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“As you know, this is Zeds Dead,” said Dylan “DC” Mamid as he walked onto the Higher Ground stage with group partner Zach “Hooks” Rapp-RovanStrobe on March 11.
The dynamic duo is on their The Living Dead Tour, featuring Omar LinX and AraabMusik with supporting acts DJ Disco Phantom and XI.
The dubstep fans that came out to see Zeds Dead at 8 p.m. hung around the bar, socialized and smoked cigarettes outside for two hours in anticipation of the show.
According to concertgoer Hunter Dyer, the supporting acts were not up to par with the bass-heavy, electronic-influenced music students had come to see.
While the stage crew set up DC and Hooks’ equipment after XI left the stage, the ballroom cleared as everyone rushed outside of the hot and sweaty room for a breath of fresh air.
More people came back into the room than those who had stepped outside, bringing with them a cloud of cigarette smoke. Around 400 people were in the ballroom for Zeds Dead’s opening remix of “You Dropped a Bomb on Me” by The Gap Band.
Though Zeds Dead has few original songs, most of the music they played was remixes. Along with the opening remix, the duo remixed songs such as “A Day in the Life” by The Beatles, and “I Say a Little Prayer” by Aretha Franklin.
Aside from the few older people at the bar, the concertgoers were primarily students donning everything from glow sticks and glowing shoelaces to animal hats and monster backpacks.
A guy with LED rave lights gave several people light shows, and a girl in a hot pink bikini top confessed her love to Zeds Dead from atop another guy’s shoulders. Someone threw a pack of cigarettes into the crowd, hitting a girl in the face.
The crowd was not all avid Zeds Dead fans; only a few danced with the beats the duo threw at the crowd.
Just when the duo’s bass-dropping seemed to never end, Zeds Dead stopped the sound and asked the audience for permission to play a new, slower song, “No Prayers.” The song is off of the forthcoming Zeds Dead and Omar LinX “Victor” mix-tape. Fast-paced dancing was replaced by couples slow dancing for this track.
Though DC and Hooks remained relatively stationary for the entire show, slamming buttons on their laptops, they still had patches of sweat on their clothing. “Zeds Dead’s looking tipsy, Vermont I know you’re with me,” Omar LinX shouted at the audience.
By the fifth song, the crowd had slowed down, and many people headed outside or leaned against the bar to order drinks and distance themselves from those still dancing.
The crowd at the foot of the stage jumped up and down, as if they were trying to reach the ceiling, and threw their hands into the air. People moved to the sides of the mosh pit to Tecktonik and Shuffle, Electro dance styles, and one person even did the robot.
Zeds Dead left the stage at 11:45 p.m., but the crowd remained, cheering for an encore. When the group came back onstage, Hooks got on the microphone and asked the crowd for “real emotion” before they got another song.
During the encore song, the stage crew turned the lights up and LinX, who came back for the encore song as well, had the audience sing along with him.
The show ended with a flash of bright blue light across the audience as the duo moved to the front of the stage where they praised the audience for coming.
“We love you all to death,” DC shouted.
