Heavy Hong Kong brought the bass this Friday, featuring UK headliner RSD, to celebrate their Sixth Anniversary Party at Backstage Live in Lan Kwai Fong. The jazz club’s stage and DJ booth allowed a nice variety of performances, with the music covering the whole range of reggae, dub, bass and the accelerated boom of steppers. Although the night seemed to build-up a bit more slowly than the crowd might have hoped for, every artist turned in an enthusiastic performance. A few technical glitches aside, the night progressed well from opener DJ Dragon’s 7” bass assault, with local MCs Rahyym RayShizzle and Loki Dolo trading verses over some dub loops towards the end of the set, into a solid set of live reggae by Sensi Lion. The local five-piece’s Cantonese vocals, thick bass and skillful trumpet combined to keep the largest crowd of the night more than satisfied, especially with their energetic finale. Next came Hope One, Lamma Island’s resident beat-maker, who explored roots, digital, steppas, and dub reggae, including his own productions and others from Dub Temple Records.
All the artists tested the Heavy Hong Kong sound system’s lower-end, but RSD pushed it the most, with the headliner twisting and mutating his way through an extremely fluid mix of face-tingling multi-genre bass music. He maintained a definite reggae bent, yet also stepped into other styles and influences to craft an engaging set. Multi-talented Blood Dunza finished the night off with his dub/bass sound that has him, as founder and long-time Heavy Hong Kong promoter, at the forefront of the Hong Kong bass movement.
The crowd at times seemed a bit unsure of whether roots, steppas, or simply bass itself was their preferred sub-genre, but the DJs wisely worked them all into their sets to keep everyone satisfied. This March 18th show, along with The Bug & Daddy Freddy at XXX on March 10, has definitely started the year off well for all things bass in Hong Kong, with more greatness coming up next week: a Sessions HK dub/reggae show on Thursday night at Golden Stupa and then Heavy Hong Kong returns with V.I.V.E.K bringing dubstep to XXX:
