On Friday April 26th, Austin’s Fuel Room in Libertyville, IL (about 30 min north of Chicago) welcomed the biggest EDM lineup they have had to date. Supporting locals including, LadyRaven, Milk’n’Cookies, and Anova, Along with national superstars Schoolboy and Downlink, and one up and comer by the name of Mutrix. It was pretty comical hanging out until doors opened seeing such a mixture of suburban locals eating dinner at the bar, as the show goers and ravers alike anxiously awaited the doors to open. A little after 9 o’clock people started to file in to the sounds of Anova. Milk’n’Cookies followed warming up the crowd for the beginning of what was going to be a great night of music.

Mutrix took the stage around 11 playing some original tunes off of his latest EP named “Contact.” He dropped a slew of remix’s that got the crowd going including a remix of Die Antwoord’s “ Diz is why I’m Hot,” and Krewella’s “Killin it.” The energy he brought to the stage was just a sign of what was to come and the kind of night Austin’s Fuel Room was about to have. The sound and lighting was amazing for a venue that usually houses alternative rock acts. The bass was filling the room perfectly, and can be felt from outside the venue doors. Next up Los Angeles native Schoolboy took the stage.

Schoolboy brought the bass to a different level with his style of dubstep and drum and bass. Glowsticks showered the crowd from the balcony as everyone scrambled to pick them up and dance wilder than before. Heads were banging, arms were flailing, and smiles were to be had on everyone’s face as they were truly enjoying the music. The place erupted when schoolboy played his original tune “Zombies Ate my Neighbours,” another tune was his latest “Lunch Money.” The suburban crowd loved every minute of it, waiting to hear the man of the hour Downlink.

Downlink on his 29th birthday came on a mission to destroy Austin’s Fuel Room. After nearly 4 hours of dancing already, the crowd was suddenly rejuvenated and ready to get wild. Downlink started to massacre the crowd with his heavy bass and metal like tunes. Playing some classics like “Underground” and “Swerve,” the crowd was loving it and looked like they were having seizures at moments. Some of the sounds that were coming out of the speakers made me feel like I was transported to an alien nation where lasers were being shot in every which direction. Downlink uses such an eccentric spectrum of sounds and infuses them with such heavy metalish type sounds, it was insane. He even gave the crowd a taste of what was to come this summer by playing his new project with homies Excision and KJ Sawka named Destroid. It was a solid night for Austins Fuel Room, with a handful of talent and a sound system that was surprisingly good, hopefully they will get more EDM talent over the summer!

Written by: Derek Bogseth

More From Elektro Daily