Fall-Funkin'-Tastic EDM Events,EDM Event Preview: Tight Crew's Block Rockin Beats,Sizzling Summer EDM Events Worth Swooning
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Fall-Funkin’-Tastic EDM Events Thank God (who IS a woman, BTW): This summer’s heat waves are behind us, and in their stead we’ve got a smorgasbord of smoking-hot electronic dance music events (and the return of pumpkin spice) to look forward to. On Saturday, September 22, celebrate the autumnal equinox at Platforms Dance Club in Providence when Tight Crew presents Yoshi’s Island. Headlining DJs will include S3rl, an Australian happy hardcore spinner who last graced us with his presence during the Crew’s 2013 Mario Party Tour (and supposedly this is his last world tour). Besides getting down to dope music, partygoers can catch a thrill by watching daring fire performers or jumping in a bounce house! This is a limited capacity event, so get your tickets now! Once you’ve recharged from that exciting experience, it’ll be time to return to Prov for another night of dirty dancing. On Friday, September 27, Israeli producer, DJ, singer-songwriter, rapper and all-around dubstep/trap king Borgore will play The Strand. He’s known for putting on electrifying live performances complete with inspired visuals and high-energy tracks. If you’re going to this one, be wary: You may lose your voice from all the screaming you’ll be doing when the bass drops … which happens frequently. If I had to pick one fall event among all of these that you “can’t” miss, it would be this one. Finally, FMH will be the spot to be at on Thursday, November 1, when Vegas-based veteran electronic duo The Crystal Method will hit its stage. These guys helped pioneer the big beat genre, and their tunes are infectious. You’ll want to get there early, cause Big n’ Dope (AKA DJs Soappy and FiG) are opening, and their breaks, dubstep and drum and bass mixes are pretty fab as well. EDM Event Preview: Tight Crew’s Block Rockin Beats This Saturday, August 18, Tight Crew will be back with another block party! The aptly titled Block Rockin Beats party is happening from 3pm to 1am at The Met (both indoors and outside in the courtyard) in Pawtucket. After dabbling in indoor/outdoor events last summer for the Crew’s tenth anniversary party at Fete, they’re back and bringing the heat this weekend with indoor and outdoor stages (including a 45-foot boom lift DJ booth!), themed decor and radical audio/visual experiences (provided by Supreme Sounds & Lighting). Headlining DJs are Of The Trees (bass music from Maine), Ill.gates (bass from Los Angeles), DJ Knowledge (high energy bass and house from Connecticut) and DJ Venom (hard house turntablism from RI). Sick, right? Well, this lineup will also feature 13 more New England-based electronic acts! Block Rockin Beats will showcase a range of EDM artists, having a strong representation of house music producers and DJs on-hand as well as bass, happy hardcore and trap spinners. There will be something for everyone in your group (or as an individual partygoer and music fan) to love. Since this is Tight Crew, after all, the party doesn’t simply begin and end with the music. Other highlights will include fire performers, a ball pit, bounce house and life graffiti art by Paint for Peace (PfP). PfP is an international body painting organizations with artists from across the globe painting and sharing peace-and-love fueled creations. This year’s PfP theme is PLUR (Peace Love Unity Respect), which makes this rave the perfect collaboration for the group. If attendees want to take a break from the dance floors, they can play a variety of arcade and video games, make kandi in a designated area or enjoy drinks and food (including free fresh fruit!). Merchandise will also be available for purchase from several vendors, including Mutiny Apparel and Tight Crew. This is an all-ages event (21+ to drink). Tickets are currently available online and will be available at the door (if they don’t sell out first!). For more information and to purchase tickets, visit tightcrew.net. Sizzling Summer EDM Events Worth Swooning Over While my lack of a moderate glow (even a farmer’s tan!) may disagree, summer 2018 is almost upon us! In RI, this season always seems too short. That’s why now’s the time to make plans and purchase tickets for upcoming concerts and parties. In the world of local electronic dance music (EDM), there are four funky happenings on deck to mark your calendars and prep your outfits for. First up, Freq Fridays (this year’s Motif Music Award’s “Best Club Night”) is coming back to Club Alchemy in Providence on Friday, June 1 for Tight Lock!!! Tight Crew vs Morlock