MOVE, BITCH, GET OUT THE WAY
You know that story Steve Merchant tells about being caught in the riptide at Ipanema and nearly drowned? Well, imagine that, but instead of water, the riptide is PEOPLE. Sweaty, drunk, loopy people all pushing and rocking and smothering and telling you “DON’T FALL DOWN!” because if you do, you won’t come back up again. That, my friends, was my first and LAST mosh pit. (Oh and also I DIDN’T end up taking my pants off, key difference.)
Anyways, I did manage to survive, but I have a few choice critiques of the EDM concert experience. Mainly, I’d really prefer not to have four hours of openers and ONE hour of the headliner. Paper Diamonds is a decent dj and I have to give him mad props for busting out a dubstep remix of the goddamned Storm Eagle theme from MMX of all things, but I paid for SKRILLEX. Also holy shit, no more mosh pits really, my life flashed before my eyes for a minute.
But when Skrillex did finally show up, he put on a fucking stellar performance, including the acappella rendition of “Part of Your World” from the Little Mermaid during setup. The man pulled out some serious jams from a diverse catalogue (“Move, Bitch” and “Let Me Clear My Throat” were highlights) and he has the audacity and ingenuity to do such madnesses as dubstepifying the Jackson Five. I would definitely see Skrillex again, but only as a guaranteed headliner of more than one hour, and sure as hell nowhere near the pit again.
Without flaw, however, was the company of my fellow concert-goers, many thanks to Owen and everyone else for making my birthday super special!
Post Script Morning Update: Apparently Owen and a couple of other EDM peeps hung around after the show and actually got to MEET SONNY. SO JEALOUS. But I have a trip to Jersey today!