So this weekend, the two of us headed out to the first ever Loaded Festival here in Philadelphia. The festival was held at Festival Pier, which was awesome because it’s an open air venue and it couldn’t have been a nicer day.  There were two stages, so we couldn’t catch everything, but let’s talk about the day.

We started off with a pretty filthy set from Dubsef. He showed some serious talent mixing and was definitely a good one to get the early crowd going.

Dubsef - “Broverload Vol. 2 Mix” — Direct Download [FREE] // Full Tracklist

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After Dubsef, one of our personal favorites, KDrew hit the turntables. This was truly an epic performance; he threw down some really filthy tracks, but also weaved in quite a few of his best tracks. Definitely the highlight of this set was the appearance of Mr. Nickelz to do the assisting vocals during “Danger Zone”, as well as a preview of a new track that is yet to come.

Kdrew - “Bullseye” [Live @ Loaded Fest 2012]

KDrew - [New Song Preview - Live @ Loaded Fest 2012]

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Once KDrew finished up, we headed into the tent to check out AK1200. This was an artist neither of us were very familiar with, but oh man were we surprised. This Orlando producer was laying down some of the hardest and filthiest drum and bass and dubstep. I can’t say I’ve ever seen a primarily dnb set, but I’m glad to be able to say this was my first because it was quite the show.

AK1200 - “Make Me Feel”

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Next to hit the main stage was Mt. Eden so we headed back outside for that. These guys had to be one of the most energetic sets of the day. They really got into their music, which is what the set as fun as it was. And of course, they held out on us, not dropping “Sierra Leone” until the last track.

Hemstock & Jennings - “Mirage (Mt. Eden Remix)”

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Now it was J. Rabbit‘s turn to take the main stage. He’s one of my favorite lesser-known producers so I was really psyched for this set. And I was absolutely not disappointed. He dropped so many of my favorite tracks. He’s a producer that just absolutely loves to bring filthy drop in after filthy drop after filthy drop. I’ll be waiting for the opportunity to catch this New York DJ again. We’ve got this brand new mix from him for you to check out too.

J. Rabbit - “Bass on Your Face Mixtape Vol. 1″ — Direct Download [FREE] // Full Tracklist

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Then it was DirtyLoud to hit the stage. These were two dudes we also weren’t too familiar with. But the Brazilian DJ’s absolutely showed us what’s up. Their mix was definitely the biggest surprise of the night for me. I was expecting some of these guys to drop dirty sets, but DirtyLoud just so incredibly exceeded expectations. They’re definitely a group we’ll be trying to bring you more music from.

DirtyLoud - “2012 Dae Getta DJ Mix” — Direct Download [FREE] // Full Tracklist

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Time to turn the bass way up, because finally it was the mighty Flux Pavilion to take the stage. I’m going to have to go ahead and give this the set of the night. I’ve seen Flux once before, actually with Doctor P last Summer here in Philly too, and both times I’ve been absolutely mind blown. There are a lot of good DJ’s out there, but it’s really hard to qualify one as a great. But when it comes to being able to name smashing track after smashing track: his remix of “Cracks”, remix of “Gold Dust”, remix of “Blue Skies”, “I Can’t Stop”, “Got to Know”, “Daydreamer”… and the list goes on. There’s no argument that this man is an amazing producer, but what’s even more amazing is his live set. Definitely one of my favorites.

Flux Pavilion - “BBC Radio 1 Essential Mix [01.14.2012]” — Direct Download [FREE] // Full Tracklist

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Finally, to close out the night, we had the amazing, wild and talented Rusko. I’ve always heard this guys a lot of fun to see, and I believe it. Have you seen the music video for “Woo Boost”? Rusko has always seemed hilariously awesome to me. Now, I said Flux took the set of the night for me, but that doesn’t mean Rusko wasn’t everything I wanted and more. Although he did miss a few key tracks that I really was hoping he’d drop (“Woo Boost”, “Mr. Chips”, “Roll It, Light It”), he did lay down quite a lot of his wonky tracks. I was a bit surprised though; his set featured a large amount of drum and bass and drumstep tracks, which isn’t something I would have expected to hear from him. Overall, it was an amazing set, just a little bit filthy for what I would have expected from Rusko.

Rusko - “Live at Congress Theatre, Chicago, IL (New Year’s Eve 2012)”