For many in the Houston hard dance scene, seeing Lny Tnz pop up on Facebook for a show in Houston was a dream come true. Rage Monsters gave everyone an early holiday gift on Thanksgiving week by creating one of the most magical hard dance shows Houston has had in the past few years. With local acts Arson, Atwood, Edric, and Elemir as support for the Netherlands natives, attendees were in for a night of non-stop energy and old-school vibes.

We arrived at the venue early, around 9:00, and were pleased with what we saw. The Dive is a modest venue, but the atmosphere it puts off is delightfully underground. Elemir started off the night with fast, energetic tech trance and psytrance. He was a fantastic opener with smooth transitions and heavy track selection, but he balanced out the early crowd energy and appealed to those who were ready to dance. While the crowd was still small, he did his part to read everyone’s reactions and kept everyone moving.

By 10:30, Edric was halfway into his set, the venue was crowded, and the vibe of the venue gained electricity. Although Edric was facing a possible energy drop due to the slower bpm of hard style, he played fan-favorites to keep the crowd moving. Appearing more focused on crowd interaction than other DJs that night, it worked to his advantage by keeping the audience’s focus on him. Using a darker sound with raw style tracks, he set up a perfect sound for the next artist.

A surprise on the lineup, at least for me personally, was Atwood. Even with the Lny Tnz slogan “fvck genres” as an expected theme for the night, having not seen Atwood live, there was skepticism that he could follow up two high energy hard dance genres with his focus of bass music. Happily corrected, Atwood managed to surpass expectations and prove his value as direct support for the headliner. He took full advantage of the crystal clear bass of the Gritsy sound system and kept the crowd alive with trap, dubstep, and future bass.

When it seemed the night couldn’t get any better, the Dutch duo Lny Tnz took the stage. Without any hesitation, the atmosphere became one of complete acceptance and love for each song played. Starting heavy with a surrounding presence and fully dominated the dance floor, Lny tnz took the small venue and turned it into a true underground show. With no word of complaint, they both took the heat and humidity and embraced it with a smile. Lny Tnz took their concept of “fvck genres” and absorbed everyone in the venue in the music and allowed their night to become entirely in control of the DJs. The duo also focused on maintaining high energy by using dub and hard dance anthems to keep the crowd cheering. Chatting with Lny Tnz after the show, they said that they had an enjoyable evening and felt comfortable despite the size of the venue. Overall, they were pleased with the turnout and are looking forward to their next show back here in Houston.

Finishing off the night, Arson took over the decks and ensured that no one in the crowd went home without breaking a sweat. One might think that he would be intimidated playing right after a huge name, but Arson appeared as comfortable as any veteran DJ in the scene. With hard dance tracks ranging from hardstyle favorites to rawstyle grime, he kept the crowd moving right until the very end. So absorbed in the energy and music that taking notes became a second thought, Arson brought the night together for a perfect close with a lingering audience that was not ready to stop moving and smiling.

Special highlight: Shout-out to the Gritsy team and their WALL OF BASS® sound system. During the night, a few members of their team discussed a bit about how the sound system works, plus what they do to maintain a high standard throughout the night. Regularly attending events at clubs all around Houston, we were beyond impressed at the sound quality and clarity the Gristy team’s system. When considering the size of The Dive, one would likely expect lower tier sound and heavy reverb. At no point in the night was a frequency range too loud or too quiet, the balance was maintained while keeping the bass heavy. Houston venues: take notes.

With Gritsy and Rage Monsters teaming up, we absolutely cannot wait to see what shows they put on in the future.