Deep meaningful lyrics dressed in energy and tiger outfits are what USS brought to the table at the Rapids on Friday night. The stage featured a small table with a flower in vase as well as a snowblower which was very interesting. Something that you do not see a lot is a DJ production table with two MacBooks alongside a singing guitarist, but that’s what USS had in store for us.
The fans in the audience were raving about USS way before they even came on. The age range of the audience was huge, ranging from teenage girls to their dads and maybe even grandfathers all singing their songs. Once USS hit the stage, their fans chanted “USS!” and sometimes “USA!” in between almost every song, much to their surprise. Ash played guitar and sang so passionately and Jason “Human Kebab” had so much energy that he was doing front flips, crowd surfing and doing headstands while controlling the turntables. While the bass may have been overpowering the massive drums for the majority of the show, mid set they took a break and Ash sang the song “Kit” with just solo acoustic and I got chills from it even though I didn’t know it beforehand. He successfully told his story. He mentioned that he wrote the song on a busy street in Toronto and “nobody cared.” Once Human Kebab returned to what he said, “test out the bass in the speakers,” so did the dance party for the rest of the night. The fans were jumping and dancing safety after USS told them to take care of each other. At the end of the set, Human Kebab sampled from the world’s biggest dubstep producer Skrillex to create a “giant campfire after party”.
With deep lyrics and aggressive bass and energy, USS gave a twist on electronic music with having a singer guitarist in the mix. To say the least, I was impressed and I really did enjoy it along with the rest of the attendees that evening.
Setlist:
Hydrogenuine
This is the Best
Shipwreck
Yo Hello Hooray (Everyday)
Minus Me
Human Kebab DJ Solo
Anti-Venom
Nepal
Laces Out
Freakquency
Human Kebab DJ Solo
K.I.T.
Human Kebab DJ Solo
N/A OK
Yin Yang
Damini
Encore:
Heaven on Mars
Drop Around The Clock / Loser (Beck cover)
Hey Ya! (OutKast cover)
Hollow Point Sniper Hyperbole
Encore 2:
Hakuna Matata (Ash acappella)
Cloudboy
Human Kebab DJ Solo (30 min set)
Photos by Gus Griesinger. We would like to thank Tiffany Astle from Penelope PR for the credentials to review the show.
