Review: Deep Medi Musik at City Hall, 4/7/12

City Hall felt the bass on Saturday night, the real bass, thanks to the Deep Medi crew coming all the way from across the pond from London to commemorate the five year anniversary of Sub.mission. The local crew put together an unprecedented production that even if you were unfamiliar with the Deep Medi crew prior, you left with a rejuvenated sense of what bass music should sound like.

Can't recall ever seeing a five year old's birthday party go off like Sub.mission's did. Packing the amphitheater wall-to-wall with live artists, dancers and loyal fans of bass music, Nicole Cacciavillano and company brought the house down as they celebrated five years of bringing the best dubstep to the masses.

TRUTH, a duo consisting of Tristan Roake and Andre Fernandez of New Zealand, followed Commodo, and certainly kept the ball rolling in terms of energy. The duo's set brought the energy up with help from the low-end frequencies, and offered Denver some insight as to why Mala, the headliner for the evening and one half of Digital Mystikz, another heavyweight from Deep Medi Musik, signed these Kiwis to the label a few years ago.

Silkie and Quest tag-teamed the next set setting the bar once again. Energy on stage is equally as important as energy in front of the stage in the crowd, and when the artists are feeling the music, it shows in the enthusiastic sets. This 2-4-1 set juggled between Silkie's smooth and jazzy bass beats, and Quest's reggae infused tracks, both of which were truly a gift to witness.

V.I.V.E.K. took to the mixer after Silkie and Quest and led the nearly full amphitheater into a war zone of heavy undertones. Prior to Mala, the headliner and closer for the night, V.I.V.E.K. yet again piggybacked on the previous artists, poured insane amounts of hype out onto the swelling, gate-pushing crowd.

Mala closed out the night with a bang, and he looked like he was having nothing short of life-changing fun. At one point towards the close, when he played what may have been the heaviest track of the night, Commodo snuck up behind him and totally flipped the switch on the track, teasing the audience with the bass line and leaving them drooling for the same track again. Mala pleased the crowd -- the crowd went insane -- and the night closed out, for the after party was about to commence next door at 2 a.m.

Is there a reason Sub.mission has managed to rise to the top of the ranks as the go-to producer for a great show? Yes, and the reason is because they sacrifice nothing to deliver real dubstep to real fans. Last night was proof that this toddler of a company will mature and grow into something much larger than anyone of its members can conceive, and it will still push the limits beyond that.

Personal Bias: Damn, I love some bass.

Random Detail:The PLAANT merch booth was being run by the founder, David Bywater, who is the artist in charge of designing the poster for the night (see slideshow), and also responsible for creating the Big Gigantic cover art for their previous albums, excluding Nocturnal, the group's latest effort.

By The Way:You haven't felt dubstep like this.