If you heard a sonic boom rattling Salt Lake City Saturday, January 19th (opening weekend of the Sundance Film festival), it was probably the sound of the Future Sound of Breaks world-tour launch party at In The Venue, organized by V2 Events and Science Media. The heaviest breakbeat lineup in the history of Salt Lake City's thriving EDM (Electronic Dance Music) nightlife featured the talents of DJ Icey (Zone Record / Moist Music / Disco Rodeo), DJ Craze (Cartel Recordings / Contagious Musiq), Jackal and Hyde live (Hallucination Recordings / Scheme Addicts), Deekline (Against the Grain / Rat Records / Bounce), Hydraulix live (Kuad Recordings / Monotone / Touchin Bass), Supernaut (Kuad / Frequency Equals Bass), Inner Realm (Dojavou Records / Science Media), Sir Kutz! (Red Cube / I Breaks), JuJu (narcohz), Djunya (Narcohz / Dubscouts), Dave Sweeten (Digitizm / Lefthouse Recordings), and local performers including Dubscouts, Drumlojik, Loki, and Tink.

The tag team breakbeat producers, Hydraulix cranked the heat up on the party with a live set of electro breaks, laced with vocoded vocals. Jackal and Hyde performed with a similar stage set, blending industrial bass and electro breaks live with a rack of synthesizers and processing gear. The two live acts whipped the crowd into a frenzy as the headliners took the stage.

Craze was in rare form at FSOB as he dropped a set of booty bass and breakbeats on the unsuspecting crowd. The Miami bass scene was well represented in the set, while he raised the roof with diverse cuts from Salt 'n' Pepa to the Beastie Boys, remixed, juggled, scratched, and mangled on the fly in his signature behind-the-back showboating style. Born in Nicaragua and raised in Miami, Craze went from rags to riches when he took the world by storm on the DJ competition circuit, competing and winning at the DMC World Championships three consecutive times as a solo act, and continuing to dominate the team competitions with the all-star Allies crew. With his positive party rocking attitude, DJ Craze is a popular force of nature behind the decks. His unmatched skills and showmanship led to a lifestyle of travel and parties. He has performed the world over, including Europe, Australia, Japan, and his country of birth, Nicaragua. In addition to turntablism, Craze is also a successful producer, with tracks on DMC Records, Ninja Tune, and OM, to name a few.

Born and raised in Florida, Mixmag's "king of funky breaks," DJ Icey cut his teeth at the EDGE nightclub in the mid '90's, where he persuaded the Chemical Brothers to play their first US gig. Since then, Icey has released over 200 12" singles and five CD's, including a prestigious "Essential Mix" album, an opportunity bestowed only on the biggest stars, including the likes of Pete Tong, Fatboy Slim, and Paul Oakenfold. He runs not one, but two breakbeat labels. His main imprint, Zone Records, and Tree Records, dedicated to more eccentric productions. Never one to stand still, he also maintains a touring schedule that crams over 100 gigs per year into his busy calendar. His performance at FSOB was the icing on the cake, leaving the audience satisfied, but still hungry for more.

Filming for the Breaks Movement Documentary began at the launch party, by Salt Lake City's Kump Films in association with V2 Events, Science Media, and Contagious Musiq. The Kump Films crew was out in full force collecting footage. The film makers plan to enter the documentary in the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, and if the performances on the main stage were any indication, the film should be well received.

In case you missed it there is a photo gallery by Eric Hamilton at www.dilvie.com, and you can still catch the FSOB tour's next stop at the 2008 Winter Music Conference in Miami. FSOB is celebrating its 6th anniversary during the WMC appearance. The Sundance Film Festival nightlife continues with upcoming performances from superstar headliners like BT (January 25th at Salt Lake City's Hotel / Elevate), and Paul Oakenfold (January 26th at Club Sound, Salt Lake City).

• www.v2-events.com
• www.kumpfilms.com
• www.contagiousmusiq.com
• www.futuresoundofbreaks.com
• www.dilvie.com

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Labels: club, dance club, dj craze, dj icey, film festival, fsob, future sound of breaks, nightclub, nightlife, party, rave, sundance, sundance festival, sundance film festival