Review: Borgore Cuts Hip-Hop With Throbbing, Wobbling Beats

How does someone over the age of 21 survive a Borgore concert?

Pre-game. Hard.

Last night at Club Cinema in Fort Lauderdale, Israeli dubstep/gorestep DJ Borgore played to a full house of half-naked teenagers. While his demographic does normally extend into the college age range, this particular concert was 16 and up. That basically ensures a high school crowd, meaning, these are the same people who just were, or still are, fans of Hannah Montana, Justin Bieber, and One Direction.

That also guaranteed a few very specific things not normally seen at concerts for adults. For example: full body pat-downs. Presumably, they're searching for illicit drugs and weapons. Is it an effective deterrent? Sort of. Most of the crowd in attendance didn't need to sneak in drugs for a couple reasons. For one, many of them already had drugs inside their bodies that lasted the duration of event. That was, however, a tactic that backfired for a few fans. There was one bro who was cashed out a full two hours before Borgore took control of the turntables. His buddies had to carry his heavy, muscular body to a spot where he couldn't crash into other people. Worse yet, towards the end of the evening, at least one person left the venue vertically in an ambulance.
The other reason to not risk getting busted bringing in drugs is because some budding entrepreneur will do it for you. Through the latter part of the evening, there was one guy (but surely not the only businessman) selling ten-dollar baggies of weed, complete with papers to roll joints. It's the sort of thing that typically occurs at EDM concerts, but made all the more impressive considering the level of security just to get in through the front door.

Something that is normally a staple of grown-up events, but was not readily available last night is alcohol. Instead of bothering with wristbands, Club Cinema went dry to protect itself from any possible liabilities resulting from underage drinking. This creates an interesting dynamic with customers. Since concert venues and night clubs alike both usually make the bulk of their money from selling booze, how do they turn a profit at a show like this? Overcharging elsewhere. Parking on site was a whopping twenty bucks. As for the only thing they did have at the bar, water, that was a healthy seven dollars per bottle. While the bartenders were super friendly, they weren't that friendly.
As for the show, it began at eight, but didn't really start until Borgore came out four and a half hours later. In between, there was a blur of various DJs. None of them matched his ability to read the crowd so efficiently. Credit where credit is due: Borgore played a strong, if predictable, set of popular hip-hop cuts interjected by throbbing beats and massive drops. The thumping could be heard and felt all the way to the couches on the third floor of Club Cinema. It was nothing new by any stretch of the imagination, but still, he made the crowd happy and that's all that really mattered.  While there was some moshing, crowd surfing, and a lot of flesh exposed (including enough shirtless bros to fill a water park, painted boobs, and, at one point, a line of girls in microscopic booty shorts dancing on both downstairs bars), it wasn't all that wild. Judging by the selfie sticks and the EDM-approved Halloween masks and glowing finger gloves, Borgore's pre-Thanksgiving concert was a Millennial, PG-13 house party only a teenager could love.