"dB in Dub pt.2" feat. CASPA, N-TYPE, BOXCUTTER, ROD AZLAN. 9/25 @ Motor

[jessimatic]

Wow. That has to have been one of the worst and best shows in Seattle I've ever seen. All the artists played amazing tracks (I've got the sore knees to prove it), the crowd was super friendly (I almost thought I was in Portland for a minute!) but that venue! I am honestly offended. There's GOT to be enough decent clubs in Seattle for international dubstep superstars. There better be a reaaaally good reason for why this was moved from The Showbox (swoon!). I was wry of Motor after reading the reviews online about horrible sound (which it had, half the dance floor is out of the path of the speakers, and something was up with the bass amps. The real bass only kicked in a few times. Sad face!), and the staff are RETARDED! Sure they're probably used to dealing with the weekend kiddy ravin' warriors, and thus the Seattle Police all up in their biznezz trying to bust them for underage drug taking, but for a much hyped, serious-bass Decibel Festival show, this was entirely inappropriate. And their lack of communication (I heard different protocol for getting back in to the club after going outside from different staff, the guy out back who was obsessed with the cones was scary as fuck (I think he was on drugs), the jerk face yelling at us to get off a PUBLIC STREET after it was over....) I hope to never set foot back in that place ever again. Please don't book any more awesome shows there, party throwers. I need to move to London where decent shows like this happen every night of the week.

[JsX2007]

but that venue! I am honestly offended. There's GOT to be enough decent clubs in Seattle for international dubstep superstars. There better be a reaaaally good reason for why this was moved from The Showbox (swoon!).

The only reason i didnt go to this show was because it was moved to Motor, damn i hate that place so much. Its used for all the little shows where the ravers who dont care about sound or music and are only there to get high and trade beads go. The showbox would have been MUCH better.

[mjm32280]

I went to motor one time in the past year and could only stay for one hour because of the shitty sound, that sucks that they had to use that venue:(

[Hazey]

Yes, we all know how shitty Motor is. Trust me, go through any thread, and they have a million replies about how bad that place is for: Sound, Security [especially the hispanic fellow with the beanie and long goatee type thing], and just the overall people who run the place. If I had 20 minutes and it was worth my time to sit down and talk to Joe Motor then I'd have a lot of things to say that'd make a difference. But, who cares? Don't support a venue unless you like it. Just don't go back.

However, on to the part of the review that matters:

Boxcutter, sick as fuck. Hella cool guy, does it for love I can tell, really cool to talk too and down to earth. Played an awesome set, even got a little bit of dance music & DNB in there as well. That was pretty cool.

N-Type- You are the fucking man. You are also hella down to earth also, and an amazing DJ, and prove that all the people who say spinning dubstep is easy, you don't know jack. N-Type totally blew me away. Had me dancin' tough.


MC's - THE ONES FOR N-Type and Caspa not bad at all. Usually I don't even like MCs at all, and theres were pretty good.

Last but not least:

Caspa - Fuck you. You're wack, Where's My Money is played out as you are, step away from the limelight and let Rusko take over. Horrible DJ, seemed like he drank way to many Coronas for his own good, and couldn't transition songs at all. Last time I pay to see you, thanks N-type and Boxcutter for doin' it proper.

[JohnnyRC]

Caspa - Fuck you. You're wack, Where's My Money is played out as you are, step away from the limelight and let Rusko take over. Horrible DJ, seemed like he drank way to many Coronas for his own good, and couldn't transition songs at all. Last time I pay to see you, thanks N-type and Boxcutter for doin' it proper.

Homie said it proper.

[jessimatic]

Yes, we all know how shitty Motor is. Trust me, go through any thread, and they have a million replies about how bad that place is for: Sound, Security [especially the hispanic fellow with the beanie and long goatee type thing], and just the overall people who run the place. If I had 20 minutes and it was worth my time to sit down and talk to Joe Motor then I'd have a lot of things to say that'd make a difference. But, who cares? Don't support a venue unless you like it. Just don't go back.

However, on to the part of the review that matters:

Boxcutter, sick as fuck. Hella cool guy, does it for love I can tell, really cool to talk too and down to earth. Played an awesome set, even got a little bit of dance music & DNB in there as well. That was pretty cool.

