With festival season approaching, it can be easy for us headbangers to only get excited about the vibrant headliners. As much as I love a good ODESZA or Illenium show, I’ve been working on expanding my horizons. So lately, I’ve been exploring and becoming more infatuated with the underrated artists that complete the beautifully complex lineups.
Something I like to do is create playlists for different festivals I plan to attend, specifically for this reason. I find myself on a day-to-day basis listening to my same favorite artists, allowing me to become very aquatint with certain performers and their songs.
When I create these playlists, it’s simply so I can go through the lineups and familiarize myself with the unknown artists- giving me the ultimate ability to fully take advantage of the nearing festival.
So far, I’ve started playlists for both Electric Forest and Bonnaroo. An artist that I hadn’t previously known, has peaked my interest, as I’ve been continuously adding their music to my playlists. Little did I know how badly I was depriving myself of some ridiculously epic dubstep.
John Dadzie, infamously known for his musical pseudonym- 12th Planet– has his name reserved to perform for both of these distinguished festivals. Thanks to this coincidence, I’ve taken to the time to deeply inspect his sound, as I will be attending both Electric Forest and Bonnaroo. Since discovering him late last year, I haven’t been able to confine myself from constantly re-playing his jungle-bass beats.
This past week, I was able to experience his phenomenal work first-hand, at a show in Iowa City, Iowa. His performance took place at the college town’s Blue Moose Tap House, traditionally known for their wonky vibes and electronic shows.
My mind was blown as this was my first 12th Planet concert. The only other concert I’ve been to at Blue Moose was for Space Jesus, which to this day has been one of my favorite shows. 12th Planet most definitely exceeded my expectations, and made a place up there with Space Jesus on my list for favorite performers.
His energy was contagious, and everyone that filled the room was drawn to his vibrancy. Heads were banged and fists were pumped, as 12th Planet took us off of earth to his own extraordinary world. No doubt will I be making it to his shows for a second and third time at Electric Forest and Bonnaroo this summer.
Now, time to find another underrated lined-up artist to blow my mind!
(All photos are from the concert, taken and edited by me.)
Cardi Bre at again. Killed it girl