Bad Boy Bill at the Yost Theater, Feb. 23, 2012


Bad Boy Bill
Yost Theater
Feb. 23, 2012

Since 1985, Bad Boy Bill–the baddest white boy in Chi town–has been taking the world of EDM by storm. Calling Bill an icon is an understatement. He's the founder of the EDM online music store Beatport.com, was voted America's favorite DJ by BPM Magazine, he was named Winter Music Conference Mixshow DJ of the Year and URB Magazine MSSV Contributors' Poll Winner, “Best Dance DJ” to name a few. With his signature six-turntable set up and mastermind remixes, Bill showcased hits from his mix album Behind The Decks and his original album titled The Album.
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Orange County's post Mardi Gras party people came out to show Bill some love while dancing to the bass bumping, house stomping and scribbling machine. The Bad Boy himself showed off his scratching skills, as he scribbled and mixed his set with ease. He free-styled with his hands back and forth with six different turntable with smooth transitions into flawless live mixing.

Bill started off his set with progressive house, and transitioned back and forth with everything from trance to electro and all sounds in between.The award-winning DJ mixed in some of the most well-known house hits, including “Sundown,” “Turn It Down,” “Eyes” and “Flashback.” Bill showed us just how bad he really was, at times playing Top 40 radio hits like “Niggas in Paris” (now that shit's cray!). In true '80s rave fashion, B-Boy Bill ended his set with a tribute to the late R&B Legend Whitney Houston. (Alas, the original bad boy Bobby Brown was not in the attendance.) But Bill did his baddest mix of the the vocal diva's classic hit “Dance with Somebody” . As an encore to his set, Bill played the wolf howling Duck Sauce crowd pleaser “Big Bad Wolf”, while scratching his way to his outro.


Even though the Yost Theater was not filled to capacity, there was never a dull moment in the crowd. The locals-only party people didn't stop moving. OC's largest LED wall told a story to the club house-steppers, showing footage of Bill driving through his hometown of Chicago. Countless footage of go-go dancers and EDM pinups covered the neon lit walls.

Critics Bias: Trance is my favorite style of EDM to listen to, but witnessing this icon in person was a thrill.

Overheard In the Crowd:

“I can't believe it's not even full”

“This is one of the coolest LED light shows”

Random Notebook Dump: An older Asian guy was spinning around like a helicopter while doing karate moves to every beat. Another guy in the crowd was wearing a Deadmau5 shirt.

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