N-Type- You are the fucking man. You are also hella down to earth also, and an amazing DJ, and prove that all the people who say spinning dubstep is easy, you don't know jack. N-Type totally blew me away. Had me dancin' tough.


MC's - THE ONES FOR N-Type and Caspa not bad at all. Usually I don't even like MCs at all, and theres were pretty good.

Last but not least:

Caspa - Fuck you. You're wack, Where's My Money is played out as you are, step away from the limelight and let Rusko take over. Horrible DJ, seemed like he drank way to many Coronas for his own good, and couldn't transition songs at all. Last time I pay to see you, thanks N-type and Boxcutter for doin' it proper.

Well, *I* didn't know how bad Motor is because I've never been there. I'm not going to boycott a show of some of my favorite djs and producers because of 8 reviews on the internet. I am honestly just curious why an electronic music festival had to resort to using that venue, like if they knew how bad it was or not. I'm sorry I just feel strongly about sound, it will ruin my night before some "played out" dj who runs an amazing record label and plays good tunes does.

[JohnnyRC]

Caspa has some ill tracks, it true. But why be a DJ if you're going to show no signs of energy or enthusiasm when performing.
Show us you enjoy the music.
Caspa's soon destined to be the Tiesto of dubstep... ihh.

[jessimatic]

Caspa has some ill tracks, it true. But why be a DJ if you're going to show no signs of energy or enthusiasm when performing.
Show us you enjoy the music.
Caspa's soon destined to be the Tiesto of dubstep... ihh.

Maybe because Seattle and most of the US don't party like they do in the UK... why be a party going crowd if you're going to show such minimal signs of energy or enthusiasm when partying? (Even though most people at this show were more lively than usual at a Seattle gathering.) Show everyone else you enjoy the music. I didn't see anyone else skanking as hard as I did! I'm ultimately happy to have some UK dubstep djs to grace my city!

[Hazey]

Maybe because Seattle and most of the US don't party like they do in the UK... why be a party going crowd if you're going to show such minimal signs of energy or enthusiasm when partying? (Even though most people at this show were more lively than usual at a Seattle gathering.) Show everyone else you enjoy the music. I didn't see anyone else skanking as hard as I did! I'm ultimately happy to have some UK dubstep djs to grace my city!

It'd also help to show some enthusiasm if Caspa didn't keep messing up and drinking Corona when he was spinning his records. And then when he did mess up, he should fix it and get the crowd hype by showing some enthusiasm.

And you're right, people in UK definitely know how to party compared to that of the US, I went to a bunch of clubs when I was running around Europe, I saw Junkie XL/Audio Bullys @ Melkweg in Amsterdam and people know how to party ten times harder there then here.

[jessimatic]

It'd also help to show some enthusiasm if Caspa didn't keep messing up and drinking Corona when he was spinning his records. And then when he did mess up, he should fix it and get the crowd hype by showing some enthusiasm.

And you're right, people in UK definitely know how to party compared to that of the US, I went to a bunch of clubs when I was running around Europe, I saw Junkie XL/Audio Bullys @ Melkweg in Amsterdam and people know how to party ten times harder there then here.

ok, maybe i was enjoying dubstep on giant [albeit shitty speakers] too much to pay attention to the perfect djing that was expected out of caspa, but come on, if you were an overpayed dj wouldn't you try to get away with as much as you could as well? and i would say the crowd was just as fucked up as i was to be complaining about imperfect djing skills. at least he was on the 2-minute-or-less sort of (my) rule for mixing chorus-verse-chorus dance music records, i think, mostly.....

we live in an extremely party-vibe suppressed environment and we're all suffering because of it, and ultimately we're all in it together. so, yay for bass and music and stuff!

[TProphet]

As to all the complaints about sound - I haven't been to Motor many times, but the system wasn't a train wreck when I was there last. Then again, I've never heard dubstep played on it.

The fact of the matter is, it's *hard* to run sound well for dubstep. The producers master so much sub-bass into the tracks that it will bottom out any system. In fact, I bought a very expensive dbx 1066 (http://www.dbxpro.com/1066/1066.php) compressor for my system just because of one dubstep DJ who I kept having to turn down to ridiculously low levels. It wasn't his fault - really, it wasn't. It was the tracks he was playing. Electronic music is generally already compressed, so I try to avoid using additional compression if it isn't necessary. However, it *is* necessary for dubstep - or at least an EQ which allows you to cut out anything below ~30hz.

