Sweat, Sound, and Salvation: A review of Bassvictim at Bowery Ballroom

Multiple times throughout the set, my body was suspended in air, compressed yet supported by the other bodies that hovered next to me. We’d hit the ground only to leap back up. For their hour-long set, Bassvictim hypnotized the crowd, making us jump, flail, and atone in one mass. Maria, with her turquoise blue hair, had total command of the stage. She barely had to introduce herself.

Bassvictim has always been more than a London-based electronic duo. Their shows are part rave, part confession. The rumor is that the two of them, Maria and Ike, hated each other when they first met in 2022. But three albums later, they’re just beginning their 25-date tour in support of their recent release, Forever. I caught their second night in New York at the Bowery Ballroom.

I started on the outskirts of the crowd in the back corner of the floor, only to be sucked in and separated from my friends on the first song (they had an opener, but I could not tell you who it was… some kind of Beck impersonator). I could have tried to resist the crowd’s momentum, but it would have been a waste of energy. The best thing to do is surrender and let it carry you. Besides, there’s something undeniably erotic about being pressed up against so many strangers, moving as one.

The stage setup was simple. Ike crouched over his equipment for most of the night, shaping the sound. Maria sang into her mic, keeping the energy alive, never still for a second. And there was hardly a quiet moment. Between the reverberations coursing through my body and the crowd screaming back every lyric, my senses succumbed — victimized by the bass. But that’s also the only way to experience their music. When Basspunk 2 came out at the beginning of 2025, I blasted the album on repeat through my headphones. It was the soundtrack for a period of my life when I felt cagey and wanted to set everything on fire. It’s only proper to experience it live at full throttle. 

I wish I could tell you I remember the full setlist. They definitely played “L-ON-D-ON”, “I Like It”, and “Forever Salty”, of course. I was hoping for “LA” off of Basspunk 2, but they played “I’ll Be There”, which I’ll take. And at the very end, Maria kicked off her heels and dove into the crowd for “Air On a G String.”

Shortly, Maria and Ike bid the stage farewell. The crowd dissipated as quickly as it formed — everyone craving fresh air and a cigarette. I left the venue covered in the sweat and spit of strangers. Outside, the Saturday night air was thin and clear. My ears rang like a reminder that I had been somewhere holy, or maybe just very, very loud.

Bassvictim’s Forever tour continues through the Midwest and down the West Coast before they return to Europe to finish in Maria’s home country, Poland. Go to Bassvictim if you’re ready to surrender your body to the bass for an evening.

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Watch the full night’s recap below.