The walls of Times Square’s Playstation Theater rattled and rumbled last weekend when Excision returned to NYC with The Paradox, his newest stage production featuring intense original visuals and an impressive 150,000 watts of sound. He was joined by furry enthusiast Bear Grillz and Figure, who brought his signature brand of bone-crushing beats. The two have been mainstays on the tour which has been underway nationwide since late November. Bear Grillz played a predictable set of bangers, while Figure came through with a high energy set that offered a few more surprises. The two did a sufficient job getting the packed crowd warmed up for the main event, despite the fact that the bear suit is ridiculous. In the words of my dear friend Tara: “There is no way he can sustain that for his career.”
With a flash of lights and a rumble of bass, came a power medley of signature drops and a booming robot voice introducing what lay before the crowd of nearly 2,000 eager bass chasers. This spectacle was The Paradox, the third installment of Excision’s exclusive tour rigs. Canadian dubstep artist Jeff Abel was locked in silhouette as worlds began to build out around him. The full LED backboard and podium made him appear as an ominous force controlling the landscape, rather than the modest blonde dude he actually is. Rhinos charged , zombie pirates met their demise and dragons breathed fire around him as he tore through a number of original tracks like “Bring the Madness,” “X Up,” “Headbanger,” his “We Will Rock You” remix and others from his stellar discography of .
Of course, it wouldn’t be a live set if he didn’t incorporate a number of tracks from fellow dubstep and bass artists like Flux Pavilion, DJ Fresh, Knife Party, Jauz and his own side project DESTROID. In addition to earth shaking blasts, there were other spectacles worth mentioning, like that F*&KING T-REX. Yeah, Excision doesn’t just only come equipped with slamming stages, he also brings PREHISTORIC KILLING MACHINES. Was it a robot? Was it a person? Either way, it was dope.
Abel has made it his business to thrill and impress year after year, and while The Paradox was stunning by most standards, it felt anticlimactic as a follow-up to The Executioner, which was initially introduced in 2013. While the set was satisfying in a sense that he covered a wide range of original music and today’s most popular bass tracks, I got the feeling that perhaps Abel is getting a little soft on us. There were moments when the show did hit lulls, failing to build in intensity in ways I’ve come to associate with his prior sets. That said, an Excision show is still an Excision show, and you have to hand it to Abel for daring to step outside the comfort zone of traditional EDM shows to create something unique. In that sense, The Paradox is still a triumph, however, in the grand scheme of Abel’s production legacy thus far, it falls a bit flat.