Concert review: ZEDS DEAD w/ Rusko, HEYZ, and Jarnie | 12.29.23, The Factory (with photo gallery)

Photo of ZEDS DEAD by Bryan J. Sutter

While it may have not been on New Year’s Eve, The Factory closed out 2023 with one last banger of a night. Canadian EDM duo ZEDS DEAD packed out the massive venue with support from Rusko, HEYZ, and Jarnie. St. Louis has always had a heavy love for electronic music, and here it was on total display.

Local DJ Jarnie opened the evening with a set that seemingly leaned a little too hard on nostalgia. Her side ponytail and windbreaker reminded me of the sitcom Full House. Admittedly, my taste in live electronic music leans more towards performances that use physical synths and drum machines, and anything laptop heavy will always take me a minute to warm up to. However, my girlfriend and I agreed that the second half of Jarnie’s set was pretty good.

HEYZ was a pleasant surprise. His artist page on the site belonging to ZEDS DEAD’s Deadbeats label describes him as producer, comedian, DJ, and entertainer. It also says he didn’t start writing music until he was in his mid 20s and that he has over 100,000 followers on TikTok. Honestly, I can believe all that. HEYZ came off rather personable in his banter, and there was a sense of enthusiasm that I’ve recognized in people when they have taken up a skill or interest later in life than others and are completely stoked at sharing it with others. Out of all the evening’s talent, I feel like HEYZ perhaps challenged the crowd the most, and did so while giving them what they wanted. While he definitely had some contemporary transitions and mixes, he also brought in what hit my ear as a healthy amount of ‘90s IDM. For a moment, dude had me feeling like I was about to go install Linux.

Next up was Rusko. Born Christopher William Mercer, this British producer had flown in direct from over the pond to St. Louis, but you could not tell from his energy. The floor at The Factory had filled up with thousands of partiers, and some were struggling to find the space to vibe out as the crowd got denser and denser. My girlfriend, a recent transplant from the West Coast, commented that she did not believe that the drugs in the Midwest could be that good. I agreed, though I am not sure that us Midwesterners would care to know any better. Rusko’s set was decidedly more aggressive and beat-driven than what had come earlier in the evening, and in a way that felt wasted on someone as completely sober as myself. Still, I was impressed enough to want to catch Rusko again, preferably in a smaller venue.

ZEDS DEAD hit the stage to the ‘90s theme used by the Chicago Bulls. While it might have been an homage to their recently sold-out threepeat at the Salt Shed in the Windy City, it was quite a bit of swagger to do such a display in a city that will never have a basketball team. What ensued was indeed high quality boom tisk mixed with clever mashups. However, I must admit that I was feeling quite exhausted—for personal reasons I will not go into, it had been a long day. Despite the fact that it had been a great night of music, I was fearing that I might have to tap out soon. I was determined to see the evening as close to the end as I could.

Though I was not feeling very PLUR, I did find myself thoroughly impressed with ZEDS DEAD’S set. The crowd was most certainly into it. However after 4 hours of dancing and vibing out, I could feel a little bit of fatigue passing through the dance floor. The Factory is a great sounding room, and I would say our Canadian friends put the acoustics to the test. The bass was big and tight, and the dynamics of their mix was far from muddy. Tired as I might have been, it was a damn fine thing to experience, and hopefully not for the last time. | Bryan J. Sutter