Why did I choose the dbx 1066 vs. just EQing out any sub-bass? Well, it's only a concern for speaker protection at certain levels. The dbx 1066 has a highly specialized computer in it that figures out the optimal ratio and constantly adjusts. Properly tuned (and I'm still learning how to use it effectively), only a highly trained ear could discern it's there--and being able to discern it isn't necessarily a bad thing. A good DJ will notice when he's straining the system and will trim his EQ and levels appropriately.

FWIW, I don't know the sound tech who runs the system at Motor, but I know on a dubstep night--without the resources in place to tune the system around poorly mastered tracks--any sound system will struggle. Parts of it may even blow (and blown speakers sound truly awful). None of this takes away from the fact that on that night, for that lineup, the system at Motor apparently didn't perform--but I've heard it perform respectably at New Years and for the Utah Saints. It definitely lacks the clarity of, say, Starborne's KV2 system, but few venues could afford such an extravagance.

Folks - we're spoiled to have so many great sound systems in Seattle, and so many high quality venues. Motor isn't the best venue in town, and they don't have the best system. But somewhere like Salt Lake City or Omaha, kids would *kill* for a venue like Motor. Feedback like this helps venues and sound techs improve,and all parties concerned do read these boards. However, please try to keep it constructive--include specifics about what you didn't like, and how the venue might improve. That's how we all learn! :)

[jessimatic]

As to all the complaints about sound - I haven't been to Motor many times, but the system wasn't a train wreck when I was there last. Then again, I've never heard dubstep played on it.

The fact of the matter is, it's *hard* to run sound well for dubstep. The producers master so much sub-bass into the tracks that it will bottom out any system. In fact, I bought a very expensive dbx 1066 (http://www.dbxpro.com/1066/1066.php) compressor for my system just because of one dubstep DJ who I kept having to turn down to ridiculously low levels. It wasn't his fault - really, it wasn't. It was the tracks he was playing. Electronic music is generally already compressed, so I try to avoid using additional compression if it isn't necessary. However, it *is* necessary for dubstep - or at least an EQ which allows you to cut out anything below ~30hz.

Why did I choose the dbx 1066 vs. just EQing out any sub-bass? Well, it's only a concern for speaker protection at certain levels. The dbx 1066 has a highly specialized computer in it that figures out the optimal ratio and constantly adjusts. Properly tuned (and I'm still learning how to use it effectively), only a highly trained ear could discern it's there--and being able to discern it isn't necessarily a bad thing. A good DJ will notice when he's straining the system and will trim his EQ and levels appropriately.

FWIW, I don't know the sound tech who runs the system at Motor, but I know on a dubstep night--without the resources in place to tune the system around poorly mastered tracks--any sound system will struggle. Parts of it may even blow (and blown speakers sound truly awful). None of this takes away from the fact that on that night, for that lineup, the system at Motor apparently didn't perform--but I've heard it perform respectably at New Years and for the Utah Saints. It definitely lacks the clarity of, say, Starborne's KV2 system, but few venues could afford such an extravagance.

Folks - we're spoiled to have so many great sound systems in Seattle, and so many high quality venues. Motor isn't the best venue in town, and they don't have the best system. But somewhere like Salt Lake City or Omaha, kids would *kill* for a venue like Motor. Feedback like this helps venues and sound techs improve,and all parties concerned do read these boards. However, please try to keep it constructive--include specifics about what you didn't like, and how the venue might improve. That's how we all learn! :)

Thank you, I have been half way to this realization about the complexity of bass equalization for so long, but without the proper knowledge it is impossible. I hope this is lesson to anyone who tries to do dubstep on a PA (just as I always make fun of myself for trying to play dubstep for my friends without the proper bass). We should never stop learning and always keep trying. The Contour does it pretty well amplified for the Shift nights, but that place is ridiculously tiny by the current standards for a dubstep monthly in a city where it is quite large now. It may be that the folks at Motor and the Decibel folks may not have been prepared for what ultra-low frequencies were going to blast out of those speakers that night, but I'm just saying that I'm nearly positive there could have been a better venue for dubstep than a relatively new weekend rave club in Seattle that is set up for cheap thrills and non-discerning (due only to inexperience) ears.

