Last Friday night after work I decided to take a shower as I had a Holiday party to attend to the night. When I stepped out of the shower I logged on to Facebook and the item at the top of my news feed read this:
I had seen the ads for HARD x MOUTH TAPED SHUT, but not until after all the original RSVPs were given away. This announcement had been posted 2 minutes ago, so I threw on some clothes, called up some friends and flew down to the Palladium, picking up my friends along the way. We arrived at about 8:45 and were able to grab tickets for the next night. My weekend was set.
*On a side note, let me tell you if you want to be one of the first to know about any of your favorite artist’s concerts, social media is the way to go! Like them on Facebook, follow them on Twitter, and they will be the first to tell you about upcoming events.
Saturday night rolls around and I was ecstatic. I hadn’t gone out to an electric show in a while and I needed to cut loose. The universe provided, and the best part was, it was FREE! We met at a friend’s who lived near the Palladium, pregamed a little, and then headed over to see the show.
If you didn’t hear about HARD x MOUTH TAPED SHUT, you really missed out. HARD Events set up a promotion with The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. They had Free concerts around the world, Los Angeles, San Francisco, London, New York, Chicago, and Stockholm. Tickets given out on a first come first serve basis. Each city had a different lineup. I feel like I lucked out, as the LA lineup was Eve, Proxy, James Murphy, and Deadmau5 (I had missed Deadmau5 the last time he was he town, so I couldn’t wait).
The Palladium is a fun Venue to attend. It’s your typical concert hall. I had seen Bassnectar there, and gone when ID Fest was in town. There was a good crowd there as well, which you can only expect when it’s a free concert. However, it was 18+ (I’m used to 21+ shows), and it always weirds me out to know that I’m now partying with people who were born in the 90’s!
We arrived after Eve’s set, in the mist of Proxy spinning the records. Proxy was a good warm-up for the night. As a friend of mine put it, “He sounded very Radio.” Pretty much generic, which is okay to get you into the mood for the night.
I Hadn’t heard of James Murphy, but my friend informed me he was part of the now broken up LCD Soundsystem (which just recently released a new music video ???). He definitely had a different vibe for the night. Much more relaxed them I’m used to at these events. His music is something I would listen to chilling at home relaxing.
Before I get to Deadmau5’s set, if you haven’t been to an Electronic’s show before, you need to understand there are two aspects to these parties. There’s the music, and there’s the show. The Music is what people will immediately know, even without going to a rave. The synth, the bass, the repeating lyrics, stuff you’ve heard all over the place. The show is the lights and the images thrown around you. Mixed with the atmosphere of the crowd, there’s nothing quite like it.
This night one of my friend’s had brought a pair of Magic Glasses, which basically prism and light that signs towards you. It takes the show to a whole new level and I don’t know how I didn’t have them with me before! Now I have to admit, I’ve seen better light shows then this night, but with what they had, they did a great job.
So when Deadmau5 took the stage, with glasses in tow, I was blown away. From the moment the bass started to thump, the excitement in the crowd grew, and when he pulled out his Mouse head and put it on, it was a feeling that can only be experienced in these types of environments. His set was great, playing some songs I easily recognized mixed with some new hits. He brought the crowd up in intensity, then chilled everyone out in the last 20 minutes before ending in an rush f harmony and bass.
For a free concert, on a night when I had nothing truly planned, there couldn’t have been a better night. This is why I love LA. If you know what you like, and you know where to look, you’ll always find a group of people who are into the same thing and love it just as much. And with finding these people, you’ll find the events to go to any day of the week.
