Countdown To Oblivion Tour feat. Zeds Dead – REVIEW

Recently, we had the chance to attend the Chicago date of the Countdown To Oblivion Tour featuring Zeds Dead, Adventure Club and Krewella. You can check out our review after the break.

Zeds Dead’s Countdown To Oblivion Tour rolled into Chicago’s Congress Theater on December 29, 2012 for a sold-out show of monstrous bass and wildly good times.  Along with Zeds Dead, Adventure Club, Krewella, Stratus, and Zebo came along for the ride.  This sold-out performance surely hit the 3,500 person operating capacity, the building was bursting with ravers who all were dancing and having a wonderful time.  Due to a scheduling conflict I wasn’t able to catch Chicago’s hometown heros Zebo and Stratus, and I also unfortunately missed most of Krewella.

I strolled into Congress Theater just as Krewella was finishing up their set.  I caught the tail-end of a piece of Knife Party’s “Bonfire”, as well as Krewella’s hit tune “Play Hard.”  This trio consists of sisters Jahan and Yasmine Yousaf as well as Kris “Rain Man” Trindl.  I first caught this Chicago-born act at Chicago’s first annual Spring Awakening Music Festival this past summer, and I’m glad to see they still go just as hard as they did then.  With the singing sisters hopping around the stage on the microphone and Kris behind the decks, I’m glad I got to see at least a few minutes of Chicago raging to one of their own creations.  Krewella’s styles of dubstep and progressive house fit incredibly well within the lineup of this show and I hope they play a hometown show again soon.

Just like Zeds Dead, Adventure Club is a dubstep duo that hails from Canada.  Christian Srigley and Leighton James were tasked to warm up the crowd right before the main act hit the stage, and they succeeded quite well.  Mixes that contained Skrillex, Snoop Dogg, The Doors, and Flight Facilities all made up a very different and eclectic set.  Adventure Club even brought it back to 1964 with a remix of “My Girl” by The Temptations.  With amazing visuals and a colorful light show, this duo wonderfully opened up the stage and got it ready to be slayed by the final act.

Right around midnight the duo DC and Hooks took the stage and the lyrics “Fuck all the funny jive” rang throughout the theater as the hit Zeds Dead song “Adrenaline” was dropped on the crowd.  From this point on, the show only got weirder.  “Rude Boy” dropped shortly after, which was followed by the loud sample lyrics “Brick Squad” which no doubt came from a Waka Flocka rap song.  Zeds Dead has always been known for their sampling of rap lyrics, but they didn’t seem as prevalent in this set.  Some other hits from the set included a remix of some Nicki Minaj material as well as Benny Benassi’s classic “Satisfaction.”  My all time favorite of the night was the Zeds Dead remix of the 1967 The Moody Blues song, “Nights in White Satin.”  This was an act filled with with deep, grinding bass that had the crowd flopping around and dancing till 2am.  The house was shaking and moving until the last bass drop of the night which I think certainly left the crowd wanting more.

The night was a fantastic win in my book.  Krewella, Adventure Club and Zeds Dead just about blew the roof off Congress Theater, just like they always do.  It was another successful night of EDM in Chicago, and the Countdown to Oblivion Tour was definitely a successful pairing of artists for this wonderful show.

Information about the review…
Tour: Countdown To Oblivion Tour feat. Zeds Dead
Artists: Zeds Dead, Adventure Club, Krewella
Reviewer: Michael Nutting
Date: December 29, 2012
Venue: Congress Theater in Chicago, IL