Bassweek: A quick post party re-cap

Christopher J. O'Brien
Mar 22, 2016
2 min read

Bassweek Event Poster

Bassweek ticket holders and party goers celebrated international drum and bass talent during a global invasion last week.

The annual multi-night event took place from March 12 to March 19 and featured top DJs from two overseas record labels. The brands clash and blend together as does 'Coke' to 'Pepsi.' Both Ram and Hospital Records represent the same genre, though differ in many ways. Each a sub-genre of drum and bass, one sound is hard and tough while the other is soft and melodic.

Jesse Brown of Destiny Productions who helped organize the event has been an active member in Toronto's late underground music scene and leader in Canada's thriving electronic music scene since 1993.

"Bassweek is a week long celebration of bass music culture in Toronto. It is an opportunity to showcase some of the biggest names, promoters and record labels in bass music from overseas to the local artists in the GTA," said Brown.

Musical acts included that of British talent such as Ram Records' Calyx and Teebee, Delta Heavy, and Culture Shock as well as Hospital Records' S.P.Y., Fred V and Grafix, Etherwood and MC Dino. Local Toronto talent included Marcus Visionary, Hydee, Mr. Brown, and Bassik.

"Oh buddy all the DJs were amazing but 'calyx & teebee' were on a whole next level," said Chris Reynolds, who attended the event with his newly married wife Kristy. "Two DJs on six decks and two mixers was intense, but the way they gave hand signals back and forth to let each other know what they were doing was something I'll never forget."

Venue for this year's event was Nest, located at 423 College Street Toronto. The downtown nightclub (formerly known as Ryze) was recently renovated and now recognized as a cultural hub for EDM.

(Photo Credit: Nest Nightclub / Photo Description: Company Logo)

"Nest is a fairly new venue with a killer sound system. There are few large venues available right now in the city and Nest was available so it was a good fit," said Brown.

In previous year's, Bassweek was held inside the main room of the grand, yet late Guvernment Complex. Come next year in 2017 the parties will be in their sixth instalment, perhaps once again they will be hosted at Nest.

"Destiny is the longest running electronic music promoter in Canada. We have always been there to push new music on new crowds," Jesse said. "We curate our events to be a fun and memorable experience that is still similar to the ‘oldskool’ rave vibe we grew up with in the 90s."

In addition to Bassweek, Destiny Production is the curator of other well-known events and festivals. These include the late World electronic Music Festival and Freakout, the annual Halloween rave.

Party goers, dance-a-holics, businessmen and people of all backgrounds return annually with no hesitation. To most, 'raves' are reunions, though to some they soon become past times.

The next event will take place on April 17 and features DJ Andy C (U.K.).