Turbulence – the Observatory – 7/20/12

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*Turbulence: OC's Latest EDM Experience Moves into the Observatory, Stages a Takeover

Turbulence, a wall-rumbling evolution of the Detroit Bar's extinguished monthly Dubtroit,  crossed over into the main room of the Observatory on Friday night. Orange County / LA premier dubstep label Smog broadened their fans' horizon with moombathon as the Bros Gone Wild Tour joined the heavy hitting bass drops of SPL and EmalKay.

Danny United had it right when he told us in our recent feature about Turbulence  that his parties cater to the come-as-you-are mentality as the Observatory was damn near a melting pot of every race and class in the EDM socail strata, without anyone conforming to wearing the typical collared shirt, slacks and dress shoes. OC hipsters, bros, dolled-up girls in heels and dresses, ravers with glow gloves expressed themselves through bass music.

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At first glance the floor looked like a salsa dancehall, as people were two-stepping with a bit of samba flavor to winding, grinding moombahton beats. For most EDM fans, this new movement has taken a little awhile to accept, as it is not as extreme as it's predecessor. Still including catchy vocals and energetic build up, moombathon adds a reggaeton beat with variating alarm sounds as a bass drop. Other styles of the funky new addition to bass can include trance and house song roots.  Instead of people asking, “where's the drop bro?” this genre kept the females hips moving along with the occasional hair flip and hand gyrations to the roof. Drew Smog, head of the Smog label,  feels that moombahton will be bigger than dubstep because it appeals to a wider demographic including what may be the most important group in dance music: young females.

When Tittsworth came on stage, the lights went dark with red and yellow flickering strobes, generating the feel of a gritty, underground bass disco. Near the end of his moombahton set, ECT! ECT! joined him on stage for a back to back set.

A massive mosh pit cramped swarmed in the middle of the floor as Smog's SPL brought hardstyle build ups and overloaded bass explosions to the dance floor. But while dubstep is a form of dance music and should be able to express yourself, we're getting increasingly annoyed at people who flail around recklessly to the overly-aggressive sounds at the expense of others who'd rather not get their feet stomped on.

As the main event, EmalKay hit the stage with eery melodies, filthy bass lines and intense bangers to close the night out. He also joined in on the fun of exploring some alarming moombathon of his own. When the music stopped, fans were still thirsty for one more song. But due to curfew laws, SanTana must wait for the next Smog event in August. Future Turbulence nights are supposed to feature more drum n bass, moombathon, a long with the usual barrage of dubstep.

Critics Bias
It's nice to see true dubstep DJs have a successful night in Orange County. When I saw Excision at the Yost on Valentines Day, I felt like dubstep had been sponsored by Hot Topic. It is comforting to see people wear what they want and act the way they want at these Smog shows.

The Crowd
Hipsters, Bros and girls in high heals getting down to some heavy bass.

Random Notebook Dump
Fellas: Stop moshing damn it!

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