In The Valley Block Party Review: The Love Language Of House

Cinco In The City and In The Valley Block Party inserted stars into the eyes of Downtown Phoenix, Arizona during this two-day adventure of house music. This humble magnitude of a house event allowed Arizona to observe and meet their favorite DJs/producers that craft their favorite nights of music to remember. Welcome to Relentless Beats' love language of house in which tech house, G-house, and D&B intersected during the first week of May.

Day 1 at Cinco In The City

Day 1 debuted local artists Medicine Mike and RARE to welcome ravers as the gates opened. With dusk melting on the skyline and the dance floor still visible, house music blended into the atmosphere. Coming outside of the side stage and onto the dancefloor were Dr. Fresch, FREAK ON, and BIJOU. FREAK ON was seen with his neon orange sunglasses getting his freak on. Fans immediately traded kandi with BIJOU, shook hands, and requested pictures with both Dr. Fresch and BIJOU.

Biscits frenzied Arizona in exuberance with hits, "Talk to Me" and "Wait a Minute". After Biscits, fans expected Noizu to perform without interruption until the end of the night. His introduced his latest single, "Mi Corazon" as his introductory track. After, Noizu featured "Jack Machine", "Rave Alarm", and his remix of "Free your Body" as his outro.

Patterned strobe lights in combination with smoke, lasers in red, yellow, blue, and green scattered the skyscraper walls of Renaissance Square against the sky absent of stars. The night ended early at 10pm, but inspired eagerness for the following day.

Day 2 at In The Valley Block Party

Avitas introduced the crowd to house in a slower momentum before FREAK ON unleashed a seamless transition next to Avitas. This weekend was profoundly intimate and personal, ravers didn't have to wait ten minutes for the next set to begin. Artists in the industry can meet for the first time or continue the intersection of their friendship and discography during those few moments before a new set--like a small B2B set.

One of the most memorable highlights was during FREAK ON's mix of AC/DC's, "T.N.T" and the audience howled to the extent of not being able to contain the sounds that became louder than the speakers. Dr. Fresch soon joined the stage in a multicolored lei necklace inspired to get his freak on with his close friend and collaborator.

FREAK ON said to the ecstatic audience, “Are you guys getting your freak on?” and switched his hip-hop mix to deep trap and bass. The audience was receptive to the duality from club favorites to underground tech house. The deep trap and bass caused ravers to increase movement, “You guys ready? Let's fucking do this". Attendees enthralled by his playful energy, FREAK ON sampled Lil Kim's, "Black Friday" and Kanye West's "Fade". Because FREAK ON knows the hits to increase the body movement on the dance floor, he took an inhale from his vape pen and proceeded to mix Shania Twain's "Man! I Feel Like A Woman".

As Dr. Fresch remained on stage, he placed FREAK ON onto his shoulders for a piggyback ride directly in front of the decks. Arizona discovered this event is FREAK ON's first home show since he now lives in Phoenix. Not leaving the stage, Dr. Fresh commenced his set with "Take A Step Back" and then latest heavy-hitting house track, "Let's Go". Keeping the party going with "Gangsta Gangsta", he also played his new remix of "Ghost" that was released the same day. Before dedicating some of his set to solely D&B, Dr. Fresch sampled Drezo’s, "Sinister".

To send his farewell to Arizona, Dr. Fresch informed Renaissance Square this was his biggest show he ever performed in the state. During the last thirty minutes, BIJOU joins the stage for a surprise B2B set. The crowd screamed vigorously during BIJOU's arrival on stage as it felt unexpected. Fans danced even harder to tracks, “Kung Fu” and "Westside" before ending the weekend at midnight.

In The Valley Block Party raptured new glory onto Downtown Phoenix's house scene with intoxicating impatience for more as Renaissance Square had never witnessed the love language of house. Relentless Beats' next massive tech house celebration is Under Construction: Chris Lake B2B FISHER on May 28-29, 2022.

Photos Courtesy of Relentless Beats

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Mary Mason | May 25, 2022

about the writer

Mary Mason

Read More...Mary is an artist based in Phoenix, AZ. Her favorite mediums to practice are confessional poetry and hula hooping.

When she’s not hula hooping at a local bass and riddim show, she’s at the beach or San Diego Art Museum. Mary’s adoration for EDM (culture & community) inspires her to perform. One of her many ways of celebrating art is attending festivals with her friends.