A devilish smile, large eyes filled with wonder, mischief, and a bit of bright eyed insanity. Throw in large ears and a rather spherical head… Who is this debonair figure sparking your intense curiosity and your need to dance like a crazy person? After 2.5 hours of movin’ and groovin’ at the hands of the famous maestro known as Deadmau5 (pronounced dead mouse), he’s the only one that comes to mind.
Last Sunday night, I found myself in the crowd at the Hollywood Palladium located in Los Angeles. With a max capacity at around 4,000, the standing-room-only sold-out show was overflowing with a crowd as eclectic as Deadmau5’s many mouse heads. My compatriots and I strolled into the line around 8:30p.m. Things moved rather quickly and soon we were inside where the action was starting to pick up. With an enormous dancefloor and two levels to the layout, the Hollywood Palladium seemed like a dance party dreamhouse.
The night began with some sets of lesser known DJ’s such as Excision and Tommy Lee. These dudes pretty much killed it and were pretty ace at getting the crowd revved up and ready for the mouse. Spinning mostly crowd friendly house music, these guys set the mood for the stellar performance yet to come.
So finally 11:45 p.m. rolled around, and that wonderful mouse head appeared on the stage. The crowd got really crazy at the sight of those large ears and as the pulsating beats began to thrum throughout the venue; Deadmau5 had the crowd completely enraptured within his music. Fast forward two and a half hours later and the man was still going strong — playing all the songs you would want to hear I might add. My favorite for the night was a tie- “Sofi Needs a Ladder” accompanied by the real Sofi was mind blowing, as well as being able to shout along to “Ghosts n’ Stuff” at the top of my lungs. All was entertainingly complimented by the visual schematics of his mouse alter ego trouncing upon the screens and encouraging mouse-filled shenanigans. Yup, Deadmau5 pretty much did the damn thing.
Ha!: When the weirdo Drunken Guy worked his way down my line of friends looking for a dancing buddy- there were no willing takers.
Yay!: When Deadmau5 took the stage for the killer encore of “Animal Rights” complete with a visual plethora of colorful images and videos. Beautiful.
The Crowd: From aging hipsters to high schoolers, drunkards to druggies, sober to seriously in another galaxy, the crowd was an intensely diverse mix. It was definitely a treat to see the wide variety spectrum of people who get into the mouse, and wanted to boogie.
Have your own Deadmau5 experience. He’ll be playing tonight at the Phoenix Convention Center. Tickets are $50. Doors open at 7:00 p.m.
