Dubstation Massacre wraps year 6 as the festival hosts 100+ artists across 5 stages
An all-women's stage takeover and sets from artists like INFEKT, BARELY ALIVE, Otsukare b2b HEXX, Leafy b2b NOXX, Finnuh & more write dubstep history books.
Some people spend their Halloween carving pumpkins, eating candy and watching scary movies.
We spent ours in suburban Illinois investigating a disturbing number of riddim-related complaints.
Enter: Dubstation Massacre.
This event proved that homegrown, underground festivals are still some of the most fun money can buy.
The 2026 edition of Dubstation Massacre kicked off with the pre-party on Thursday, Oct. 29, and continued with two full days of festivities Friday, Oct. 30, and Saturday, Oct. 31.
With five stages and over 100 artist sets, this edition was the biggest and best Dubstation Massacre yet. It captured everything we love about the industry in the form of spicy riddim sets, stage takeovers, endless merch, mouthwatering food and the best vibes.
Dubstep FBI hosted its first-ever Girl Riddim Stage Takeover on Day 1, which featured a stacked lineup of baddies that included Vampa, Otsukare b2b HEXX, AVY b2b BINA, Leafy b2b NOXX, Verisa b2b Dare, DAZZLE$, BELLATRXX and Pumpkinsmasha.
And let me tell you one thing we found out: Girl riddim is hot right now. More on that below.
We also ran into so many of our closest artist and industry friends, had our hearts warmed by complete strangers rocking FBI merch and got the pleasure of executing our stage hosting alongside some of our street team members, Jerron and Anistin, who helped with social media and multimedia.
Since it takes three-to-five business days for those of us over 30 years old to recover from a festival, we'll leave you with this recap article while you recollect yourself after a crazy Halloween.
Day 0 AKA the pre-party with Swando, Onara, Vyle & more
We landed in Chicago around 9:30 p.m. on Thursday and booked it off the airplane, heading straight for Waukegan.
Our ancestors dreamed of a better future, and making it to the Dubstation Massacre pre-party was the first step in fulfilling our destiny and becoming the first in our bloodlines to throw down in Waukegan.
We walked into Bass Station at the end of the Swando set, and the place was packed out. With people practically overflowing from the side room, the scene was set: Immersive production with plants lining the ceiling, PK Sound bumping loud and Red Bull Tequilas flying.
Onara took the stage and we all knew sh*t was about to get real. The pure finesse, talent and precision of his set lit the room on fire, and pit warriors were circling about. The stage was packed and vibes were high.
Vyle followed up an unbelievable Onara set with a delectable set of his own. He played familiar IDs, while hitting every single double. Before we knew it, 1 a.m. came too soon and even though the music was over, we still found a way to fire up the afters.
In a very special moment, our very own Tinkerbellz went back-to-back with Automhate, Otsukare and Onara on the Gulag Stage where we drank until the morning.
We passed out, then it was time to do it again.
Day 1 AKA the Dubstep FBI all-women's stage takeover
Finally, the day that our ancestors had dreamed of was here.
We knew we had a mission to fulfill and execute one of the most symbolic and educational stage hostings of our generations, so we got to work.
After arriving early at the venue, we enlisted production staff who helped us secure the Dubstep FBI flag on some grates above the pit. We also double-checked that our new Dubstep FBI x Dubstation Massacre collab T-shirt was properly on display at the merch booth. Remaining inventory is available online if you missed your chance to cop one at the fest.
Music started at 6 p.m. with Pumpkinsmasha, and we were locked, loaded and ready to get lit. She kicked off the first set of our stage takeover in a heavy way.
Day 1 of Dubstation Massacre was underway. Before we knew it, BELLATRXX was up there chopping doubles as the crowd was filling in. DAZZLE$ took the stage for her set and threw some traditional riddim into the mix as friends and family piled in.
In what was one of the highest-energy sets of the night, Riot Control Radio alumni Verisa and DARE delivered a delightful b2b set that had our jaws on the ground. The pure mixing ability of these two artists needs to be studied. We promptly arrested DARE and stuck her in the backstage slammer the following night.
