As hot and twisted as Texas summers can be, July seems to be my actual holiday month rather than the halfway point of the year. On July 5th, I succeeded 38 revolutions around the sun and on the following weekend of July 12th, I would celebrate my birthday headlining Delta H Con in Houston; finally, I would punctuate the month on July 27th when I would join 5 world-class Hard Dance DJs in the Dallas metro for a S3RL tribute celebration known as Forever Hardcore.
The weekend of July 12th was unlike many adventures the Hau5 of Hakubi had traveling to conventions. Earlier that week, Houston fell victim to the wrath of Hurricane Beryl 2024, which ravaged infrastructure and disabled power to millions of residents in the Houston metropolitan area. Against all odds, the Houston Marriott Westchase continued to operate generally safe (sans efficient air conditioning) and Delta H Con was able to proceed with minimal to no degradation to their programming (that I am aware of). I had a great feeling that Delta H Con was going to run very well as I was greeted by Guest Relations staff at the front door and my family and I were briefed, in-processed, and checked in to our rooms with a lot of care and attention (more than any of us could ask). The drive at night around the area were a bit spooky as parts of Houston remained without power that weekend, including the traffic lights; the backstreets were so dark that I almost did not catch the disabled lights and worried that someone could have ran right through them without defaulting to a 4-way stop and possibly colliding with someone else. In any case, we made it to Delta H Con and we were ready to put on the best AnimEDM rave Houston ever got, hurricane or otherwise.
Although billed as a guest, I’ve always made it a point to make as many friends as possible, especially at new anime conventions. This may not be my first Houston performance, but this was my first ever Delta H Con and the vibe reminded me of the good days of the mid-2000s when I first attended anime cons. Sure we still have the gratification of social media and trends, but I noticed callbacks to anime conventions from my career beginnings such as the Opening Ceremonies, hard-copy program guides, and DDR Supernova in the video game room. All of my work and action would actually happen on Friday Night; thus Club Kinyoubi (Club Friday). I would take my place between Kohei‘s concert set and Baeritoki‘s K-Pop set, bringing my blend of AnimEDM and Hard Dance to show the Stars of Houston a real anime con party. Despite the limitations brought on from the hurricane, my friends Kohei, Baeritoki, and I still brought on an incredible club night to the Houston Stars that needed a distraction from the destruction Beryl left days prior. Anime was a lifesaver for me growing up at the darkest of times; I am glad that us DJs and the great people running Delta H Con can provide that relief too.
Two weeks following Delta H Con’s AnimEDM rave in Houston, the Hau5 of Hakubi set off on another long Texas adventure to Dallas, specifically Lewisville where the iCompete Experience holds The Vibe Lounge. This was actually HakubiVerse’s first time hosting an event at what I’ve considered the best Texas city for raving and I was excited to see how Dallas-Fort Worth receives a real HakubiVerse rave. We teamed up with Martian Glow Entertainment based in San Marcos and Big Wiener Presents based in DFW, who also were one of the legendary collectives to lay the foundation for Hardcore raves in North Texas. It all started with a crazy idea from Glo at Martian Glow to do a S3RL Tribute rave featuring a handful of America’s biggest Hardcore DJs who has worked with S3RL at some fashion coming together at Texas’ Hardcore capital for one night. HakubiVerse is in the business of making wild ideas happen and with the wisdom and blessing of Big Wiener, we got to work on Texas’ new Hard Dance massive. I have previously worked with Zoe Van West and Jimni Cricket, performing with them at San AnTokyo 3 and 4 respectively; furthermore worked with NeoQor during the Martian Glow’s PHAZE 1 event in 2023. With me representing Team Brisk and joining with E*Tank and Moonstruck Red, we have set our target to bring Texas the best Hardcore tribute to S3RL we could make. We ended up calling it Forever Hardcore because the gathering of 6 of the biggest American Hardcore DJs reminded me of Forever Red from Power Rangers. Forever Red was an episode of Power Rangers Wild Force where every Red Ranger from Mighty Morphin’ to Wild Force came together to save the world from the remnants of the Machine Empire. S3RL had influenced each of us in huge ways and each of us from the lineup came from many scenes; coming together under one stage like it was a family reunion was just the most satisfying treat anyone could have.
