Show Review: Zomboy Beats Up Gramercy Theater

Thursday night. Gramercy Theater. 10:35 p.m. Opening act, DJ Protector, has just finished getting the crowd amped up for the night’s main act. A man sporting side-swept bangs and a black t-shirt jumps up onstage. As he readies his tools for a highly anticipated performance, the crowd is chanting a name “JOSH, JOSH, JOSH…”

This is the moment they’ve all been waiting for. Hipsters, dubhards, and ravers (yes, despite the cold some girls donned lil-to-nada, with only their SpiritHoods to keep warm) have all come together to see Josh Mellody a.k.a. DJ-producer Zomboy. He drops the first beat, instilling new life into the bated crowd.

If you haven’t yet heard of Zomboy, here’s the 411: Coming from a traditional background in sound engineering, he attended the Academy of Contemporary Music before finding his higher calling, which included higher BPMs. Now he's dominated the dubstep scene, as well as the Gramercy Theater stage and has mad Beatport chart topping hits.

The performance included Zomboy staples such as “Nuclear (Hands Up),” “Vancouver Beatdown” and “Deadweight.” Other jams were thrown into the mix that took the crowd on a musical trip, infusing moments of synthpop, trance, moombahton, dubstep, even an electric guitar, and a new track inspired by the Big Apple.

As the clock struck midnight, Zomboy had to wrap things up. After closing with a remix of Skrillex's “Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites” and his own hit “Game Time,” Zomboy walked off stage, yet the crowd begged for more. Zomboy hesitated before making his way back to the turntables. To everyone's dismay, the venue had already started shutting things down. With an apologetic face, Zomboy promises to be back for autographs and photos.

Be sure to continue following VIBE as we get ready to release our exclusive video interview with Zomboy. Juicy details on his methods and his New York performance soon to come!