Musik. Tight Crew (TC) DJs Keither Woods and Craig Symonds will join forces with Rob Rowman and DGB from Morlock Musik. Attendees can expect to hear both classic and original tunes ranging from dreamy techno to down-and-dirty hardstyle productions. Speaking of Tight Crew, on Saturday, June 23, everyone’s favorite event production company will present Underground Sound Volume 2. This is a limited ticket event, and the title rings true. Details on the to-be-announced Smithfield location will be shared with ticket holders via email. For now, just know that this BYOB party (for personal consumption only) will feature classic video games, a kandi-making area, and fresh fruit and bottled water. Hopefully you’re good at making decisions, because that same night, veteran house music producer/ DJ DJ Dan will grace the stage at Fete for Blacklight Beach. This show promises two great themed rooms. Openers will include DJ DUPE, MFD, Jeff LeClair and HUGE. This event runs from 8pm to 2 am. Conserve your kandi in August. On Thursday the 2nd, head back to Fete and experience Tight Crew’s Block Rockin Beats. If you plan on attending, you’d better buckle up! That’s because this block party rave will have indoor and outdoor stages, music, food, games and even rides! For more information on this or Underground Sound Volume 2, visit TightCrew.net EDM Event Preview: Tight Crew’s Space Jam On Saturday, April 14, Tight Crew will bring Space Jam to Fete for the second consecutive year. This will be the fourth installment of TC and friends’ (partygoers’) “epic journey” through an intergalactic world of live music, performances, aesthetic and vibes. Melanie Bertoldi (Motif): Why did you decide to bring this theme back? Were people asking? Tight Crew: Space Jam was one of the first events we did where we saw a huge jump in attendance. It was a hit with our crowd from the beginning. It had been a few years, and we just thought it was a good time to bring it back. MB: Who are the biggest DJs/performers who’ll be there? TC: This year we have DJ ill-ēsha, who’ll be making her first-ever appearance in Rhode Island all the way from Vancouver, BC! She’ll be joined by the “World’s Premier Female DJ,” DJ Shortee from Los Angeles. MB: Who are the biggest local acts who’ll be performing? TC: Local legend DJ Venom will be appearing main stage, as well as Providence’s one-of-a-kind space alien puppet creatures, Big Nazo! MB: What’s new/different this time around? TC: We’re currently working on a new color-changing LED DJ booth, which will premiere at Space Jam this year. It’s also sound-activated with tons of programmed effects and patterns. We’re really excited to showcase this new project. MB: It’s been nearly a decade since the first Space Jam. How has Tight Crew evolved since then as a production company? TC: We were a much smaller crew back then. We had to evolve to keep up with the size and frequency of our productions. We have a team of friends helping either with making the decorations with us at our warehouse, or with setup and breakdown at shows — as well as a large group of street team members to help with marketing for each event. There are a lot of factors involved these days to keep things going and we are grateful for our Tight Crew family for all their support over the years. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit tightcrew.net. School of Rock Opens North Providence Location School of Rock (SOR) has opened its doors at 1270 Mineral Spring Ave in North Providence. The Attleboro-based music school franchise is all about helping students develop their musical abilities and learn how to thrive as a member of a band. SOR North Providence offers a collaborative learning experience complete with private lessons and rock performance classes for students of all ages. After a successful two-year run at the location in Attleboro, that SOR’s owner and general manager, Dave LaSalle, decided to branch out and open a new location in NP. “North Providence is a great town with a lot of schools and businesses focused on kids,” he said. “We found that North Providence needed a place for kids to rock.” The school offers an alternative to traditional music lessons by embracing contemporary rock and pop music of all genres (including funk, soul, metal, country, reggae, hip-hop and r&b) with a focus on performance and guitar, drums, keyboards, bass and voice. The school also provides specialized lessons for other instruments, like the ukulele and saxophone. According to SOR’s website, it is of the belief that, “the stage is the ultimate teacher.” Rock 101 and Rock 201 are the names of the most popular performance-class programs that SOR provides.