[cosby]

I don't blame techs for the bad sound at Motor, the room is just not built to have good sound for an electronic music show, period. It's a long rectangle with wooden walls and the stage and speakers are at an angle - that's a recipe for disaster. I thought the highs were not as hitting as they could have been honestly - the bass was fine, if not a little muddy, but the mids and highs is where the sound suffered on Friday.

Boxcutter and N-Type were very solid - N-Type is an exciting dude as one could see by his emceeing for Benga the night before, dude is excited for the music and for the crowd. Boxcutter had a really fluid and ever-changing sound - I like the element of surprise throughout his set.

One last note: the security there is a fucking joke. If you really want to break people's balls all the time, become a cop or something - a REAL cop. I'm sure they can't based on their record or competency, but I'm just saying. This is some of the worst security in Seattle - period.

[swank]

the CV bins they use @ motor don't have much of a low end anyway. They've always been super punchy, but really lacking the rumble a soundsystem needs for a good dubstep show.

[skloot]

However, it *is* necessary for dubstep - or at least an EQ which allows you to cut out anything below ~30hz.
Or you can get some ServoDrives :D
(Oh, what I would give to bring back Stylus for a night of dubstep)

[Homatek]

Man, that sucks about all the negative reviews.
You gotta have good sound w/ Dubstep.
DUH!

I would have thought this would have been one of the best acts of decibel.
Oh well, hopefully the PDXers will do it right for the show in October.

[swank]

Or you can get some ServoDrives :D
(Oh, what I would give to bring back Stylus for a night of dubstep)

You should've experienced those MASSIVE bassbins they brought into Neumos for the weekend. HOLY HELL. I think they gave the Stylus system a run for its money for SPL

[cosby]

The bassbin at Neumos on Saturday night was the size of a small car. I saw Daedelus and Mala checking it out before the show - kind of funny.

[Mortal Grey]

but come on, if you were an overpayed dj wouldn't you try to get away with as much as you could as well?

No, and that's kind of rediculous. Show why you are worth the money the promoters are paying you. Too many big name dj's get wasted before they play and ruin the show.

Anyway, Glad to hear Boxcutter and N-Type held it down. I really wanted to see those two (along with Pinch) soooo much, but I had a wedding to attend this weekend.

[Car2n]

well, I had a blast!!

[Tap_Tap]

will be posting a bunch of NEW photos to TapTapProductions.com (http://www.msplinks.com/MDFodHRwOi8vVGFwVGFwUHJvZHVjdGlvbnMuY29t) -- check em out :)

[DJ_Lukki]

Biggup dB festival. What a treat last weekend was for Seattle. we were the envy of the Stateside Dubstep massive :)

[RageDizzer]

I don't blame techs for the bad sound at Motor, the room is just not built to have good sound for an electronic music show, period. It's a long rectangle with wooden walls and the stage and speakers are at an angle - that's a recipe for disaster. I thought the highs were not as hitting as they could have been honestly - the bass was fine, if not a little muddy, but the mids and highs is where the sound suffered on Friday.

Boxcutter and N-Type were very solid - N-Type is an exciting dude as one could see by his emceeing for Benga the night before, dude is excited for the music and for the crowd. Boxcutter had a really fluid and ever-changing sound - I like the element of surprise throughout his set.

One last note: the security there is a fucking joke. If you really want to break people's balls all the time, become a cop or something - a REAL cop. I'm sure they can't based on their record or competency, but I'm just saying. This is some of the worst security in Seattle - period.


Sorry there were so many issues. We do listen and you are welcome to call, email, or just stop by to address your concerns. In my opinion the world is a better place when you help better the things around you rather then getting people to boycott and destroy them because your personal experience wasn't perfect.

We looked over this thread thoroughly and we are again sorry, there were some issues. We will address them before the next event.

