Music. It brings us to life. It fills us with every single emotion possible, and often is an escape from emotions that tend to bring us down. It is the reason behind this blog, and also the reason you’re reading this blog.
We attended Commencement Fest in Lansing, Michigan, and the music saved the night. Local talent, Graves, Young Bombs, Adventure Club and RL Grime, set and raring to bring one hell of a musical showcase.
Our night started off a little… strange. The event was held at The Lansing Center in downtown Lansing, Michigan’s capital. The Lansing Center had some very interesting rules in place on the night. I won’t get into the already well known stigma behind the dance music scene and events involving drugs, overdose, and sometimes death, because that isn’t what this is about. The Lansing Center clearly had an outlook of prevention that went a little over the top.
People weren’t allowed to bring in wallets, unopened packs of gum, or cigarettes. This was their way of trying to prevent anything bad from happening, which is respectable, but seriously? A very small list of items was allowed, and they were telling people to bring it with them in a small plastic sandwich bag. That is just ridiculous. I am not attending a picnic, I am attending a show that brings incredible music from beloved artists. In addition to the great vibes and like minded people.
Once we got passed all of the people with security t-shirts and police lining the walls, we got our tickets scanned and entered into a dark double-door with lights flashing and bass thumping. Finally, what we had been waiting for. Bright flashing spotlights, a huge illuminated stage and screen equipped with loud punching synths and bass that got your blood pumping and eyes darting. Mass amounts of people sitting and standing against the walls, standing in line for water and glow gear, and one massive crowd gathered up to the stage like moths to the bright, melodically satisfying light.
The electronic community from the area that usually has to travel almost an hour to see a half way decent artist, showed loud and proud for such a rare occasion in their own backyard. It was indeed a wonderful sight. The only other issue, was the sound. Without any kind of sound deadening, and the big open size of the room, the sound just bounced all over the place. At times it was hard to hear what was dropping and playing, leaving you a little confused until you could figure out what you were hearing.
The local talent threw down and played like they’ve been touring and traveling for years. And then came Graves. Mixing trap, hip-hop, melodic, and his own killer blend of originals. It was very easy to see why his talent awarded him a Grammy and the winner of the EDC discovery project. He was the perfect warm up for what was to come.
And what came next, was unrelenting, heavy hitting bass. Adventure Club came out hard and fast with straight filth. Immediately dropping some heavy bass to open up, and the entire place went absolutely wild. Opening up with Skellism and Terror Bass still unreleased track “In the Pit.” AC kept the heavy bass and hard slaps coming, and slowly worked into some of their best originals. They brought the best of Adventure Club, and the crowd brought their best to represent. The boys even played a new unreleased track “Without You,” check it out below.
Finally closing out, was RL Grime. That signature sound you hear, and instantly know who’s playing. He played the start to tracks you know and expect to hear, and dropped them into genius transitions of the most unexpected tracks. We heard cheering and whooping his entire set from unsuspecting people loving every drop and bass hit. From twerking tracks, to huge builds mashed with dance music classics, he threw in a little bit of something for everyone. a huge build of Skrillex’ remix to La Roux “In For The Kill,” dropping into RL’s original “Scylla.” Or the long drug out feels-ful intro to RL’s original “Because of U.” Absolutely slayed that stage, that crowd, that building, that city.
Commencement Fest slated the right artists to make any situation justifiable, and we ended our night with incredible music from ridiculously talented artists. Leaving us talking about the show and the music, and had long forgotten about any other occurrence of the night. Music was yet again, our savior.
We’d like to thank React Presents for hooking us up and giving us the opportunity to cover the event, and bringing some of this beautiful scene into the Lansing area for us!
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