This past weekend things got a little spooky out at Rawhide Western Town and Events Center in Chandler, AZ. Relentless Beats hosted their annual Halloween event, BOO!, with an exciting lineup ready to shake the warehouse. While this was a notably smaller event, there was still energy overflowing from the venue doors. I think things really started to get heavy and wobbly when Bleep Bloop came on for the night. I could feel the bass in my chest and that’s when you know it’s time for the party to start! Deorro took the stage after a heavy bass sesh with Bleep Bloop. Deorro had the whole crowd dancing with a good amount of familiar tracks and his signature panda vibes being brought in. I even caught glimpses of the Rawhide staff getting down during his set!
Drezo was absolutely the highlight of my night! He was so much fun from the very beginning of his set all the way to the end. He topped off a super fun set by treating us to a brand new track! It was absolutely banging but there was no name attached to it so… standby for some new jams from Drezo!
Next up we got to experience an excellent headbanger hour with SAYMYNAME and his hard trap style. This was a true treat for the headbanging crowd in attendance! He really kept you guessing with hard cuts from classics like Alice DJ’s “Better Off Alone” and Cascada’s “Every We Touch” into heavy trap beats, making for a very dynamic set. I know a lot of DJs say things like “I’M SO HAPPY TO BE BACK HERE PHOENIX!” but SAYMYNAME had so much sincerity behind his I LOVE YOU! He took a quick minute to reminisce on his visit in 2016 when he played at Crush and it felt like he had a truly special little place for the Phoenix crowd. He rounded out his set by dropping a new “spooky season” track and the crowd went absolutely nuts!! No official name was attached to it but I’m sure we will be seeing an official release on the horizon.
BOO rounded out with an hour and a half set from the blue-haired DJ, Slushii. While I can’t say Slushii was my personal cup of tea, he definitely had the crowd’s attention! He had me interested right off the bat with his inclusion of the monologue from The Phantom of the Opera which led into a remix of the movie’s theme building up the energy for his set. His selection of songs to sample was… eclectic to say the least. He has a very formulaic approach to his sets and it can become predictable very fast. About halfway through his set, I was finally able to summarize what I felt his genre was; manic pop dubstep. It was a little too much for me but the crowd was just dancing up an absolute storm!
What I am really excited to talk about is the flow scene that showed up in force to BOO! My favorite spots to people watch is along the back and the side pockets because that’s where some serious talent comes out to show off their skills. I was absolutely mesmerized by one particular flow artist Marco Casillo aka @IAmLightEater He was flowing with a beautiful set of LED buugeng and capturing the attention of many passersby. He matched the music so effortlessly and it really seemed like his entrancing set of props was an extension of his arms. I’m really hoping I cross paths with him again at future shows! Aside from Marco’s incredible skills, there were many hoopers killing it, staff flow going off, and poi flow really getting going. I love watching the flow scene at shows because it’s an automatically relaxed setting so approaching someone to ask for help on a particular move is much easier. Watching the flow community interact is something very wholesome to be apart of.
I would say BOO! was an absolute hit and I won’t be surprised to see it make another appearance in 2020. With so many Halloween celebration options, both here in the valley and throughout the country, Relentless Beats provides an awesome option for local and affordable fun.
*Featured photos provided by Joshua Andrews