1. It was not Motor's sound, nor their engineers. It was a gift from EV, a Dynacord system with their equipment and their engineers to show off their equipment. The only thing you heard of motors were our subs that were a bit under powered by the amps they brought and were being run a bit lower than we have adjust our system to. We have had two years to tweak that room and it wasn’t easy and we feel our sound is pretty good now. However Dynacord offered to let DB use their sound system and we allowed it, but there wasn’t as much experience with the room by their engineers. I am afraid their goodwill and our mutual decision to allow it has come to roost. I think all three parties are sorry and we won’t let it happen again. At least if it had been Motors sound we could say “okay we will fix it.” But unfortunately its not and those of you complaining haven’t probably heard the new sound system since the major up grade a few weeks ago. I encourage to come again, FOR FREE (IF YOU ARE 21+ ) October 23rd, hear the house system FOR FREE (21+), then come here and bash it fairly. ;)

2. Security has been dealt with, we heard your concerns, and note this is not an excuse just what happened, our security manager was injured a few months ago and physically can not return to work. Many of the security that night were new people since she left and not trained well. Adjustments have been made as we witnessed issues through out the night, but again unfortunately once the show starts you just have to grin and bear it until it’s over. Again you are invited see the major changes we made after the show October 23rd.

Joe Motor stresses on this stuff, and so does Brian and I, we read that some of you would like to say your piece of mind and we welcome it. Please be constructive and if possible offer solutions and ideas. We like talking about the club and the issues and working on them, fixes issues at the club is like any hobby, you kinda like getting greasy and working on it and its more fun if people join in.

Feel free to email me webbwerx AT gmail Dot com.

[Hazey]

2. Security has been dealt with, we heard your concerns, and note this is not an excuse just what happened, our security manager was injured a few months ago and physically can not return to work. Many of the security that night were new people since she left and not trained well. Adjustments have been made as we witnessed issues through out the night, but again unfortunately once the show starts you just have to grin and bear it until it’s over. Again you are invited see the major changes we made after the show October 23rd.

Joe Motor stresses on this stuff, and so does Brian and I, we read that some of you would like to say your piece of mind and we welcome it. Please be constructive and if possible offer solutions and ideas. We like talking about the club and the issues and working on them, fixes issues at the club is like any hobby, you kinda like getting greasy and working on it and its more fun if people join in.



Hahahha, we've all heard that a million times.

Here's the lowdown, DON'T GO TO A CLUB IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT. Don't support Motor if you don't like it. Therefor, I, after a ton of parties there, refuse to support this place. I will tell everyone I know who I party with, and I go in a group of about 20 people, just not to go there. This because I hate having everyone I know badmouth it, and I'm tired of bad mouthing it also. The place sucks.
But hey, it's not Studio 7! :) so be happy.

I emailed Joe awhile back with a major complaint, and guess what, same douchebag chicano gangster homeboy is still there.

[RageDizzer]

Hahahha, we've all heard that a million times.

Here's the lowdown, DON'T GO TO A CLUB IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT. Don't support Motor if you don't like it. Therefor, I, after a ton of parties there, refuse to support this place. I will tell everyone I know who I party with, and I go in a group of about 20 people, just not to go there. This because I hate having everyone I know badmouth it, and I'm tired of bad mouthing it also. The place sucks.
But hey, it's not Studio 7! :) so be happy.

I emailed Joe awhile back with a major complaint, and guess what, same douchebag chicano gangster homeboy is still there.

What email address did you use? He is easiest to get ahold of via myspace, his email is SPAM land with bands. Or you can email me since I deal with it. Other thatn looking liek a "douche bag" and not letting people in the back door, his job, I have never gotten any complaints about him.

[Hazey]

I've emailed and talked to someone at the security place, and they just gave a long speech about how it'll be "Dealt" with. The point of that message is not to slam the club, just saying, if you don't like it, don't go there. I won't, and word of advice on other people's half who want their money's worth is to also not attend. That's all. :) Just as Studio 7 has survived horrible security and bullshit parties, Motor will too. So don't worry, your events will go on! :] And since the crowd gets younger and younger every party, every new 13 year old will find their 'home.'

However, I am also not slamming you, because I've been to many parties you've thrown and they've been wonderful. Motor, however, is just not worth the money, and is getting a bad reputation [decent amount of people don't take any action, why? Because it's not their club, and it's not like they need to have a 'say' in it.] There's many other venues and security companies that can be used.

Motor will be the CREAM of Ibiza. :P

This is not a personal shot at you or your parties, this is just a personal shot at whoever hired and doesn't watch over the security they hire.

