An abundance of hoodies and the heavenly stench of pot dominated the crowd at the Observatory last night as the Chicago trap duo DJ J2K (born Josh Young) and Autobot (Curt Cameruci) better known as Flosstradamus unleashed their beats in Santa Ana as part of their Underground Nights US Tour. The boys were all Chi-town swag, letting their thug flag fly as the18-and-over crowd went wild, twerking and getting down to their hip-hop, dub and trap-inspired set. Although the genre is getting a lot of slack for being so hyped up, the boys proved they have been taste makers for well over a six years and know just how to get the crowd turnt up (yes, “turnt” is the technical term). The show was sold out and everyone was in attendance including fellow DJs like Gladiator and LOUDPVCK.
]
Lil Texas, Skrause and stand out act Underachievers were the opening acts for the night. We're not sure what the format is for dubstep and trap and how hard the openers are allowed to go, but the boys killed it and gave a lot of energy early on. The dim lights, fog and perfect amount of lasers made it so that you could get as grimy or dirty as you want and everyone else in the crowd neither tell nor care. By the time Flosstradamus came on the crowd was so ready with excitement the roof was about to come down just from the yelling. They opened with a couple of old school hip-hop remixes like 2 Live Crew's “Face Down Ass Up” which had them yelling over the mic “who's fucking tonight?” As the crowd cheered they dropped their trap edits and everyone started getting down.
From the beginning, the show felt like being at a hip-hop show in the 90s, but with a modern twist. The electronic basslines and womp-womps were getting everyone hyped as we sang along to some dope rap lines. The kids were mostly down in the pit getting sweaty and freaky on the dance floor with the occasional cuddle puddle of light shows going on in the far walls while the older crowd was up near the balcony enjoying the show from the booths while sipping their favorite beer or tonic. Throwing down hits like Major Lazer's “Jah No Partial,” Mayhem & Antiserum's “Brick Squad Anthem” and Kendrick Lamar's “Backseat Freestyle” there was enough bass, dub and hip-hop to make the crowd act in a dysfunctional manner – ratchet as the kids like to call it these days.
Clouds of smoke where everywhere and the whole Observatory started to reek of weed as Flosstradamus played their hit “Roll Up.” There was all kinds of moshing in the dance floor and water or booze being sprayed all over. The sound system was banging and on point as they left our ears ringing and yearning for more. They brought out Gladiator onstage for “GameCube Nintendo” and we couldn't help but wonder where all the hot chicks on stage where instead of a posse of dudes showing off their tee's and snapback hats. Regardless it was a dope ass night in OC and lived up to our expectations. Flosstradamus threw down hard and played so many sick tracks they had us on our toes dancing the entire set. Now if only Josh could just throw off his shirt a la Diplo – we would be content.
See a video clip of the show below…
Personal Bias: I've been on that Flosstradamus tip for a while now and keep missing them at major festivals so this was a treat in Orange County! Please bring more artist like this to OC.
Crowd: Young girls in beanies and high-waisted shorts, lots of dudes, and your typical OC crowd who knows good shit when it comes to music.
Overheard in the Crowd: “Trap is kind of like my guilty pleasure.”
Random Notebook Dump: We loved when they dropped the Dillon Francis remix of “Suite & Tie” because these boys are notorious hoodie boys! Kind of like a big F you to suit & ties really.
Follow us on Twitter @OCWeeklyMusic, like us on Facebook at Heard Mentality
