Well it’s been over two months since the last post. We’ve been working on some website updates behind the scenes, mostly structural and a few minor cosmetic updates. Updates were launched today and now we are catching up with some news.
April and May were very busy months as promised. You may already know that we also had a slight change of plans… Ben Soundscape and Collette Warren were scheduled to perform for us on 25 April. Unfortunately they had delays with their visas (as have many other UK and EU artists) and thankfully we were able to reschedule them. We still had a party, and Impression became our headliner.
That said, Ben and Collette are back on! Saturday 22 June, at a new venue called Fito’s in the Lakewood area. Our friends over at The Wub Tub have been doing a weekly party there for the past 3+ months and it’s a great spot, perfect for our events. The same support lineup is back with us too. Advance tickets are still available, and the price includes the fees which means real savings on the door.
Merch store incoming
Some other big news: we’re launching our online merch store! Many of you have asked about getting shirts, and now we have things set up with an on-demand printing service. This means we will be able to offer a variety of shirt styles, and multiple graphic designs. They have some other merch options like coffee mugs, beach towels, bikinis, shorts, joggers, stationary, and so on. We will add a few items once we get designs for them complete. The shop page will be up on the site within the next few days, so come on back and get hooked up with your new JaxDnB gear.
More shows on deck
I thought we might get a break from shows, but nope! Summertime is hot and not just the outside air temperature. Here’s a list of what’s coming up that we know of now, starting in July:
- 07/05 Myth Terrace DnB Takeover, full lineup TBC but we have some special guess you haven’t seen here before
- 07/11 is TBC, we might see the return of a dope UK tour that came though earlier this year
- 07/20 is also TBC, you might see us taking over a channel at a silent disco at the beaches
- 07/26 we found out is going to be special one-off event, likely to celebrate a certain Jax OG’s birthday
- 08/02 Myth Terrace DnB Takeover, we’ll be welcoming some special guests from Pensacola
- 08/23 A double headliner show at the beach, one artist from Germany and the other from NYC
- 09/06 It’s a celebration with Phukheadz for their 18 year anniversary and a thick lineup at Myth on the terrace
April and May recap
It’s still hard to believe that we had three major headliners come to Jacksonville in a matter of about five weeks.
Impression and guests at Rain Dogs
But first, a word about Impression. It’s easy to think of him as just a local. We’re here to tell you that he’s worth every cent as a headliner in his own right. He has a growing discography of releases, many of them being collaborations with other well-known artists. Lab Sessions, his weekly radio show on bassdrive.com, has been going for around fifteen years straight. Combine all that with his total experience behind the decks dating back to the late 90s, and you have a formula for some top-tier talent.
Also on the lineup, Vixen Stylee from central Florida brought the flavor both on the decks and on the mic. Her range of talent can electrify any party whether she’s deejay, emcee, or both. She spent much of her time cutting her chops playing with the Torque crew in Orlando, and is now involved with both Geishaz and Bass Misfits. Seriously, book her for your shows and you will not be disappointed.
Aphrodite Live at Myth
Aphrodite then came through on Sunday 28 April. He brought his usual top tier selection and mixing style, keeping the feet moving and the booties shaking. He is widely considered one of the DnB scene’s pioneers. Many credit him as their introduction to drum n bass. He brings that same energy and funky style to every set that he’s been known for since the early days.
IMANU Live at Myth
Then a few days later, we got treated to some true underground flavor by IMANU. We weren’t sure what to expect, other than we knew that our minds would be blown. It was awesome to watch a deejay so in tune with the vibe of the crowd, carefully pondering each selection. The style changed up a few times, moving through some deep dub, bass house, borderline-techno, some other left field stuff that isn’t really definable, and back to DnB. All in all, I highly recommend catching his set any chance you get.
“Carry The Fire” U.S DnB Tour
Jacksonville had the privilege to kick off the Carry The Fire tour with U.S. DnB frontrunners Kumarion, Bensley, and Justin Hawkes. These guys are truly at the forefront of modern drum n bass and they have their finger on the pulse of what crowds are expecting.
We got to meet them and they’re all nice down to earth people who truly appreciate all the support. It was cool that they were hanging out all night, getting the vibe of the party, being real participants. For support they invited one of our new friends Corsa who came up from Tampa. He co-runs the monthly DnB Outpost, and frequently supports other shows and crews in the Bay Area.
We have to throw a huge shout out to the team at Elektronic Group and Brass Knuckle Booking for supporting the Drum n Bass culture. They are primarily known for putting on top notch dubstep, trap, and modern house music artists. With this recent run of shows they’ve proven that their audience can get down with the 170+bpm beats and bass just the same.
That’s all the news we’ve got for now. As we move into the second half of the year we expect even more DnB goodness to be coming our way. The surge of DnB in the U.S. doesn’t appear to be slowing down anytime soon. Make sure you follow our socials and subscribe to our newsletter so you stay up to date on what’s happening. See you in the dance!