Show Review: Ganja White Night in MN

Minnesota winters are notorious for being long and harsh. This one in particular seemed to drag on for quite some time. With the addition of second, third and fourth winter, we had our fill of white nights. April 20 and 21, however, fell flawlessly in line with the changing of the season. White nights were a thing of the past, as the time had finally come for a few “ganja white nights.”

In honor of the holidaze as well as their most recent album, Ganja White Night headlined a two day event on the weekend of 4/20 titled Ganja White Night and Buds. I was unable to attend the first night, consequently missing out on Ivy Lab, Mt. Eden, Mr. Bill and Ternion Sound. Friends of mine who made it, however, told me it was a damn good time, as expected.

Night two of the event opened up with a B2B2B2B featuring Subtronics, Dirt Monkey, Boogie T, and Ganja White Night, or in other words, every artist performing on the main stage that night. A projection of the four artist’s stage names rotated on a screen behind them as they gave the crowd just a taste of the wobbly, groovy, heavy dubstep/riddim madness that was about to take place.

As represented by this collaborative opening set, the four acts share a sound and style to an extent and have collaborated on tracks with one another in past, but they all possess their own unique characteristics. It quickly became apparent that their individual performances would shine even brighter than their collective.

As Subtronics initiated his solo set, the crowd immediately became more enthusiastic. Whether the set was leaning towards heavy or more chill and groovy, the potential for wiggling and getting low was always present. This ended up being the very appropriate trend to the night.

Dirt Monkey followed suit, but took his performance in a slightly different direction. Where Subtronics would go heavy, Dirt Monkey went with more variety. Tracks containing hints of glitch, hip hop and DnB along with liquidy and bubbly sounds assisted in defining this set. The crowd grew noticeably over the set’s duration in anticipation for the headline half of the show.

Boogie T was unexpectedly announced onto the stage by a two minute clip of Onyx The Fortuitous, which quite accurately reflects the wacky, unorthodox aspects he incorporates into his music and visuals. Despite this, Boogie T’s set maintained the happiest middle ground between soft and heavy, rarely wavering too far in either direction. Most notably, I recall seven straight minutes of smooth riddim with no drops or transitions putting me in the most beautiful trance. This trance inevitably came to an end, but it was necessary were the night to be brought to its anticipated conclusion.

As the venue filled to capacity, Ganja White Night filled the venue with their heavy, wubby, often reggae influenced sound. Trippy, cartoony animations accompanied by an intricate light show catered to the fans who enjoy the visual aspects of a show. When they dropped No Escape, I got so wiggly that I was sent into an uncontrollable fit of bliss and laughter for the following minute. A bit of house and funk were also  incorporated into their set, and to mix it up even more, Boogie T shredded along side on guitar towards the end. I’ve never envisioned a perfect ending to a show, but Ganja dropping Champagne assisted by Boogie T and his sexy guitar probably won’t leave the top for a while.

If, like me, you’re not sure when you’ll see any of these artists in the future, don’t forget that until then, you can always reminisce.