Hailing from Philadelphia, Jesse Kardon is quickly rising to one of the lead icons in the EDM / bass scene as his musical guise, Subtronics. After packing his 2019 with endless music releases, including collaborative singles with big-name artists including Ganja White Night, Rusko, Snails, Moody Good, Midnight Tyrannasourous, and Zeds Dead, not to mention the two EPs—Cyclops Army and Wooked on Tronics—the producer announced his monstrous 2020 tour: Cyclops Invasion.
The invasion began in Tuscon, Arizona, on January 9th, and luckily, crawled up to Phoenix on the 10th. Subtronics has brought a few artists along on the Cyclops Invasion—including Level Up, Bommer, Chee, and He$h—creating a wide range of electronic flavor to the tour as a whole.
At the Van Buren in Downtown Phoenix, Subtronics opened the set with his staple intro, his remix of Excision’s “Vault,” and of course, like every other time, the crowd went ballistic. His stage had lasers, light beams, and my personal favorite: smoke canons. Lasers lit in harmony with mechanical beats, while the canons beamed with iconic drops of exhilarative bass. Having recently released his fifth and final volume of “Now That’s What I Call Riddim” on SoundCloud, the seasoned producer featured some sonic moments from the instantly-popular mix, including a humorous, alarming twist on Peekaboo’s ‘Babatunde,’ and an electronically charged parody of a pace maker test.
I wouldn’t say Subtronics is a crowd-pleaser, but he tends to leave the crowd wailing in joy regardless. He made sure to play some more recent releases—including ‘Bounce,’ and ‘Death Wish’ (from the Wooked on Tronics EP)—and also mixed Cascada’s ‘Everytime We Touch,’ as well as Kid Cudi’s ‘Day N’ Night,’ while peppering in his own distinctive, electrical sound throughout each sample. Though the golden needle in the haystack of this set, lies in the unreleased, absolute bangers played at the very end of the night, one of which being the VIP remix of his currently most popular track, ‘Griztronics.’
It was an established balance of wook-wubbery, heavy bass, and the smallest pinch of drum and bass. The tour will surely only get better from here, as devoted artists tend to continue to create. Plus, Subtronics tweeted that there will be some Wooked On Tronics-like shows played in the future of his Cyclops Invasion.
The tour will continue on, ultimately hitting more than a total of 60 cities. You definitely don’t want to miss this one, click here to look at dates and purchase tickets for Cyclops Invasion in a town (or multiple) near you.
