Drum and bass fans along with DJ purists have been sent into a digital tizzy today with forums and message boards sent on a ‘did he/didn’t he’ quest to discover the authenticity of a recent DJ set by DnB star Mistabishi. Questions were raised over whether or not Mistabishi’s DJ set was faked at the recent Basement party in Reading, England, when concerned fans noticed the producer appearing to mime to a pre-recorded mix.

As quoted on DnB portal DogsOnAcid, one fan who’d been present at the show was adamant that Mistabishi was putting on a phantom set, saying that from the balcony above the DJ booth they watched Mistabishi “play a mix CD on a CDJ and prick about pressing buttons for a whole hour!” The user added “He put vinyl on the decks then pretended to mix them…even though it was the same two vinyl the whole night! How do I know? Because I watched him take a vinyl off a turntable, put it in his bag, get it BACK out then put it on the other turn table and pretend to mix it!”

With the allegation out there on the interwebs, the floodgates opened between Mistabishi fans, the party promoters behind the event and Mistabishi himself, all offering their own accounts of the incident in a frenzied war of words like something out of Gossip Girl.

With disappointed fans expressing their distaste at the news – and others revealing similar experiences at other Mistabishi shows – the producer himself weighed in with his side of the story, claiming that he had originally been booked for a live show yet when he showed with his gear in hand, there was no room to set it up and he was forced to play whatever records he had on him. “They asked me to bring my hardware setup down…[but] there was no where for me to set it up,” he explained.

Refuting Mistabishi’s explanation, a member of the Basement crew took up the keyboard to offer their take on the event, airing a host of grievances they encountered working with Mistabishi.

“When he turned up on the night his rig was one Akai sampler, I asked him what he needed and he said a phono lead out of the back of a CDJ. We then found [it]…and he said ‘It’s fine I’ve sorted something else out,’” the user explained. “With regards to the space we could of quite easily moved the 3rd deck in the DJ box, which would of given him ample room for his rig.”

Clearly distressed by the turn of events, the promoter ended their statement by saying “We think that Mistabishi is a excellent producer but feel cheated on how he performed, we thought the pre made mix CDs was a myth. A lot of our residents was [sic] watching him above the DJ box and he was definitely pretending. Last night was our 5th birthday and for someone to do this on such an important night has left us speechless.”

It’s a pretty damning series of events, but with all the back-and-forth we’re still no closer to a conclusive outcome about the incident. Will Mistabishi be exonerated of the fakery claims or will he live in infamy alongside that other phantom DJ, Peter Hook? We’ll soon see…