Yheti Brought Creativity and Masterful Mixing to LA on Tour Deformed

The Yheti Tour Deformed show at 1720 gave me a renewed sense of appreciation for him as a performer, a new favorite Los Angeles venue, and some great up-and-coming artists to follow.

For starters, the venue for the Yheti Tour Deformed LA show far surpassed my expectations. It seems to elicit mixed reviews, but those who are critical of 1720 probably haven’t been packed into The Roxy like sardines or experienced the amenities of Brooklyn warehouses. The dance floor, hangout areas, and bathrooms were clean and spacious. More importantly, there was a truly excellent selection of craft beers at the bar.

This is something I’ve been wanting to see in electronic venues for the better part of a decade so while drinks are pricey, this boy was quite happy. The sound wasn’t Funktion-level premium, but it was certainly above average. And while the neighborhood seemed a little sketchy, I didn’t feel unsafe at any time.

Yheti’s support was diverse and kept the crowd going strong for the four hours until he took the stage.

NastyNasty was probably the highest-energy performer of the entire night thanks to a combination of his song selection and stage presence. He kept the tempo up and played lots of tracks with blaring sounds and double-time or otherwise fast rhythms. My favorite track was “Plasma Whip” off of his new album Hideous Mask. Potions’ tunes have a really interesting and complex style that use lots of breakbeat/glitchy rhythms. If I had to liken him to another well-known producer, it would be Shlump.

To my surprise, Freddy Todd then showed up to play a set leading into Yheti.

He wasn’t on the original tour poster or ticketing site but was obviously well-received with resounding cheers. He played some homages to Pipus and other Wakaan tracks as well as an insanely hard-hitting new collab with Of The Trees. It was a beautifully heavy set overall.

Photo Credit: Jeremy Verone Photography

Yheti’s set was the best I’ve seen from him and he had the entire venue dancing from front to back.

Granted, the last time I saw him at a standalone show was almost two years ago, but something about this one seemed to reach a new level of excellence. His mixing was buttery smooth the entire set, to the point that I couldn’t notice a single imperfection. He played the fan favorites that everyone wanted to hear like “Crack The Window” and his remix of “Slomosapian,” but he also threw in a bunch of new tracks that I’d never heard before. I was probably most excited to hear “Voices in the Dark,” his collab with Esseks from back in 2015 and one of my favorite minimalist bass tracks of all time.

Certainly, far from formulaic – it was a unique set and a great night overall. I’ll definitely be at Yheti’s next tour stop near LA and am going to look for an excuse to go back to 1720 soon. Aside from the remainder of this “Tour Deformed,” you can catch Yheti on the festival circuit this summer at Stilldream and Camp Bisco.

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