Festival season is less than a month away for the electronic dance music community, and with it comes the time-honored tradition of skimpy outfits, three-day ragers, pool parties and dancing until the sun comes up. Starting in March, a slew of your favorite DJs will be on tour to promote new albums and/or tracks. Add all of the amazing shows right here in OC or a short drive away, and you can find something for every dance-music palate on a weekly basis. We did all the research to find the best EDM shows this month on which to spend your hard-earned cash.
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5. Dusky
Tuesday, March 26
Club Focus
Some things go well together, such as the deep Detroit techno sound spliced with new wave electronica that Dusky have managed to fuse with house music. London-based producers Alfie Granger-Howell and Nick Harriman formed Dusky as a way for them to experiment with a wide range of sounds apart from their progressive house DJ entity Solarity. Their debut album, Stick By This, was an innovative take on ambient, deep house, techno, electronica, even dub. Soon after, artists from Hot Chip to Justin Martin enlisted Dusky for remixes, and their notoriety skyrocketed. On March 26, Dusky bring their epic, deep grooves to Orange County as a part of Focus Tuesdays in Newport Beach. If you are in the mood for something totally uncommon, catch all the true house heads on the dance floor relishing in Dusky's intoxicating wave of sound.
4. Norin & Rad
Thursday, March 14
Sutra
Sutra continues to bring some of the biggest progressive house, trance, even electro acts to Orange County as part of its Element Thursdays and on March 14, Norin & Rad make their Sutra debut. Success came rather quickly for these young, OC-bred artists, who after only a couple of remixes and originals where quickly picked up by Above & Beyond and their esteemed label Anjunabeats. Since they have toured all over the world with the Anjunabeats family at major festivals and shows, while also continuing to produce hit after hit, Bruce Karlsson (Norin) and Nick Sember (Rad) have cultivated their own take on EDM–specifically, the trance genre for which Anjunabeats is known by crossing boundaries and not being afraid to take risks. With their new track “Aldo” (out March 11) and a slew of original remixes and tracks from the duo, you can expect a lot of fresh sounds that'll make crowds go hard on the dance floor.
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3. Doctor P
Thursday, March 14
Yost Theater
Dubstep fans, listen up: The White Rabbit Group is bringing U.K. bass hero Doctor P to Orange County on March 14 as part of its Havoc Thursdays. Shaun Brockhurst, who is best known by the stage name Doctor P and as co-head honcho of Circus Records with Flux Pavilion, straddles the fine line between dubstep, brostep, drum & bass, and moombathon. With new tracks in the works with the likes of Method Man & Eva Simons, Doctor P has something for everyone's bass-loving palate. Expect a loud (after all, that sound system at the Yost is massive), weird (have you seen his “Galaxies and Stars” video?), entertainment-filled evening full of rattling bass lines and carousing youngsters getting their dubsex on.
2. Tiësto's College Invasion
Saturday, March 2
Staples Center
Carrying on his tradition of bringing the Tiësto's Club Life experience to college campuses across the nation for a decent ticket price, the College Invasion Tour makes another milestone in Los Angeles as it sells out the famed Staples Center. With opening acts Tommy Trash and Alvaro, as well as a new production setup, Tiësto promises to bring an unforgettable show that's sure to bring the house down. With remixes for indie bands such as Gotye and Passion Pit, collaborations with today's EDM heavy hitters including Showtek and Swanky Tunes, and original classics such as “Adagio for Strings,” Tiësto is armed an arsenal of tracks to take fans on a musical journey. Born Tijs Michiel Verwest, the legendary DJ/producer with 20 years of dance-music experience is a must-see act.
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1. Swedish House Mafia's Masquerade Motel
Friday-Saturday, March 8-9
The Los Angeles Historic Park
Since their hit single with Laidback Luke, “Leave the World Behind,” took dance music by storm in 2009, Swedish House Mafia have achieved an unprecedented amount of success in the five years they have been a DJ group. Now on the final leg of their One Last Tour, Axwell, Steve Angello and Sebastian Ingrosso bring their infamous Masquerade Motel to the Los Angeles Historic Park for the first time. The impressive festival-like show features two stages and boasts an impressive lineup including a Nero DJ set, Alesso, Mat Zo, Zedd, An21 & Max Vangeli, Otto Knows, Third Party, Sub Focus, Clockwork, Style of the Eye, and more! Expect incredible production values from these three Swedes, who know no limits. Come to rave and love with the rest of your West Coast EDM family for the No. 1 can't-miss show of March.
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