Delirious Tremors

On Friday, April 23, the House of Blues in San Diego hosted the newly reborn Bloody Beetroots with All Leather, Shark Attack and Deth Hertz. The Beetroots won my attention nearly a year ago at Cinespace in Hollywood in conjunction with Steve Aoki’s Dim Mak Tuesday’s event. Back then, the French duo of Sir Bob Cornelius Rifo and Tommy Tea were two DJs made iconic for their black Venom masks and heavy, heavy electronic music. The success of their album Romborama released in August last year and their smashing remixes threw the Beetroots into the spotlight as pioneers of producing forceful and dynamic electronic dance music. When I saw them a year ago, they completely slayed the crowd at the small Hollywood club and I have been hooked ever since.

Sir Bob Cornelius Rufio and Tommy Tea

After the Bloody Beetroots ended their United States shows a year ago, they seemed to cocoon themselves from the public while releasing a flood of remixes and productions including the EP DOMINO as well as Christmas Vendetta and Spares of Romborama Pt. 1. During this time, they also defined their masked personas, further developing their counter-culture character and creating Death Crew 77 before embarking on their international tour.

Newly added drummer Edward Grinch truly gives a new dimension to the band’s live mood and really gave it the extra thrashing punk punch. It confirmed that this group had emerged from the underground, no longer the two DJs behind turntables, but engineers of a techno/punk/baroque soundscape that breaks down genres and screams “fuck you!” to conformity.

So back to the House of Blues on April 23 night. It’s a total rager. Unfortunately, I got there too late to catch Death Hertz open, but I heard someone next to me say that they sucked. I situated myself on the top balcony and watched as the crowd went up in an uproar when the Bloody Beetroots came out from behind the curtains and took the stage.

It was about to go off. Sick!

The Beetroots orchestrated a mean set and the crowd was a riot practically the whole time, with only a short rest period during their rendition of “Phantom of the Opera.” The bass was hard and heavy, strong enough to rattle the bone, and their signature synthesized riffs and shrieking vocals electrified the venue. Some highlights included remixes of Audioporno’s “Choo Choo” and The Toxic Avenger’s “Escape” as well as originals “Dimmakmmunication” and the foreboding and ground-shaking “Warp 1977.” When it was all over, there was a sense of bewildered amazement as everyone stumbled out in a daze from the effects of getting the shit rocked out of them.

So yeah, that was my Friday and it was an awesome opportunity to see them, because it will probably be the last time they will be in the U.S. for a while. You can see where they are off to next on their website Deathcrew77.com. They also have some really interesting music videos and other multimedia by Sir Bob. You can also find the Death Crew 77 “manifesto” on their site to truly see what the Bloody Beetroots are all about. These guys are committed to pushing the envelope and I can’t wait to see what they come out with next.