Rob Zombie is known for being a gruesome scary person when it comes to music and film, so it was only right he set up this years Great American Nightmare. The Great American Nightmare had EDM nights every Friday at the LA County Fairplex in Pomona from October 10th to November 1st and featured three Halloween mazes. I was able to attend the last EDM night this past Friday with performances by Dirtyphonics, Destroid, and of course Rob Zombie.
I had no idea what to expect when entering the fairplex but upon arrive the entire place was set up spooky for Halloween. Costumed monsters roamed around scaring people walking around even when they weren’t at a maze. I even had a guy put two live snakes around my neck for a photo. After roaming around outside for a bit I was ready to see some Dirtyphonics. This show was special because it was a live set. All four members of the french group were on stage DJing with each of their own equipment. Having all four members raging out on stage with you brings so much more energy to the crowd. They played a ton of original tracks from their Grammy nominated album Irreverence as well as a bunch of remixes. They also showed support to their fans by bringing their handmade signs onto the stage.
I was really excited to see Destroid for my first time and as they walked about in their robot looking suits I was ready for some heavy bass. Excision, Downlink, and KJ Sawka are the three members of the live music band and they did not disappoint. They brought something totally new to the table with a live dubstep band complete with incredible full body suits.. The bass in building was vibrating my ears and the kids in the crowd were dancing hard in the mosh pits. Watching them play actual midi instruments on stage rather than some CDJs was really awesome to see. My ears were still ringing in the morning which means it was a great show. This is only the beginning for Destroid and I can’t wait to see what they do next.
Photos by: Kevin Archila