Addicted: Official Dance All Night Review
Thrown by Nu Breed Entertainment, Addicted was held at The ORB (Old Rainier Brewer) aka Tully's, one of the most admirable venues in Seattle. Located in SoDo and topped by a massive T, the freeway adjacent building is a landmark of the city. Even those too young to remember the building as the Old Rainier Brewery know the Tully's building by the freeway. They know where to go the night of an event. They knew where to go the night of Addicted. That was evident.
The ORB Seattle is actually a partial section of the Old Rainier Brewery, part of which is an outdoor area on the roof of the floor below. The walls are covered in tasteful and artistic graffiti, and the while the outdoor area seems like the bigger space, the indoor warehouse-like area is expansive. With so much space to hold attendees with room to spare for comfortable dancing, the venue itself was a winning part of Addicted.
While initially one of the bigger selling points was the venue itself, it soon became apparent that the headliners would not be upstaged. DJ Cotts (youtube.com/djcotts) and DJ Ravine (youtube.com/djravine) came all the way from Australia for their USA tour, with their last stop at Addicted. As more people began to watch their videos on youtube and follow their journey towards Seattle, the excitement for these two began to build. Soon the venue was just a sugary bonus on top of the main attraction. Everyone had come down with Cotts & Ravine fever. Everyone wanted to show this hardcore duo what Seattle was all about.
But before they played, before the start of Addicted, something else happened that made this event unique and truly memorable. Looptid Visuals set up FIVE different projector screens and a dual camera setup to project the DJs into the visuals, and Sunshine Sound & Lighting brought in 50,000 watts of sound for the main stage. 35,000 watts for the main sound, and another 15,000 for the monitors and the surround sound. Yes, you heard me right... SURROUND SOUND. This was a first at any electronic music event in Seattle. Two speaker assemblies in the rear corners faced the center of the dance floor, and brought the bass focal point to the middle. The effect was truly incredible, and unparalleled to anything that had been done before. Where there might have been echoing from the concrete walls, there was none, as the sound came directly from all sides, causing an acoustic heaven that centered the music and pushed it through the bodies of those dancing on the dance floor. It was an immense feeling, and although loud is an understatement, it wasn't uncomfortable to be around. There was no need to escape the music, because it wasn't painful to listen to. The balance between ridiculously loud and an enjoyable listening experience had been found, and it was at Addicted.
The unfortunate downfall to all of this was that the second stage was completely crushed under the noise of the main stage. The DJs dealt with overheating monitors, a severely underpowered sound rig, and facing the enormous wall of noise coming from outside. The fact that all they were all fairly good sports about it, considering the tragedy they were forced to deal with, speaks volumes on their behalf. However, they did have the better lighting rig provided by Muvement Lighting on their stage, as the main stage was left with visual screens and just two RGB LED panels facing the DJs. But the show must go on, and so began a night at The ORB Seattle.
The excitement towards midnight built as the night went on. Everyone danced to their favorite local DJ, but it was obvious who they were all waiting to see. Everyone was waiting for Cotts & Ravine. They were waiting to hear them through the surging sound system. They were waiting for some hardcore. When the time finally came for the headliner duo to take the stage, the crowd erupted. This was what they had come to see. This is what they had waited for in line since 6pm. They were ready to see what the Australians would bring. They were not disappointed. For two hours Cotts & Ravine rocked the main stage, for two hours they held the crowd, captivating them with their unique four handed style of mixing and winning track selection, and for two hours they kept them dancing until the very end. In a scene where attention spans are short, they did this handily, and when they were done, the kids were calling for more.
The response to the pair was tremendous. They were instantly considered one of the top international hardcore acts that Seattle had ever seen. The call for a repeat booking was immediate. The message was clear: Seattle loves Cotts & Ravine. We are all Addicted.