From there, LEAFY b2b NOXX took the stage and there was an air about the room. You could tell everyone at the Mad Lab stage was in for a clinic. The two artists executed 60 minutes of real riddim—the OG variety.
The FBI team looked around and were left in awe with the turnout. The room was packed on both sides of the stage, the artists were jumping, the floor was creaking and the lasers were popping.
Life was good as AVYDUBZ b2b BINA took their place on stage and started throwing down more doubles. Concurrently, TW!STY b2b Sakuro b2b BLVCKHOUND were playing at the Swamp Stage. Oh, and also Blankface b2b BLVNKSPVCE were playing at the mainstage.
We could be wrong, but we think this was the perfect festival for people who like riddim. ;)
Freaky Friday was underway as one of the peak moments of the weekend took place: Otsukare b2b HEXX. This performance marked the world debut of their new "SNIPERZ" project, aptly branded as the ladies played in tactical vests and gloves.
From that moment, the Mad Lab stage was shoulder-to-shoulder. Dancing riddim rats everywhere. Girl Pit flags flying. That pit light that we have all know and love (shoutout Edweeaaan).
The ladies came out swinging with their first drop, as the costumed fans were dancing in the hot and steamy room. From there, the Girl Riddim Stage Takeover was going as planned.
Vampa took the stage to close out her headline slot as the energy remained high. It was the eve before Halloween and all was right in our world.
This was the moment we knew that we had fulfilled the destiny our ancestors had set out for us. We became the first in our bloodlines to throw a successful all-women's stage hosting at Dubstation Massacre in Waukegan, Illinois.
After getting a solid 12 hours of sleep (yes, we slept until noon, don't judge), we let ourselves celebrate a bit by grabbing Buffalo Wild Wings with MVRDA, RAMSAY, Lev3l and FREE STUFF.
With our stage hosting duties officially behind us, we woke up feeling on top of the world knowing our only responsibilities for the day were to enjoy all the crazy sets ahead, catch the DPMO stage takeover and finish the bottle of Casamigos tequila we had started the night before.
Now, as two women in our 30s, we've quickly come to realize that we can't drink like we used to in our 20s. Why we continue to test this theory is a question we're simply not prepared to answer. We plead the fifth.
Day 2 AKA Halloween, riddim and a concerning number of HOA violations
Halloween was officially in full swing, and the costumes did not disappoint.
Everywhere we looked, there were people dressed in the most ridiculous outfits imaginable, including a group of Waldos who managed to organize an entire mosh pit. We can now proudly say we became the first in our bloodlines to witness an all-Waldo mosh pit in Waukegan, Illinois.
Before getting too deep into the festivities, we knew our 30-year-old bodies needed some proper fuel if we wanted to survive another night of riddim and dubstep. Thankfully, the Taco Stage came through with some incredible birria tacos and consommé that had us questioning whether we should go back for seconds. Spoiler alert: we did eventually make our way back (multiple times) [actually, yeah, this was pretty much all we ate throughout the weekend].
We kicked off our evening at the Mad Lab stage for the DPMO takeover, where RAMSAY was already cooking up a proper riddim set. He was rinsing a bunch of new IDs while chopping doubles on the decks, and the room was steadily filling up with riddim rats ready for another night of nonsense.
Next up was Lev3l, who had just wrapped up a crazy performance in Guatemala with Mayhem Riddim. We already knew he was going to throw down, and he certainly didn't disappoint. The energy inside Mad Lab was picking up, but with five stages running simultaneously, we knew we had to make our rounds if we wanted to catch as much music as possible.
And of course, as members of the Dubstep FBI, it was our responsibility to ensure everyone was on their best behavior. Naturally, our investigation led us straight to the SKITTLEZ b2b Dubstep Degenerates set at the mainstage, where we quickly realized that not a single person in the crowd was behaving themselves.
