Review: Pretty Lights enlightens me again at the Shrine

After a disappointing Friday night with Avicii (I’m glad to hear his Saturday night’s performance was much improved), I really needed a good show to let loose at. Luckily for me, I was on my way to see Pretty Lights at the Shrine Auditorium, and I’ve never been disappointed by him.

I had been to The Shrine once before for Hard Haunted Mansion last year. I spent the majority of my time at the outdoor stage for that festival, but when I had ventured inside I remember it being a wide-open space with plenty of room to dance.

We arrived around 8:45 to find out they only let a limited number of people onto the ground floor, so we were going to have to stand on the balcony. After making our way up the stairs and into the venue, I was shocked to see seats everywhere, both on the balcony and on the floor. I’ve never understood the concept of playing an EDM show in a venue with seats. One of the best parts about the show is meeting and dancing with new people in an open environment, and how are you supposed to do that when you’re confined to the small aisle between seats?

*UPDATE: Hard Haunted Mansion was held at the Shrine Expo Hall and adjacent parking lots, while Pretty Lights was held at the Shrine Auditorium. Apparently Pretty Lights choose the Auditorium as he thought the space would work better with his Visuals. Thanks Melanie for sharing this, I obviously didn't know enough about this venue, hah!

Luckily for me, we ended up staying in one of the main walking aisle ways and I was able to meet a great group of people next to us that I was able to dance with all night. To be honest, finding the right group of people to enjoy with can make or break any show.

We caught the tail end of Marty Party and all of DJ Shadow’s set. I’m a little shocked to see DJ Shadow opening for artists now, as I remember when he was one of the bigger names in the DJ world. I caught part of his set at Coachella, which was a little too chill for me at the time, but last night he brought his A game and kept me moving through the entire performance.

Now, if you’ve never seen a Pretty Light’s show, I highly recommend it to you. His elctro-funk style of Music is perfect to groove to. If you find the right dance partner, you can really have the time of your life (and lucky for me, I did!). Add in his amazing production value for his visuals and you will begin to feel you face melting. He didn’t name himself Pretty Lights for nothing, and if you’ve seen him live, you can understand where I’m coming from. You can tell from his persona on stage, he really loves what he does, and it shows in the quality of his shows.

Being placed on the Balcony turned out to be a blessing. Seeing his show from a higher vantage point, and seeing everyone in the venue (both on the floor and on the balcony), moving and jumping to his hard-hitting music, added another level to the experience that I will never forget. There were moments when I could feel the balcony shaking underneath me from the hundreds of people moving together, adding another jolt of adrenaline to the night.

Thank you Pretty Lights for once again proving to me that I am garunteed to experience the next great moment of my life at your shows. One day I’ll make it to your legendary performances at Red Rocks. But for now, I feel blessed to be able to go to your show last night, and then see you again at Nocturnal Wonderland (tickets still available here) next weekend!