Hyper @ Fluid, Philly 11/9/02 Review

[breaksny]

Well the rumors are true. I did indeed make the trek back home (I'm originally from Philly) for 1 nite to see Digweed's lastest prodigy live on the decks in person. And as expected, he's a supercool, nice, and talented bloke.

He stopped by Cue records, down the block from Fluid (far and away the best club period between NY and Buz), a lil after 7, did the usual photoshoot/PR stuff with the store's staff and then spun a few records and chatted with me and some of the store staff for a few mins b4 heading off to dinner.

It was pretty disappointing imo that barely anyone showed up to see him @ the store, especially since it was promoted on this site and elsewhere (that's not a slag at anyone in particular, more a comment on how small Philly's own breaks scene is). We talked about a few of the tracks on his comp and he said he too is working on an album hopefully for release later in the year, but definitely not on his own label since he thought that'd be a conflict of interest.

He also told me his plans are to be here in NY in March and he's quite looking forward to it since he's never played here before. January isn't happening b/c they couldn't find a venue, as Draco announced on this board himself, and as others up here have told me. So mark your calendars NY, with him, the Plumps, and Soul of Man all tentatively slated to be here, March'll be a heavy month.

He also mentioned to me a few places over here he was really looking forward to, but unfortunately he was standing right under a speaker that drowned him out and I rather foolishly neglected to ask him to repeat himself. However, the one name I did catch was Spundae, so LA/SF get ready for some great shows next week since he's amped to see you guys.

The set itself was quite nice and the vibe @ Fluid is as lively as any club I've seen, especially considering Philly's breaks scene is even smaller than NY's, so a few local DJs told me anyway. Hyper drew heavily on his album and kept it pretty proper and bangin in a nu skooly, acidic, bassy sound music wise. He must've played half or more of the tracks on Bedrock Breaks, which in this case was basically a good thing since so many of em are upfront, such as Rennie's "This is Acid: Pt 2,"Terminalhead's "Give Me Head," and Puretone's "Addicted to Bass," among many others. He also dropped a track by the Insiders (so I was told) that was very proper acid, right after the Pilgrem one. Nice transition. He was very energetic, very interactive with the crowd during his set (though so relaxed and chilled during the warmup sets that came before him that I almost wondered if he'd dose off...just kidding). And he answered everyone's questions after his set was done a little after 2 (Philly really does close way too early).

Let me add, contrary to what some have said previously about his mixing, it is spot on tight, exciting, and hot. His song transitions are smooth, lively, and interesting. He's really lacking nothing in the mixing skills department, and I'm sort've miffed as to where that criticism arose from in the 1st place. He's rightfully one of the best up and coming breaks djs around.

I don't wanna forget to mention that my evening was made much better by the people I met and hung with from Philly, Todd from Cue records, Imri who opened for Hyper and gave a blinding set himself, Anton Chasm a local jock and one of his friend/promoters Pete, and 1 of the women who helped brign Hyper to Philly and is playing Fluid on the 23rd with Imri herself if yer gonna be down there, Summerjoy. A great time was had by all and certainly myself. Get ready North America, Hyper's about to rock the continent like he did the City of Brotherly Love!!!