Out of my 18 years DJing and possibly longer being a raver, Forever Hardcore was the nearest perfect rave that could exist in my lifetime, let alone one that I got the chance to perform and help produce. Unfortunately, Moonstruck Red found that he had to answer much more important calls that week and was not sure if he could make his set; however, one legend replaces another as in the last few days leading up to Forever Hardcore, Pinky from 3Kings would take Moonstruck Red’s place and deliver a heart-pounding set perfect for a S3RL tribute show. Despite any anxieties I had with setting up the show and making sure Forever Hardcore took place without problems, my feelings were still in the clouds as I’ve been noticing the landscape of Lewisville and it’s neighboring town of Carrollton and appreciating their Asian markets and abundance of Asian shops and restaurants; this was like the Crescent in Austin but a whole town instead of a single mini-mall. Still high on the vibe, I would take my turn after Pinky, playing some of S3RL’s influential tracks of my career along with several otaku-themed tracks since at times I would be referred to by Stars as “the King of AnimEDM” (I think I would rather be called the Otaku Chief…”ACKNOWLEDGE ME!”). That’s right, Pika Girl, Waifu, Otaku Boy, and Butterfly, and a couple other anime-inspired songs ensured the Stars knew that I was going to go ‘full weeb’ that night and make everyone’s hearts go “Doki Doki“. Jimni Cricket follows my otaku set with a hyper-dynamic set of her own. Her plays on the decks along with her dancing are as lighting-quick as the rhythm and the Stars followed dancing to the Hardcore sounds like it was a Kung Fu tournament. I always enjoyed seeing Jimni play whenever I manage to see her on Twitch and the set was just much more fun to experience live. As much as Jimni’s set made my heart pound from the fast and powerful beats, Zoe Van West would follow her and actually make my heart melt. Zoe put on an incredible live performance with the most uplifting vocals and love-chilling synths that made my Trance soul happy, even for a Hard Dance set. For the first time ever, I would witness E*Tank live. First providing mixing support for Zoe, E*Tank followed with his own hour of Hard Dance remixes that never disappoint. I was aware of E*Tank’s reputation for remixing and after witnessing his set live, that experience confirms my estimation of him as the best Hard Dance remixer on the planet. Finally, the hardest of cores that night finishes Forever Hardcore as Neoqor punctuates the S3RL tribute rave. A man with the girthiest sounds, he lets the Stars know that despite 5 hours of fast and cheesy sounds, it would be time to get swole. Neoqor is a Texas Hardcore legend that I have followed for 8 years and I would not expect anything less from what he delivered at Forever Hardcore; actually, a lot of us were very surprised with what he delivered at the end. Before Neoqor’s finale, he brought the true guest of honor for Forever Hardcore, S3RL, on the phone to speak with the Stars at Vibe Lounge. It was wonderful seeing everyone’s faces light up with his virtual presence, only to be surpassed if S3RL himself would be there.
As much hard work it was putting on an epic rave and producing an incredibly memorable set, I wish that hardcore night had lasted forever. I sometimes say that the best part of producing a real rave is when it is over, knowing that an amazing show became a wonderful memory to be recalled, but already I want to do something like Forever Hardcore again. I definitely want to return to Dallas’ amazing rave community and Houston’s AnimEDM community, but San Antonio will get their dose of massive Hardcore vibes very soon. On Saturday, August 10th at Deco Ballroom, HakubiVerse will host the 6th San AnTokyo event known as Henshin Impact, a tribute to tokusatsu (Japanese live-action super heroes) and Morphinominal Expo‘s official afterparty. San AnTokyo 06: Henshin Impact makes history yet again, this time featuring three headliners: Kygore & Lucky Rabbit from Southern California, and Tamerax from Canada (the second time ever San Antonio would receive an international Hardcore headliner). San AnTokyo will also feature the return of DJ acab to close out the night while Timebomb teams up with me to open the show with a mix of J-core, Future Core, and Drum & Bass. Finally, as it is tradition to bring a live performer to San AnTokyo, the Kokoro Idols will be performing their live set as direct support to the triple main-event. Don’t miss out on San Antonio’s biggest AnimEDM celebration as every year we happen to make history in very unique ways. Purchase your ticket now at: https://posh.vip/e/san-antokyo-06-henshin-impact
