Porter Robinson and Zedd
October 10, 2012
Yost Theater
Last night at the Yost Theater in downtown Santa Ana Art District and San Diego based promoters LED Presents brought the highly anticipated Porter Robinson and Zedd “Poseidon Back-to-Back Tour” to Orange County. You would think that once summer and festival season has come to an end the abundance of EDM shows in town would be fewer but the exact opposite is the truth. Fall brings about the release of lots of new albums and with that heavy touring from some of the biggest names in dance music. This sold out show was no exception as every party person and EDM enthusiast was in the building! We aren't kidding, everyone from Dumbo of the Poreotics dance crew to DJ Aero, Flinch and even J Rabbit were in attendance.
This was one of the wildest shows we've seen at the Yost Theater in a while as fans were packed inside like sardines on the dance-floor or up in the VIP tables and balcony area ready to experience some quality pulsating electronic music. Opening DJ Nick Thayer warmed up the crowd with an unimpressive blend of electro house and dub sounds. Some people like to say that Orange County doesn't really know their EDM, but we think we saw some die hard Zedd and Porter Robinson fans in attendance. They were dressed ready to rage like at a major music festival as opposed to your typical club night with fun Halloween inspired costumes and signs that played on Zedd's recent joke declaring the song “Le7els” by Swedish House Mafia is his “favorite song.”
See Also:
Zedd Tells Us Why He Dislikes the Phrase “EDM”
Eric Prydz & Audrey Napoleon – Yost Theater – 8/16/2012
Coachella Week Two: Five Sahara Tent Faves
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The lasers and projections on the immense LED wall behind the DJ booth became lifelike as Porter Robinson and Anton Zaslavski, better known as Zedd, took the stage. The crowd screamed with excitement armed with their cell phones to take a photo as the young duo alternated turns on the decks for a back-to-back set of electro bangers and some dubstep favorites. When they played mash-ups like Dada Life's “Kick Out the Epic Motherfucker” vs. Sandro Silva's “Epic” everyone went wild dancing their asses off. We were blown away with the unexpected blend of old-school house anthems, new electro tracks off both of their albums and harder dub sounds. “You will hear all sorts of new genres in a few hours,” said Zedd in an interview prior and he wasn't kidding.
The careful combination of deep cuts, new unheard tracks and seasoned hits made it really hard to not want to get down like everybody else. Though they played a lot of the same tracks we have heard all over the festival circuit this summer, the young duo incorporated their own seamlessly-blended style to create a sick party atmosphere that had girls on guys shoulders and the rest of the house soaked in sweat. When the melodies of Zedd's “Spectrum” featuring Matthew Koma came on confetti filled the room as the crowd sang along. The Yost Theater has the awesome luxury of being able to give off that big festival vibe in a smaller intimate venue. You know that special moment at an EDM show where couples kiss and say “I love you” and best friends hug as they jumped up and down singing? Ya, it was pretty magical to watch and be a part of.
Personal Bias: Despite only being released nine days ago, I'm pretty hooked on the new Zedd album Clarity and though he played a couple of his new songs I wish I could have heard more!
The Crowd: We weren't kidding when we said EVERYBODY was there. The only thing missing was the scantly-clad dressed go-go dancers and we thought that was perfect.
Overheard in the Crowd: “It's impossible for me to get drunk because I keep sweating it all out in this crowd!”
Random Notebook Dump: Every time we hear that Eric Prydz remix of M83's “Midnight City” it puts a smile on our face so everyone should go download it.
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