Bastid’s BBQ at The Waldorf, Vancouver w/ The Beatnuts, DJ Kentaro, Shortkut, Def3, Nick Bike, Kutcorners, Niña Mendoza, DJ Big Jacks & Alex Rhek (9/24/17)
Words: John Zee
Photos: Ronan Considine – @soundflashphotography
On Sunday, Sept. 24th, the Waldorf Hotel in East Vancouver once again played host to the annual Bastid’s BBQ event presented by none other than Nova Scotians own, Skratch Bastid. The party takes a familiar page out any memorable summertime block party and amp’s it up by adding a slew of local to Vancouver DJ’s and live performance acts, as well as making sure to include some heavy hitting headliners as well. Last year’s Bastid BBQ ended off an incredible summer by having DJ Premier rock the block with his legendary presence, and this year Skratch Bastid made sure to keep the classic 90’s hip hop vibes alive by bringing out Queens, New York veterans The Beatnuts to Vancouver.
A welcomed addition to last year’s Bastid’s BBQ event, was the all matte black RedBull sponsored tour bus that brilliantly transformed into a portable stage where the DJ’s and rappers ended up performing all their sets on. This all-in-one transformer bus was a sight to witness and proved that having a sponsorship from RedBull can really pay off in some truly badass ways.
Also included in the Bastardly line up, was none other than Dj Kentaro from Japan who won the DMC World DJ FInal in 2002 and in doing so, became one of the first persons of Asian descent to win the DMC World DJ Final. Kentaro captivated the audience with his smooth, laid back hip hop selections, and then without warning would seamlessly transitioning into uptempo, heavy EDM beats. Kentaro also had jaws hitting the floor when blessing us with his juggling and skratching routines that had everyone in attendance, DJ’s included, cheering for more.
Another skilled turntablist that was included on the bill, was none other than DJ Shoutkut from the infamous Invisibl Skratch Piklz crew (originally founded by DJ Qbert, Mix Master Mike, and DJ Apollo) and The Beat Junkies collective. Shortkut represented the legacy of his two affiliated crews by dropping clean and precise cuts, juggles and transitions, all the while mixing in funky beats and rhythms. It didn’t take long for Shortkut to connect with the bboys in the audience, when soon into his set a section of the crowd to the right of the stage all huddled around in a circle to watch and cheer on a handful of Asian breakdancers. Keep in mind that these guys were dancing and breaking on the hard, raw concrete with no linoleum and sacrificing a few chunks of skin on their knees, elbows and even heads when dropping down into their dance routines. The block party music, the dancing, the smell of jerk chicken bbqing on the nearby grill, all added to the authenticity and genuine realness that the Bastid BBQ event truly provides.
Other highlights included Def3 performing songs from his recently released album, “Small World”. Opening up his set with the Spanish influenced “El Fin Del Mundo” which features his father, Ramon Fernandez, which had the Vancouver crowd clapping along almost instantly. Another standout song from Def3’s set was seeing him perform “Sing” which features Masta Ace and Skratch Bastid. Obviously Masta Ace wasn’t in attendance to perform alongside Def, but seeing him go back and forth with Skratch Bastid on the cut was a gem in it of itself.
Bastid’s BBQ always makes sure to show love to Vancouver’s local DJ’s as well and familiar faces such as Rhek, Nick Bike, Niña Mendoza and Kutkorners all held it down proper for our city and did a fantastic job at kicking things off during the day time and getting the blood flowing in the earlier hours of the event.
However the major draw and anticipation for most in attendance was of course, The Beatnuts. Prior to the Latin hip hop duo taking stage, Psycho Les and JuJu could be seen mingling around backstage and in the crowd, sipping Pabst Blue Ribbons and smoking on some of Vancity’s finest crops. Taking their positive pregame energy into account, the legendary twosome closed out the party by taking to the stage to greet the receptive audience. Smashing through early boom-bap favourites such as “Do You Believe”, “Props Over Here” and “We Got The Funk”, to more widely known classics as “Se Acabo”, “Off The Books”, “No Escaping This” and “Watch Out Now”, The Beatnuts genuinely looked happy and excited to be so well reserved by the Vancouver crowd, even though they haven’t released any albums together since the 2001 album, “Beatnuts Forever”.
Yet it should come as no surprised that nostalgia is the name of the game when it comes to these Bastid’s BBQ events and that’s exactly what The Beatnuts and Skratch Bastid provided and provided exceptionally well. Shouts out to Skratch Bastid and crew for helping to cap off another summer season with style, grace and a whole lots of smiles in the place… Until next year!
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Watch our exclusive HHV recap from the 2016 Bastid’s BBQ event here: