ELECTRONIC ARTIST, REZZ LIGHTS UP ECHOSTAGE

By Tyler Shields, Staff Writer

On Sept. 30 a very special guest brought powerful rhythm and booming bass hits to the thousands of concert goers at Washington, D.C.’s Echostage. It was Rezz’s Echostage debut after just releasing her “Mass Manipulation” album.

Dressed in all black with a baseball cap and goggles that blinked and flashed over her eyes, Isabelle Rezazadeh (Rezz) had the Echostage crowd under dance hypnosis throughout the night.

The visuals displayed on the screen behind Rezz consisted of swirling patterns, dancing octopuses, and unimaginable visuals. Lasers and CO2 cannons shot out across the ceiling immediately chased by a surreal roar from the crowd. By the time her set was over, “One more song! One more song!” chants echoed throughout the stage and Rezz politely obliged.

Overall, Rezz had an amazing performance. She came on stage and slowly brought in her hit track, “Relax.” When the bass of the song dropped, the crowd went insane as the CO2 canons blasted the crowd, which made most people scream. When the CO2 cannons go off, they make a loud blasting noise, which sometimes takes away from the sound of the actual song.

However, most people get over this, as it is an intense and desired effect most concertgoers enjoy. From the back of the venue, even towards the bathrooms and entrance, the sound was extremely loud. Friends were yelling to one another to communicate even at this area of the venue.

As Rezz mixed one song after the next, including “Purple Gusher” and “Fourth Impact,” she paused midway through her set to thank her fans, which she does quite often. Rezz’s songs were a mix of electronic, dance and dubstep. Her sound is very dark and almost evil.

As I stood next to and talked with avid Rezz and electronic music fan, Daniel Mansfield, 22, I couldn’t help but notice the frown and angry, grimacing facial expressions he was portraying most of the night.

“Rezz’s sounds just make me feel dark and bad, but in a good way. Her music could be on the soundtracks of horror movies,” he said.

It was obvious as Rezz jumped around on stage that she was enjoying the show just as much as the crowd.

Like most DJs who make their way to Echostage, Rezz brought a closer by the name of Drezo, a deep house music producer out of Los Angeles. Drezo definitely played more of a detox, chill set and the majority of the crowd made their way out of the venue by the end of the show. Drezo spun remixes of Hip Hop songs and some of his own like, “Heaven” and “Guap.” As the crowd exited the venue at the end of the night, most seemed satisfied with the show. 

Photo Courtesy of Tyler Shields