12th Planet 4500 Washington Avenue June 14, 2012
Let's just say this wasn't your average college night at 4500 Washington Avenue.
Thursday, due to the Rich's situation (still closed), the 12th Planet show was moved to 4500 Washington Avenue. No, not Stereo Live. As soon as I heard this news all I could think about was, "can Avenue handle such an event?"
The answer is yes.
Although Avenue is not your typical venue for a EDM show, it at least provided a dance floor and plenty to drink. It was not a jam-packed house; regardless, everyone was having a great time.
Last time 12th Planet, aka John Dadzie, hit Houston, he was onstage at Rich's with Skrillex. This time he took to the table himself, providing one heck of a jungle/drum-and-bass set and throwing dubstep sporadically throughout the night.
Avenue has never had a concert, so in all honesty I didn't know what to expect. I kept tweeting and thinking over the previous days, "This should be one interesting night." And of course it was.
However, there were a few problems in my eyes. At the beginning, it was hard to hear when 12th Planet was announced to come on. And due to the arrangement of the venue it wasn't quite easy to see if Dadzie had taken to the stage. Or the stage that there was.
Plexiglas separated the DJ booth from rented-out tables or booths just a few feet below. On the dance floor looking up towards the DJ booth was a tight spot; your eyes had to be fixated on Dadzie at right spot at the right time.
But all that didn't stop the music from going, although there seemed to be some techniqchal problems at the beginning. From what I've noticed at every single EDM show I've been to in Houston, sound engineers have a tough job.
No worries, though. After a few moments of silence and drunkards yelling, "where the hell is the music?" and "I want bass," the music hit hard. Things seemed to blurred to me, and time went by oh so quickly. I kept telling myself, "didn't the music just start?"
Now, 12th Planet may not be a big name to some, but the man has been in the game since 2006 and has made several appearances at events such as Electric Daisy Carnival, Coachella. Ultra and more. Fortunately, this show gave me a preview of Electric Forest in Michigan.