening track dictates the vibe for the entire set. I feel using “Encore” was his way of saying I am going to play this entire show as if it was an encore, and he 100% accomplished it night 3. It felt as if Bassnectar had stomped on the gas pedal so hard that it broke off. Song selection such as “Big Chocolate – Poppin Shit > Ikhana – Wta (“Snoop Dogg – Crip Hop? vocals) > Virtual Self – Ghost Voices (Hex Cougar Flip)(Madvillain – Meat Grinder vocals) > Bassnectar – Cozza Frenzy” showed he wasn’t going for 100 but 1,000,000 miles per hour. Banger after banger, Bassnectar eloquently proved his mastery of DJing for an entire set. Insane mashups, flawless transitions, unsurmountable timing, this was a set that was a statement without words that said: “I am the King of the Sound”. To add to the madness, Bassnectar debuted his new collab with Peekaboo that he said was finished the day before. It was an absolute SMASHER, every single unreleased track played this weekend was jaw-dropping. There has been a lot of hate towards his production the past few years, but let’s just keep it simple and say producing Bassnectar is back and is not playing around. After the family photo, it was time for the coveted encore all Bassheads dread, yet long for, and in absolutely perfect fashion he threw down a string of songs that will go down in Bassnectar history. “Bassnectar & Gnar Gnar – Dream Catcher (Wiz Khalifa – Go Hard or Go Home vocals) > Bassnectar – Teleport Massive > Bassnectar – Carried Away > Ace of Spades (Bassnectar Bootleg)” left the crowd in pieces. Everyone lost complete control of themselves and this was hands down the only way to end such an amazing weekend.
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For the late night parties, we chose the Deep Medi Takeover, being the dubstep heads we are this was a no brainer. Deep Medi brought Sir Spyro, Commodo, and Mala to represent their label. If you are into the dubstep scene you understand the reputation that Deep Medi carries; dubstep done in perfection. These guys could not have showcased that any better. The boys were dropping dubstep classics such as “Midnight Request Line by Skream” while mixing in some of the hottest in newer dubstep releases such as “Topper Top by Sir Spyro”. While Sir Spyro and Commodo absolutely smashed their sets, Mala was the absolute highlight of the night. Like in his and Coki’s Digital Mystikz set, Mala just solidified why many consider him a dubstep pioneer. This was by far the most unique, creative, and mesmerizing dubstep set I have ever seen. If you are a fan of dubstep, do absolutely whatever you can to see Mala live, you will not be disappointed.
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Overall, the weekend was nothing short from magical. The best way I could describe it is it felt as if we were Basshead millionaires who designed an event to our exact specifications. Between the outstanding service from the staff, the next level production, and the incredible display of musical ability there was nothing I would change about this event. If you missed out this year I feel bad for you, but Bassnectar and his team have already announced another Deja Voom’esque event for next year so don’t fret. To conclude, on behalf of TCE and the Basshead community I would like to express extreme gratitude to CID, Bassnectar, the Barcelo Maya Resort, and the beautiful people of Mexico for an unforgettable experience.
Check below for links to all of our coverage of Deja Voom.
The Chronic Electronic Facebook
Day 1 Deja Voom Review Article & Videos
Day 2 Deja Voom Review Article & Videos
Day 1 Soundcloud Setlist Playlist
Day 2 Souncloud Setlist Playlist
Day 3 Soundcloud Setlist Playlist