Fans from as far as Philadelphia represented for the Planet of the Drums “10thF*cking” Tour stop at Club 24 in Washington, DC, last Friday night, at a party called Mega hosted by Steez Promo and 3D Productions. Screams and shouts greeted the news reel style intro video depicting Earth in peril, civilization collapsing under greed and corruption as planets streaked across the screen. Our only hope is the salvation offered by four men from a distant planet charged with the mission to reunite and rebuild. They — AK1200, Dara, Dieselboy and Messinian — took the stage to deafening cheers.

Conceived by Dieselboy in 1999, in New Orleans, when America’s three top drum ‘n’ bass DJs had converged to play a Moonshine Over America show, Planet of the Drums became an alliance to move drum ‘n’ bass out of the shadows and onto center stage. In a scene infamous for enmity, it was a radical show of unity. The POTD launched in 2000 with MC Dub2. UK’s MC Rage was to MC the next year but when a visa obstacle arose, Messinian — who’d been spitting at Dieselboy’s seminal drum ‘n’ bass party Platinum in Philadelphia — was called and has been their frontman since.

“Tonight was great,” smiles Dara (Darragh Guilfoyle, Brooklyn, co-founder of famed Breakbeat Science record store), “DC’s always a favorite spot on the tour.”

After ten consecutive years, the Planet of the Drums is the longest-running tour in electronic dance music history. Heads bang and sweat flies and feet defy gravity as high energy beats and futuristic musical communiqués flood the dance floor in surround sound. The mercurial genre that fuses chameleon-like with everything from reggae to jazz to rock to metal—from trance to electro to progressive to hip-hop to dubstep–flows seamlessly from old school jungle to skull-step and the crowd moves right with it, eyes closed or eyes shining, hands in the air, all self-consciousness sacrificed at the altar of oblivion. It’s pure freedom, mental and physical.

“I was there for the first POTD smashdown back in 2001,” says local d’n’b DJ Seven (a.k.a. Avik Nandy). “I came up to Philly and it was epic! I’m so glad to see after ten years it’s still going strong and been continually innovative. The POTD have been a beacon for American d’n’b and a wellspring of so much inspiration for d’n’b in general. They’re a blessing and a gift and something we should all be thankful for because that’s what we’re here for. We’re enjoying d’n’b in a way we could never have imagined. I’m so thankful we’re still talking about what we love talking about and for all the people who understand this passion. It’s one of the ultimate satisfactions in such a strong way, it’s indescribable.”

After two and a half hours, the crowd, spent and happy, wilds out to the last track, dropped by Dieselboy — Photek’s “Industry of Noise” — as the Steez Promo stage tech sets up for electro DJ Smash Gordon and MC Checkwun. Fans surround the POTD as they come off stage for handshakes, hugs and autographs.

“Tonight was great,” smiles Dara (Darragh Guilfoyle, Brooklyn, co-founder of famed Breakbeat Science record store), “DC’s always a favorite spot on the tour.” Dara names the Sub Focus remix of “Twerk” by Bassment Jaxx and Original Sin’s “Therapy” as two big tunes of the night.

When asked what it’s like marking the ten-year milestone, AK1200 (Dave Minner, Orlando, America’s first d’n’b DJ and head of new label Big Riddim) replies, “Honestly what I like most is the camaraderie between us as a crew. We only get to really hang out once a year but it’s good, fun.” He confides, “Tonight you could tell we haven’t been together for three weeks because we each have so many new tunes and it was hard to get in sync with each other at the beginning. But tomorrow we have Denver, and Tuesday Vancouver, Wednesday Calgary, Thursday Vegas, Friday Phoenix, Saturday Chicago, so we will have all kinds of little tricks off each other’s tunes in no time at all—another thing I love about how we work together.”

Big tunes? “I play a lot off the Grid Recordings label—‘In and Out’ by Northern Lights is one of my biggest tunes. I played a tune on Formation called ‘Medicin’ by Mobius Strip, Tantrum Desire remix, and I’m really into that. Also, Ed Rush’s ‘Arcadia,’ which I had to beg him for, you have no idea. I was like, which limb do you want me to cut off and send you for this tune? I got to play that tonight. We still play a lot of Original Sin—he’s blowing up right now. Noisia’s ‘Deception,’ and Dara played a couple raga things—Top Cat’s ‘Ruffest Gun Ark’ (Chase & Status remix).”

“Tonight walking through the crowd and hearing people go, man, you’re the first person I listened to, I love this stuff, you guys did great tonight–that’s what we’re here for, to give people an idea how good things are still. We are a successful, consistent tour. I get to do what I love and be with the people I care about and that’s all that matters to me. As long as we please people and get them interested again and create momentum, that’s more than I could ask for.”

Ever-ebullient Messinian (James Fiorella, Philadelphia, prolific lyricist and producer of pop, rock, rap, techno, electro), recaps highlights of this year’s POTD tour so far. “San Bernadino was off the fuckin’ chain. In the front row people were blowing the fuck up. Basically what I try to do is be crowd control–make people experience the music, make them feel like they’re in the moment. LA held that shit down. CA always holds that shit down.”

Smash Gordon (Steez Promo promoter Steve Gordon, Baltimore) walks by and Messinian digresses: “Steez Promo always holds that shit down!”

“Seriously,” says Gordon, “remind me not to go on after the Planet of the Drums! It’s embarrassing! Quote me on that!” Messinian laughs at his partner in their electro project, We Don’t Sleep!, and continues.

“Smash Gordon’s the shit. We had a good time in Canada. At the first club we played we were like, how’s this going to go down? As soon as the intro played the floor was packed and there was this magnetic energy all night. In North Carolina, we knew everybody at the stage was yearning to hear us and we were like, word, let’s do it. We murdered that shit for what it was. It was wet and raining. People were like yo, thank you so much, you were the highlight of the festival. Orlando was dope. It was good to be in AK’s hometown. It was cool seeing familiar faces from Ultra from years before at a small packed club.

Dieselboy (Damian Higgins, Brooklyn, whose Human label is about to launch SubHuman Imprint for electro and dubstep releases, asks if he can send Big Shot a quote by eemail, and this just in is worth the wait: “Drum ‘n’ bass is so vibrant and so pure. I have felt it coursing through my veins for almost 20 years. People always ask me how I look so young—it’s the music! Drum ‘n’ bass is the sound of youth energy and I think that is the reason why it resonates so strongly with the young and the young at heart. It is everything you want in dance music—loud, heavy and uplifting.”

The Planet of the Drums 10th Anniversary Tour schedule is posted at www.planetofthedrums.com.

Words: Mary Morris
Images: Levelle McKinney