Sub Focus Ups The Endorphins At Yahoo! Wireless Festival

REVIEW: DnB supremo raises the bar...

Friday, July 12, 2013 - 20:20

After an eclectic line up on the Pepsi Max Stage at today's (June 12) London's Yahoo! Wireless Festival featuring Little Mix, Bingo Players and Zane Lowe, drum 'n' bass supremo Sub Focus took to the stage to warm up the crowd before Frank Ocean's headline set.

Feeling: As the penultimate act of Wireless Day 1 on the second stage Sub Focus, aka Nick Douwma, had a baying, sunburnt and up-for-it crowd at his disposal. Did he do the job? Read on...

The Look: It's all about the Iris with Sub Focus. A huge circular LED construction stands behind and in front of the DJ podium, pulsating with the beat and giving a vortex illusion sucking the crowd into his dance domain.

Tunes: Navigating through DnB, dubstep and bass-laden house Sub Focus' production credits don't fail to disappoint. Opening with the atmospheric intro of Let The Story Begin and his Daft Punk sampling Rock It, Nick mixed and live-edited through his back catalogue of own tracks and remixes breathing new life into them. Cranking out his chart hits Out The Blue, Endorphins and Tidal Wave, his remixes of Deadmau5 and Rusko, and his superb album tracks like World Of Hurt and Could This Be Real, Nick also teased some new tracks to the crowd upping the anticipation for his new album all the more.

Special Guests: The special guest here wasn't any celebrity, it's the bass and his big old rings!

Banter: Even with sporadic interjections from a live MC it was really the music here which does the talking.

Celeb Spots: Too many eyes were fixated on the hypnotising visuals and the odd 'shoulder-viewer' in the crowd to pay any attention of any VIP guests.

Sweat Factor: At a BPM of over 140 the pulses were racing, as was the sweat dripping from the now topless crowd. Most action was confined down the front where the hardcore fans revelled who, by now are drying themselves off in the remaining Friday sunshine.

Summary: While the crowd responds better to the chart successes like Endorphins and Out The Blue, it's Nick's darker side that really does the business - Falling Down VIP being a distinct highlight with it's cranking dubstep drops and this reviewer's favourite track Move Higher really getting people moving. As the lyrics of Tidal Wave suggest 'Your love washes over like a tidal wave' - and it was DnB that washed and won over the Pepsi Max stage for an hour at least...

MTV Rating: