But the crowd at Revolution isn’t exactly revolutionary and Z-Trip routinely tries to tear down walls between pop and underground, vintage and new. From his days as an anything goes Bomb Shelter DJ in Phoenix (Incidentally, his friend and former partner DJ Radar is here tonight, along with assorted others including Bay Area rapper Ras Kass, rumored to be working with MSTRKRFT), Zach Sciacca has scratched, cut and mashed sounds and styles together in the spirit of Herc and Bambaataa. He is arguably the best at creating mostly unimaginable mixtures stirring songs and beats into potent audio tonics, many you’ve never tasted before. But you’ll rarely hear him use the term “mash-up,” unless it’s with a roll of the eyes. Hip-hop DJs like him just call it blending. But those distinctions are probably above the heads of most in the room tonight, this Vegas audience just wants a party.

Z-Trip explains the challenge of building his sets: “The more open minded they are, the better, and the further we can go musically. I think it’s already happening though. It’s a trust issue, I play the hits they know, and once I win them over, we go deeper. The crowds are getting into the curve balls I throw at them more and more. A DJ can play only so much of the familiar stuff before it gets predictable and ends up having the opposite effect of building energy. The odd tunes, if played at the right time, become the song everyone remembers from that night.”

You can’t fault Z-Trip’s ambition for wanting to bring hip-hop craft and theatrics under the same roof. Above the spacious Rain dance floor fire balls belch in sync at high points of the night. The pulsing wafts of fiery heated air remind me of the outdoor pyrotechnics at Nevada’s Burning Man. And it’s clear the crowd is along for the ride tonight, though I always get the feeling at these types of venues that a good chunk of them could be anywhere so long as the booze was flowing and flesh showing. Anybody as successful as Z-Trip, however, has long since understood the role of consummate party starter. No matter how great your skills, you have to make the people dance. Tonight it’s clear, he was on mission.

Z-Trip Partial Set List from Rain, 11.13.09

Man In The Box – Alice In Chains

Ring Of Fire – Johnny Cash

Just Can’t Get Enough – Depeche Mode

Bigger Than Hip Hop – Dead Prez

Brain stew – Green Day

Everlasting Bass – Rodney O & Joe Cooley

Human Nature ( D & B VIP Remix) - Michael Jackson vs M&S

Crossroads (Remix) - Bone Thugs-N-Harmony

Foes (Dubstep Remix) - Borgore

Roxanne, Roxanne – UTFO

Killing In The Name Of – Rage Against The Machine

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