A little rain wasn’t going to stop 3000 people from partying on a mountain, right? Hell no! The first edition of Beech Mountain’s Gnarnia Festival started off with a bang thanks to gnarly sets by HeRobust, Beats Antique, Gramatik, Eliot Lipp and Paper Diamond.
It started to pour around 8pm and it was a good thing HeRobust’s trap heavy set was taking place under the tent of the Beava Dam! stage. While the rain created a moat around the tent, water stood no match for the excited group of Gnarnians as the Atlanta based producer shelled out new tunes like “You Was on Myspace” along with dope remixes of Ginuwine’s “Pony” and Flux’s “Bass Cannon”. He was joined with a live drummer which added an exciting element to an already hyphy set.
Beats Antique started a little late due to technical issues, but quickly got the party started with a new song followed by “Egyptic”. The remix of Bassnectar’s “Voodoo” had the crowd going wild and the toned down “Sky Talk” was a personal favorite. The “Cat Skillz” encore with animal masks and all got the crowd going especially crazy.
Following a quick intermission was Gramatik. The Slovenian producer crafts his set in an especially interesting way. He starts out with his chiller, hip hop sounding productions, moves in to the bassy glitch-hop joints and ends with a blast of dubstep. The live guitarist is a great addition to the live set and allows each song to play out differently live than on the recordings. I was especially hyped when he played “Make You Better”, a personal favorite and a song I’ve never heard live.
Paper Diamond proceeded to keep the party going with his iPad DJ set. Alex B started with a new trap song before diving in to some dubstep tracks like his take on Bassnectar’s “Voodoo”, which is definitely a heavier version than the Beats Antique one played just a couple hours prior. He presented a few new tunes that were that trap style. One was his opening song and straight up EPIC. Another one was the first of a string of songs he has been working on with Dom from Big Gigantic, so look out for those new joints comin’ to a laptop near you SOON. Other highlights include his remixes to SBTRKT’s “Wildfire”, Kanye’s “Power” and the Weeknd’s “Same Old Song”. Gnarnia ended with a sonic bass boom thanks to Paper Diamond who repeatedly thanked the crowd for their time with him.
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