In fact, the set had us acting like absolute degenerates ourselves. The entire room was going feral, and we may or may not have participated in some questionable activities that would normally warrant an arrest from the Dubstep FBI. What a way to start off night two.
From there, we headed back upstairs to catch MVRDA at the Mad Lab stage, which was already packed shoulder-to-shoulder. His set was everything we could have hoped for, and hearing CESSATION blast through the speakers never fails to get an entire room moving. At this point, it was becoming increasingly difficult to find a spot to dance, but that certainly wasn't stopping anyone.
We eventually made our way back downstairs to the mainstage for the one and only DMZ NEWS OFFICIAL, who never fails to deliver a proper throwback dubstep set. There's something about hearing those classic tracks that instantly takes you back to the golden days of dubstep, and judging by the crowd's reaction, we weren't the only ones feeling nostalgic.
Our next stop was the Swamp Stage, where BONKER b2b Ouroboros b2b Kryzma were putting on an absolute clinic. The room was shaking, the crowd was packed in like sardines and the energy got more chaotic as the night went on. This was the same stage where our Dubstation Massacre journey had begun on Thursday night, so it felt right to spend a good chunk of our final evening back where it all started.
One thing was becoming increasingly clear: Dubstation Massacre was not a festival for the weak.
There was absolutely no chance we were missing our favorite vaquero, SweetTooth, who was getting ready to throw down at Mad Lab. We made our way back upstairs and were immediately reminded why his sets are always a must-see. The energy was ridiculous, the crowd was going crazy and before we knew it, we found ourselves doing something we almost never do anymore: jumping into the Girl Pit.
From there, Versa took the stage and officially opened up the construction pit. We're postive that there were multiple OSHA violations, zero building permits and enough HOA complaints to shut down an entire neighborhood.
After surviving the construction zone, we made our way back to the Swamp Stage for FIELDZ b2b Mile32, also known as FIELDZ32. The two delivered an absolutely filthy set that had us glued to the stage, and at this point, we had accepted that our knees were going to hate us for the next several business days.
We decided to stay camped out at Swamp for the remainder of the night because there was one more artist we absolutely had to see... FINNUH.
If there's one thing we've learned over the years, it's that there are very few things in life better than eating tacos while listening to riddim. So naturally, when FINNUH took the stage, we decided it was the perfect time to put that theory to the test.
Beyond our late-night taco adventures, FINNUH's set was particularly special for us because there's no better feeling than hearing music from our very own record label, Beat Intelligence Network (BIN), getting rinsed on stage. Seeing the crowd react to tracks that we've helped release is one of those moments that reminds us why we put so much time and energy into supporting underground artists.
FINNUH released his I HAVEN'T EVEN STARTED EP with BIN back in June 2025, and those tracks are still doing numbers to this day. He also won the Dubstep FBI DJ Contest for a slot on our stage at Rampage Open Air in 2025. It's been incredible watching his growth as an artist, and we couldn't have asked for a better way to wrap up our final night at Dubstation Massacre.
And while we're on the subject, we may or may not have another FINNUH EP coming your way first thing in 2027... stay tuned.
Until next time, Dubstation Massacre
And just like that, our Halloweekend in Waukegan had come to an end. Three nights, five stages over 100 artist sets and enough riddim to keep us satisfied for at least the next few business days.
What makes Dubstation Massacre so special is the community behind it. There's something about underground festivals that you just can't replicate at larger events, and this weekend was a reminder of why we fell in love with this scene in the first place.
For us, getting to host our first-ever all-women's riddim stage made the weekend even more memorable. Watching the room fill up and seeing so much love for the ladies was everything we could have hoped for. Girl riddim is alive and well, and who knows, maybe we'll be bringing this takeover to another festival near you.
A massive thank you to the entire Dubstation and Wub Life team for bringing us out and continuing to create a space for underground dubstep and riddim to thrive.
We came to Waukegan with a mission, exceeded our bloodline's wildest dreams and left with memories we'll never forget.
Our ancestors would be proud. Until next time.
Dubstep FBI Co-Founders Chrissy & Yesi can be found on socials.
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