For a Tuesday night, April 16, 2013 was far from typical. Los Angeles’s popular venue, Echoplex was throwing yet another Check Yo Ponytail 2 (CYP2) and the line up was one to remember. The line up consisted of: Salva, The Gaslamp Killer, Thundercat, Franki Chan and an edition of special guests. Before heading out to the show I linked up with some friends and had a few drinks to get pumped up; however, my excitement was already at the edge while rereading the flyer and in bold “plus very special guests,” I could not wait to see who those special guests would be.
We finally arrived at the Echoplex, as we entered Franki Chan was spinning. Arrays of visuals were playing behind him and the shiny disco ball above contributed to the general experience one was to feel as they listened. His music could be described as digital punk that made people get hyped up for later artists such as Thundercat. Now, Thundercat is seen as a protege of Flying Lotus and let me tell you, their mixes of jazzy upbeats had the crowd cheering and demanding an encore, but sadly it was not given.
LA resident, William Bensussen, also known as The Gaslamp Killer, delivered once again. He managed to get crowd moving to an explosive mixture of beats. People in the audience who had the opportunity to be near the front of the stage could clearly see he was feeling his set as he danced around. At last, the special guests came pouring out.
First, Groundislava and his electronic music further assisted the already stimulated crowd. After, SpaceGhostPurpp and the whole Rxvdr Klxn completely took over the stage as they performed, there was at least twenty plus people, making their set more intriguing. Unexpectedly Rxvdr Klxn switched up the whole shows’ gears by bringing a trill vibe. It was easily one of my favorites during the night as they played their well-known track “S.A.N.D”. Everyone was vibing out together and that energy filled the entire venue.
By the time SGP had conquered the crowd, soon another guest, Shlohmo, dropped his unique tunes and it was literally something else. He didn’t stick to a certain playlist, he also played Top 40’s while putting his own spin on them. Joining Shlohmo was Salva accompanied by RL Grime and at this moment, the turn up had reached maximum level, not a single person was sitting. The trio went on to play an “oldie but goodie” as they called it which was Kanye’s “Mercy Remix.” They played a chopped and screwed version of Tupac’s “Hail Mary” to conclude their performance and the crowd went wild – at the same time sang the lyrics. To end the list of special appearances, all the way from Berlin, Boys Noize came out bringing an electric house genre.
The amount of special guests who were featured in this CYP2 was insane. If you were not able to make it out to this show, you definitely missed out!
-Vanessa Olivarez
All photos taken by Tatsu
To see rest of the photos click here.
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