One of the lesser-hyped shows from the weekend was Halloween Meltdown, featuring Fareoh, Adventure Club, and Nero. Although this show was not of the same impressive nature as its counterparts, it was certainly not an event we were going to overlook. After seeing Adventure Club at Electric Zoo –and having heard positive reviews from Nero’s last showing in New York City — The Hammerstein Ballroom event definitely stirred my curiosity.

The scene was much more relaxed in comparison to the madness going on elsewhere — which is somewhat ironic for a dubstep show. Although only one member of both Nero and Adventure Club were present, I was confident the show would be amongst the best of the weekend.

Fareoh was the first of the night to really impress me with a fun and exciting set. He played interesting dub remixes of Dada Life’s “Rolling Stones T-Shirt” and MGMT’s “Kids,” before dropping into “Kick Out the Epic Motherf*cker.” Mid-set he slowed things down with Empire of the Sun’s “Walking on a Dream” before taking a drastic turn into “N*ggas in Paris.” I was mildly surprised by some of the popular electro hits Fareoh incorporated into his set, playing big time hits like Avicii’s “Silhouettes” and Kaskade’s “Eyes.” Despite the mainstream tracks that were played, he did an impressive job of keeping the dubstep undertones alive through and through.

After Fareoh wrapped up his set, and prior to Adventure Club taking stage—special guest Lindsey Stirling performed.  For those of you unfamiliar, Lindsey Stirling is the famous dubstep violinst who innovatively blends classical instrumental sounds with the powerful, deep styles of dubstep. Her performance was short, yet intriguing for those who have a wide spectrum of musical tastes.

Adventure Club have been making quite the name for themselves in the past few months. They opened with mashups of Azealia Banks’ “212”, “Toulouse” by Nicky Romero, and Knife Party’s “Internet Friends” — all the meanwhile the “Halloween Theme” lingered in the undertones of the music. Adventure Club has already exploded into the EDM world, only having broken out onto the scene a little over a year ago. The Canadian duo have taken popular hits like Hardwell’s “Spaceman”, played early in the set, and transformed it into an intricately layered dubstep tune; and they continue to do this with a varied spectrum of musical genres. A perfect example of this is their remix to Foxes’ “Youth” — which we heard later in the set.

Having paired up with dubstep trio Krewella earlier this year, it’s no surprise they include Krewella’s popular hit “Alive” in their set, as well as their collaboration on “Rise & Fall.” This duo is sure to come out on top of the surge of dubstep DJs/Producers making their way up in the ranks.

Nero, the most anticipated act of the night, took the stage opening with “Etude”— one of the new tracks featured on the re-lease of their debut album renamed “Welcome Reality+” which was released on October 22^nd.  “Doomsday” is then dropped, which brings a spooky feeling to the show and brings on a surge of energy from the crowd. Vocalist, Alana Watson, was present to assist Nero on popular tracks, “Guilt”, “Me and You”, and “Promises.” Interesting about most of Nero’s sets is that they tend to mix-up a lot of their own material.  Throughout the rest of the set they played all big hits, “Crush On You,” “Promises,” and “Innocence.”

With lighter, calmer sounds compared to most of their heavy dubstep counterparts, I expect for Nero and Adventure Club to both have a huge year in 2013. The production quality wasn’t as extravagant as Sensation or Pier of Fear, but for the size of the show, and the lower ticket prices, it still managed to be an overall great time. I definitely look forward to what the future of dubstep music has in store for us.

Tracks to know:

Tags: knife party, Nero

Categories: Music