Turning DJ Booths into Concert Stages

‘Ever since the first person jumped behind the wheels of steel and attempted to give the crowd a collective audiogasm, the question has always been begged, “How entertaining can someone behind the decks, wearing headphones, silk shirts and giant sunglasses…possibly be?”

Really damn entertaining, argues clubplanet.com writer Pete Tremblay in his piece “Electronic Music: Turning DJ Booths into Concert Stages.” Tremblay cites groups like Daft Punk and Air as two of the trailblazers who helped evolve the EDM live show experience from strictly dance floor clubbing to the massive concert quality stage show performances of today.

“Clubs are being trans-mutated into make shift concert halls, stages, lights, props and all, when certain headliners come through,” Tremblay says. “More often than not, it is the artist’s performance, not only the set list that they are playing, that is the major draw for the audience. The evolution of these shows continues to push the electronic genre and the DJ’s that represent it to greater heights than those of even their rock and roll counterparts. Very simply the formula of audio excellence and party atmosphere inherent to the music that is created has been given a necessary visual and ambient boost that was lacking before, and people are addicted to it.”

It’s true. We are. With lights, streamers, rafts and complex stage set-ups, artists like Nero, Pretty Lights, Steve Aoki, Avicii, MiMOSA and Swedish House Mafia have all upped the ante in terms of what is possible, and expected, from a live electronic show. The just released DVD of Deadmau5’ recent record-setting performance in Toronto proves that the combined elements of sound, light and performance dynamics, (singer SOFI joins Joel Zimmerman onstage for several tracks), can attract tens of thousands of people to a single show.

“Everything has changed,” Tremblay says, and he’s right. Yesterday it was announced the Deadmau5 will perform at the Grammy Awards on February 12, marking the first time an electronic artist has ever been spotlighted during the show. Scanning the lineups of major mainstream music festival like Sasquatch and Coachella demonstrates that organizers and promoters have caught on to EDM’s mass appeal, and that once club-relegated artists have figured out how to entertain huge audiences.

With no end in sight to the unprecedented rise in popularity of EDM in America, it seems these stage shows are only going to get bigger and more thrilling. Swedish House Mafia collaborating with Tiësto and Porter Robinson during next year’s Super Bowl half time show? Never say never.

Click here to read the full article from Clubplanet.