Devastation 1 Year Anniversary: Zula Sound Bar, 25 February 2012
When Drum n Bass South Africa asked me if I would be going to Devastation I thought they were joking. How could I possibly NOT be going to Devastation? It was at one of their very parties, at Assembly last year, where I truly and completely fell in love with drum n bass. Having been a sultry psy-honey for most of my high school and varsity years it was time to put on a pair of shoes and step up to some grown up BPMs. Unfortunately, though, parties were few and far between. Monthly Homegrowns and the delicious sardine tin that was It Came from the Jungle just weren’t enough to quench my thirst for that glorious liquid. So I started hunting for that elusive kick,snare-kicksnare in other places. Hyphen and SFR’s completely UNdrum n bass set at Earthdance was a heart sinking disappointment and Niskerone was pulling everything BUT drum n bass out the bag so I booked a flight and went to wallow in tropical seas until, hopefully, the drum n bass drought had sorted itself out.
You can imagine my dismay when Fiction still wasn’t back on its feet by the New Year and, apart from Homegrown and a single, spectacular night with Sub Zero and Heist at Trinity, there really wasn’t anything else worth bruising one’s toes over. Enter Will Pziezzo-Electric and Allan Multicrisis with a plan. The two DJs and producers behind Devastation were onto it with new branding, new hype, new merchandise, new beats and some spectacularly teasing wall posts that had my shoelaces all a flutter for their 1 Year Anniversary Festival at the Zula Sound Bar. I couldn’t get the party date out of them soon enough and then it was just a matter of holding those horses back till the end of February.
And then boy did those horses bolt. The week had been a trying one and I wanted nothing more than a bass heavy dance floor upon which to lose myself. Strolling into Zula on Saturday night I very quickly realised my wish was going to be granted. Not just once, not twice, but three times on three different, fully equipped dance floors all of which were (at least most of the time) playing drum n bass. I thought I’d died and gone to some sort of heaven where the lights were bright, the smoke was thick and the music was LOUD. Heaven also appeared to have tasty beverages and a fantastic, heart-cooling amount of misting fans scattered through-out the club.
The ground floor shook a solid sound system and a line-up of varied electronica Djs from Dublusion, through the likes of Das Kapital and MK Ultra, to 1210 crew member, Totem. Second floors often suffer the fate of second rate sound equipment but this was far from the case at this party. It was so far from that case, in fact, that it was easy to mistake it for the main floor if you didn’t know the lay out. If you took a hop upstairs, however, and walked into the vast space that was the main floor you would’ve quickly realised what was what. Beautifully clean sound, projected visuals, hands and smiles trashing through the smoke and literal sparks flying above the crowd, it was a sight and sound to behold as some of the heavier bass soldiers I’ve ever seen took to, and smashed up, those decks.
To complete this hedonistic picture was a third floor sponsored by KUSH Lifestyle. Positioned in the upstairs front room, whose wooden floors and wide open bay windows held a strong sense of Long Street nostalgia, it offered a perfect view of the abandoned building across the road. It was on this building that visuals team Afterlife were projecting some gorgeous visual mapping that made for some pleasing eye candy to enjoy while twirling to the liquid and jump up sounds of DUBiLLViZION, Vava and Phaze.
Considering Will and Allan’s mission to bring out the darker, deeper side of drum n bass I think it is perfectly safe to call their latest Devastation a grand success. Taking over from Tehsynes and Black Lotus on the main floor, even Hyphen kept his sound down and serious while dropping the occasional well-known banger. Next up was the main act, Damage Inc., whose onstage intensity had my eyes out on stalks. This was hardcore drum n bass in its purest, unadulterated state that went balls to the wall the same way that a raging shark might take on a PMSing bear. There was no room for playing with melodies, synths or pads: this was down to dirty business; punching out bass like the decks where machine guns. Produkt and Nick Murphy, who took the two closing sets, maintained this balling speed (with a bit of hip wiggling grace thrown in) right until 4am when the inevitably grumpy bouncers told everybody the game was up.
Downstairs was a tight mix of genres from drum n bass to pounding dubstep with a whole house-load of electro and techno in between, trashy and otherwise. Despite the slamming line up, it is always such a sadness for me to see Totem playing the closing set as he so often does, such a talented DJ with such a good selection should be allowed more than just three people on his dance floor. Sure, they were three ecstatically happy people who stepped up to Totem’s rolling, intelligent set, but there were three of us nonetheless.
Talking of talent on the decks, the upstairs room’s opening set went to DUBiLLViZION who I also think deserved more of an audience. Slick mixing of some equally slick liquid tunes had those pearly whites out on show where they stayed for the similarly pleasing upbeat sound selection of Vava and Phaze. A little too slippery at times, perhaps, but still tasty down to the last drop.
So when that last drop had been had and the sandy bouncers had shoo-ed everyone out of their club it was with exhausted feet and a face sore from smiling that I went home, accosted only occasionally by ‘cocainemarijuana?’ and ‘what’s your shoe size?’ men. Having now partially regained use of my mind and toes I’d like to say one HUGE thank you to Will and Allan from Devastation for throwing such a treat of a party. From a minimal amount of drum n bass in Cape Town, to an entire club full of drum n bass that I could pick and choose from, you guys have done yourselves proud. A thank you must also go out to everyone else involved in the organisation and running of the event: the production was of top class quality; a compliment you should take seriously as I’m one fussy lady! Finally, to all of those drum n bass mental cases who I had the pleasure of sharing the dance floors with: thank YOU for your energy and your love for the music; this scene wouldn’t be here without you. Keep on stepping, Cape Town.
For more info on Devastation check the following links:
http://soundcloud.com/devastation-records
https://www.facebook.com/devastationdnb
Article by: Caitlin Louise
Pictures By: Blake Foster