[aka: Throwing your shoes across the sidewalk when checking them. I had to TELL the guy to set them on the ground, and after that other people asked also. Same guy who found some kid's POI and was like, "WHAT THE FUCK ARE THESE THINGS? I GOT YOUR BALLS" Laughable as it, but c'mon. Do your job and shut up. Nobody needs your lame jokes. Security isn't there to have fun at the expense of party goers. The list can go on, but it boils down to the fact that you don't support things you don't like. I'm not going to buy apples because I don't like them. WORD!]

[Michaelstarseed]

Interesting to hear this feedback when Decibel brought in a world class system, the Dynachord Cobra2, we did use some of the house subs just to take it over the top, but all in all the system you guys heard there was a world class rig ran by some of Seattle's best audio technicians.. What Ive noticed is that when dealing with music producers as opposed to DJs the sound quality is varied to shit quite often as the studio producers rarely know how to properly finish their trax, leaving them sounding like crap for us on the other side of the speaks. Gat dam I miss dj culture specifically for this reason...
As for the venue and the venue switch, the truth is that Showbox was gonna KILL us with ridiculous fees and we would have lost over 8,000$ if we had chosen Showbox over Motor. We also were able to do a full bar with an 18+ show with ease at Motor.. I agree the venue is a bit on the whack side, but honestly its better than supporting some of the lame ass'd clubs in Seattle and I felt it reflected the grimey dubstep sounds well, my personal opinion.. Thanks for the feedback, its quite difficult pulling off a festival like this and hitting all the marks, especially when you do it in a highly discerning city like Seattle. The assknuckle security guard that night got canned btw ;)

[Lu$HuZ]

I wanted this show to be epic and it delivered! This is also the first show I've been 100% sober at for a long, long time. I had fun, I actually remember stuff, and got to see N-Type's & Caspa's sets in their entirety.

Venue: Nasty and wrong, mainly the bathrooms. It was so hot everyone was sweating profusely, even the performers. They were obviously really hot and that can't not affect their performances. I would have liked a nicer venue. The sound system was incredible though, glad I had earplugs! There wasn't much room to dance, except as budaho mentioned in shitty spots. They were searching all bags & ppl at the door, which is great, but what's up w/ idiots trying to bring in open bottles of water & stuff?! Rave rules: Bring the minimum, geez!

Vibe: Nice, rave-type, lotta rastas & hippies, of course the typical Shift. show ppl, but also a large portion of non-Shift.-going type that had Decibel Festival all-access passes and were obviously not your typical dubstep headz but were definitely into the music. A decent amount of obviously-rolling folks but security seemed to be pretty stepped up as well.

Dubtek: Sorry I missed that one but I was busy driving across the state to get to this show!

Boxcutter: Didn't catch all of his set, but he seemed to be using a laptop to spin his tunes. I wasn't feeling the style necessarily, it was odd.

N-Type: Vinyl set, awesome energy, stage presence, track selection, and mixing. This guy is the total package. Kept the crowd going strong. MC Juakali was decent but not amazing. Neither seemed to be drinking alcohol during their sets.

Caspa: Vinyl set, energetic arm waves seemed contrived, drank a couple of Coronas during his set, MC Rod Azlan drank H2O. Caspa's track selection was nice, I don't think the tunes were all rinsed out, he certainly played some older faves but the crowd loved it. His mixing to me seemed damn near flawless, throwing down brocking out hard core bass and then lightening it up after, over and over again. A few times I thought the speakers were gonna blow, the bass was vibrating the floor and pushing out air, incredible. Caspa looked up only a couple times during his set (until he picked up the mic for a minute at the end), and like I mentioned before, his energy was certainly lower than N-Type's, but I chalked it up to being his laid-back English style (this was my first time seeing him). Rod Azlan was not as hot as the Rusko show, but he performs well and stays quiet enough to let the music shine through.

***** Can't wait to see the pix for this! There were tons of photogs!

[JohnnyRC]

Same guy who found some kid's POI and was like, "WHAT THE FUCK ARE THESE THINGS? I GOT YOUR BALLS" Laughable as it, but c'mon.

Word. That guy was faaacked up. No one who's running the door should be that fucked up while on the job.
There's a time and a place for being a party-goer, and on the clock isn't the right time at all.