Bastid’s BBQ
The Birdhouse, Vancouver
08, 13, 2023
Photos: Ronan Considine – @soundflashphotography
Words: John Zee – @johnzee23
The annual Bastid’s BBQ, presented by none other than Skratch Bastid himself, made its rounds to Vancouver this past Sunday, Aug. 13th. The event took place this year at The Birdhouse, which is a part of Eastside Studios and is an exceptional venue upgrade from last years BBQ party by way of being a larger physical location, having greater shade coverage, and just having overall higher-quality vibes than the venue used the year prior (I say this with all due respect as Bastid’s BBQ is, and has been for quite some time, one of the most premier Hip-Hop parties we get to experience in Vancouver all year round).
The event was broken up into two parts, with the first part taking place in The Birdhouse courtyard outside, and the second half of the event occurring in the club area found inside of the venue itself. The lineup featured returning Vancouver mainstays Flipout, Nick Bike, Rhek the DJ, and Kozue to warm things up in the earlier part of the afternoon/evening, with the headlining duties being covered by LA turntablist, DJ Babu (Beat Junkies/Dilated Peoples), Skratch Bastid, and Brampton, Ontario’s Haviah Mighty, who tore the set down as dusk started to set on the party.
Performances aside, one of the best things about Bastid’s BBQ is the community that makes up the function. Many familiar faces in Vancouver’s Hip Hop community were in attendance, with hugs and handshakes being tossed around more than a blunt at a campfire. It’s refreshing to see a lack of pretentiousness at these Bastid BBQ events where the people that come out truly are here to have the best time they can have and encourage one another to be themselves and dance and behave as freely as possible.
A humorous and completely unintentional side note was how I kept getting mistakenly recognized for Skratch Bastid throughout the night. It’s not hard to see why this kept happening though, as I wore a Bastid’s BBQ chef apron, a bucket hat, the same coloured t-shirt, along with shorts and white sneakers, the same outfit of choice as Skratch Bastid (see photo here).
After the sun disappeared, the party moved inside and proceeded to turn up as DJ Kookum tore the house down with her selection of tracks, which at times included Indigenous remixes and edits to bass-riddled beats and Hip Hop tracks. Unfortunately, by this time our photographer had to call it quits (being Sunday night & all) and we couldn’t capture any photos from the later part of the show. However, I broke my curfew and continued jammin’ until around 12:30am when I finally, and quite reluctantly, took my ass home.
All in all, Bastid’s BBQ continues to remain one of the failproof parties of the summer year after year. Take my word for it as someone who has attended more than 8 of these recurring events in my time and who has never left unsatisfied. However, this year there was just something a bit more special in the air. I’m not sure how exactly to encapsulate it, but it’s just a feeling, a vibe, an atmosphere that is curated by Skratch Bastid to be an audible and physical experience that’s as hot as a bottle of Bastid’s Hot Sauce itself. Mo’ Fiyah!
