Review: Moombahton Massive XI @ U Hall DC 1/18/12

Posted on Jan 19, 2012 in Events, Moombahton, Moombahton Monday, Reviews

For those of you who are unfamiliar, Moombahton Massive is a monthly extravaganza held at U Street Music Hall in DC, which features a varying selection of the most prominent moombahton producers. As the genre has grown in popularity, so have the Massives. Starting out as small showcase for the producers and some “in-the-know” fans, Moombahton Massive has turned into the most exciting party in DC. It is one of the only shows I’ve attended where the crowd is there expressly for the music and nothing else. This is aided by the fact that U Street Music Hall was designed as exactly that, a music hall. In an interview, co-owner Jesse Tittsworth described the venue by saying, “It’s no frills, but it’s not a dive bar. It has a little touch of class without being pretentious. You’ve got the infrastructure of a real dance club without any of the snobbery.” It’s always been about the music at U Hall and that is that sets it apart from any other dance venue I’ve visited. That said, I’ll take a page out of their book and get back to the music.

We arrived just in time to catch the tail-end of Pickster One’s set. The energy was palpable. The lineup for the night was one of the biggest yet, including Sabo, two sets from Nadastrom, and the first appearance by Bro Safari. After Pickster One banged out the end of his set with Munchi’s aggressive banger “Fuck This” the crowd began to pack in tighter in anticipation of Bro Safari. I haven’t been this excited about seeing an artist in quite awhile.

Bro Safari is yet another alter-ego of San Antonio producer, Knick, known alternatively as one third of American Drum ‘n Bass trio, Evol Intent, as well as one half of the mash-up duo, Ludachrist. Approaching moombahton from such wildly divergent musical backgrounds has made his work stand out way beyond the rest both in creativity and overall production quality. Needless to say, his set did not disappoint. To my amazement, I recognized hardly any of the songs he played, an experience that I have not had in quite awhile. One thing’s for certain, he went hard. The entire floor exploded with life as he delivered one moombahton/moombahcore banger after another. You could tell how much the crowd’s energy was boosting him up, because he would periodically thrash uncontrollably on stage. He tweeted this morning, “@brosafari: That’s it… Moombahton Massive is the best shit ever and @uhalldc is the best venue ever… I haven’t felt a vibe like this since the late 90′s when I started doing this shit… I’m not drunk at all by the way.” Even behind the booth all the other producers couldn’t help but go crazy. After his set, Knick passed the reins to Dave Nada and Matt Nordstrom who continued the moombahton madness for another hour.

Moombahton Massive is an event that you cannot experience anywhere else in the world. If you ever find yourself in DC for one of them, hit me up, I’ll be there.

@djbasscamp

Make sure to grab all of these free moombahton bangers from Bro Safari!

Free Song Downloads! by BRO SAFARI