System = Overloaded… ;)
Do you like bass in your face? Well, I do! And that’s why I had the most incredible time last weekend at Arizona’s brand new bass music festival: System Overload. This fest featured heavy dubstep, riddim, and experimental artists, making my little bass-head heart so happy. I originally wasn’t going to attend, but about two weeks before the event, I decided, why not? So I fully sent it, and I’m so glad I did! Come along with me as I reminisce on the absolute time that was had, and how my system got overloaded in the best way possible.
Since this fest was a smaller one, there were only two stages: The main stage, Power Grid, and the second stage, Vault 404. This lineup was super stacked with amazing artists, making it hard to choose which stage to be at, so even though there were insanely talented artists at Vault 404, we just happened to stay at the main stage for most of night one.
The weekend kicked off for us at Richard Fingers’ set. This was my first time seeing the duo, and I was super excited just because of how much speculation surrounds them, with everyone guessing who it could be, and all the videos I’ve seen of them and their hilarious masks. Their visuals were mostly of this little hot dog finger looking thing- they are just so unserious, I love it, and not to mention they actually throw down. They kicked off the weekend with a super fun, light-hearted vibe, which was perfect to get the festival going
Next up was Samplifire, who did not come to play- he meant business! His set was full of heavy dubstep drops and mixing in some insane riddim too. My favorite part of his set was when he played a remix of “Crazy Frog”, which really had the whole squad going crazy and absolutely jumpin’. After Samplifire, it was right into another amazing set: HOL! Who, of course, was just chopping it up the whole time. There were too many highlights from this set, but some include when he remixed Subtronics, “Runaway”, and when he played “Malfunction”, which is his new song with Eptic.
There wasn’t much to see on the grounds or interactive art, so it was just artist after artist. I honestly wasn’t mad about this. It is exciting when festivals have lots to interact with and explore, but it’s also fun to experience set after set at a smaller show. You don’t have to miss artists you want to see just because you’re busy exploring.
Right after HOL! was Liquid Stranger, who brought a whole different vibe to the fest. During the start of his set, we did take a little detour to go grab some Island Noodles, because if you’ve had Island Noodles before, you know you can’t pass them up! Liquid Stranger started playing, and we were just vibing in the back for a bit while munching on our Island Noodles- the vibes were 10/10, of course. We made our way up to the front, and Liquid Stranger was bumpin’ some drum and bass, which holds a very special place in my heart, so I was having a great time. Special shoutout to him for playing “On and On” by Sub Focus. I did pop over to MADVKTM (MAD DUBZ b2b VKTM) because the bathrooms were at that stage, and they were throwing down. This was a set I wish I could’ve seen fully, but the timing of it with Liquid Stranger and Wooli was just not ideal, so I was only able to bop around for a few songs, then returned to Power Grid for the last set of the night: Wooli.
Wooli was one of the artists I was most excited for because he delivers an amazing set each and every time I see him. My brother also came for the weekend, which was super special because we haven’t been to a rave together in quite some time. He also loves Wooli just as much as I do, so we were excited to experience his set together. Wooli delivered yet again another heavy, beautifully cinematic set that had the whole crowd engaged from start to finish. There were too many euphoric moments like when he played “On repeat” into The Temper Trap’s “Sweet Disposition”, or “Young and Beautiful” by Lana Del Rey into Subtronics “Into Pieces”, or John Summit’s “Crystallized” into “Chaos theory”. I could go on and on about insane moments like these… he was really bringing out all the stops. Not to mention the mesmerizing sea of rainbow lasers as these songs were playing. It was a truly magical ride he took us on. If you somehow haven’t seen Wooli yet, trust me, you NEED to.
Day one brought all the vibes and got us hyped for day two. I will say though, I wasn’t consistent about wearing my pashmina around my mouth on night one. If you live in Arizona or have been to Rawhide, you know what I’m talking about. It gets insanely dusty, especially close to the stage. Without protection, you’ll be inhaling dust all night and not even realize it. On day two, we woke up coughing up some dirt. We got smart and decided to get masks. We wore them as much as we could on night two, and it helped us tremendously!
Day two, we spent more time at the second stage, Vault 404, and had such a great time. Warlord was the first full set we saw, and he was insane. He’s an underground riddim producer who is mainly known for his Soundcloud releases. The main song I know by him is “Mr. Snazzy Jogged Dub”, but just based on that song alone, I knew his set was about to go crazy- and as I suspected, it did. My group at first wasn’t even going to see him, but when I reminded them of his song, Mr. Snazzy, they were immediately down. This set was probably in the top three of the weekend for me. His sounds were impeccable, and he was up there doing his thing, just choppin’ it up. If you enjoy riddim and ever see him on a lineup, I would 10/10 recommend seeing him.
Eptic was the next set, and this was actually my first time seeing him. I don’t typically listen to him in my day-to-day, but he did throw down. His set was packed with heavy drops and mosh pits, of course. Then, after Eptic, it was right into NGHTMRE, who surprised me with one of my favorite sets of the weekend. I haven’t seen NGHTMRE in a few years, so I wasn’t sure what to expect, but his set was full of vibes, good drops, and popular songs being mixed in that had the whole crowd jumpin’. Highlights for me included seeing his song with Sub Focus and Dimension “Angel” live, yelling out his newer mix “Type Sh*t” with Crankdat, and of course seeing his OG song “Feeling Gud”. His set was just full of good energy and had everyone on the same positive wavelength. I will definitely be looking forward to seeing him again!
To close out the fest, they had Slander playing on the main stage, and Stoned to Death (Stoned Level b2b MUERTE) playing at the second stage. We started at Slander, who was good, of course, but I’ve seen them so many times, I just know exactly what I’m going to see every time. I had to use the bathroom, so my brother and I popped over to the other stage, heard some of Stoned to Death, and decided we wanted to stay there for a few songs because of how hard they were throwing down. This collaborative b2b was full of aggressive bass and riddim tracks, and my other friends ended up leaving Slander to meet up with us for this set. We kept saying we would leave to end the night at the main stage, but we just couldn’t; we were having way too much fun. Of course, the second stage wasn’t as good as the main stage and didn’t have any pyro, fireworks, or nearly as good lasers, but they made it worth it with what music they were playing and the energy they were bringing. They played popular songs like “Promises” by Skrillex and Nero, “Where Have You Been” by Rihanna, and even “We R Who We R” by Ke$ha, and just mixed them all with nasty drops; it was a complete vibe. This was the last set of the night, so my friends and I were just going wild, jumping around and dancing crazy because why not. I’m honestly so glad we decided to stay at Stoned to Death instead of seeing Slander- it truly was the perfect end to the perfect weekend.
All in all, I rate this fest a 10/10 for vibes and a 10/10 for music. Even though it is a smaller fest, if they put it on next year, the only things I would want to see improvements on are having more photo ops and interactive art, and making the production at stage two better (better lasers, sound, etc). I really hope they do this again next year because I would for sure go back. And shoutout to all my fellow dubstep, bass, and riddim-loving friends for making this weekend so memorable, and loving this music as much as I do. Till next time 🥳✨🤪
