Shaq’s Bass All-Stars: Phoenix Edition (DJ DIESEL)

Shaquille O’Neal, aka DJ DIESEL, and his team of Bass All-Stars brought the HEAT with them to Phoenix, Arizona, during the weekend of the Final Four. This two-night event took place at Warehouse 215, and each artist had the place absolutely bumpin’ with the sounds of heavy bass and dubstep.

I’ve been to Warehouse 215 once, and it was for the first-ever Phoenix Warehouse Project, so I thought I somewhat knew what to expect! Besides the main stage, the layout was pretty different than what I remembered. First, when walking into the venue, the main stage (called The Cathedral) stands in a vast ballroom-like room. Behind the beginning of the main stage was another room with a much smaller stage (The Grotto) that gave a more intimate vibe as you could be right up on the DJ table. The last room/stage (The Vestibule) was more of a lounging area. The Vestibule was super spacious, allowing people to use their flow toys and sit down while allowing vibes to radiate to the “smaller” DJs. One woman was even performing with a dragon dreamer, and I just sat in awe, watching her flow- it was such a beautiful experience!

Night one featured Bigstabes, Guestli$t, Kozmoz, Stoned Level, Benda, Freaky, Gorilla T b2b Celo, HE$H, Midnight Tyrannosaurus, and Kompany. Night one wasn’t sold out so seasoned ravers like myself can enjoy the room to maneuver through the crowd and visit each set and stage easily. The first set my group decided to start the night with was the back-to-back of Gorilla T and Celo, and they absolutely killed it. As Gorilla T said on his Instagram story, “We weren’t sure how our sounds were gunna work together before, but that turned out being so unbelievably lit from start to finish.” I can attest to Gorilla’s comment because it was absolutely lit. I, alongside others in the crowd, believed it had the perfect amount of wonky bass and was one of my favorite sets of the weekend.

Another great part of my weekend that came in second was being able to see Stoned Level and Benda! This show here at Warehouse 215 allowed me to see those two artists for the first time, and let me tell you, I had been DYING to see them! They both DJ’d on the side stage (The Grotto), and it was so cool to be right in front of them and in all the action as they played. These artists are up and coming, and it was a great pleasure to see them fresh in the scene, so fresh that there wasn’t a screen for visuals at that stage. While I found it to be a tad disappointing not to have visuals while I listened to the set, they absolutely threw down and had everyone in that room sweating, vibing, and head-banging because they delivered a connected crowd. Finally, my group and I closed out the night back at The Cathedral (the main stage) finishing it off with Kompany, who (if you know) never fails to deliver an excellent set. Some of my favorite songs of his are Necksnap and Skullcrack, give them a listen!!

Night two rolled around, and the vibes carried over an ultimate high from night one’s fun! Night two sold out before the show started, which makes sense since this was the night DJ DIESEL performed (the main headliner of it all). The other artists besides DIESEL were 2soon, DENNETT, Kliptic, Sora, VRG, AlienPark, Bandlez, PhaseOne, and YOOKiE. Because everyone, of course, wanted to see DIESEL, and it being sold-out, immediately upon entry, it was absolutely packed and way harder to move around (unlike night one). Of course, more bodies equals more heat, and whew it was HOT in there. Both nights so far brought their own physical presence, but mentally the crowd was ready for the nasty dubstep and riddim drops. When DJ DIESEL started his set, we were more towards the middle/front, but halfway through his set, we had to migrate to the back because of how overheated we got (note to self bring a fan). Even though we were sweatin’, we still had the best time because he had everyone hyped from start to finish and kept saying his famous favorite line, “WHERE’S MY MOSH PIT” (click the link to hear an example). You could feel that everyone was just so excited to see him and was raging to get the most out of their experience. It was a lovely mess of sweaty fun, and 100% worth it. Some personal highlights of mine from night two were getting to see AlienPark throw down, dance to the wubby wubz of YOOKiE, and give people light shows for the first time ever with my spinning LED Orbit.

Wrapping up, Shaq put on a fantastic event, and every artist showcased their best set of the year because if you’re seeing DIESEL, you’ll also see some killer supporting artists. The proof is in the pudding since many artists at Bass All-Stars will play at this year’s Bass Canyon 2024 (the West Coast’s three-day all-dubstep music festival outside of Seattle). If you were lucky enough to be in Phoenix during this time and attend, I’m sure you had a blast, too. I can’t wait till the next time I see DIESEL since he’s an artist you won’t see all the time in your area, and as he would say, “Bang my head!”

Cover Photo credits unknown, used from: Best DJ Diesel Songs of All Time