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Skrillex is taking the rumble to the Rockies. On Wednesday (March 29) he announced a show at Colorado’s famed Red Rocks Amphitheatre that will happen next month.
The set, going down on Saturday, April 29, will feature Skrillex playing a five-hour set from 7 p.m. until midnight, local time. This format emulates his show last month at Madison Square Garden, where he — along with co-headliners Fred again.. and Four Tet — played for five hours, from 7 p.m. to midnight ET.
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Tickets for the Red Rocks show go on sale this Friday (March 31) at 12 p.m. ET.
This show announcement comes in the wake of the release of a pair of Skrillex albums, Quest For Fire on Feb. 17 and Don’t Get Too Close, which was surprise released the following day, Feb. 18. Skrillex has not announced a full tour behind these albums, instead opting to play prestige venues like MSG and Red Rocks, along with a hefty list of summer festivals: Something In The Water, Hangout, Movement and Elements, plus a series of European events including Primavera in Barcelona and EXIT in Serbia. This Euro run also includes a show at Ibiza’s influential techno mecca DC10.
Quest For Fire is currently sitting at No. 11 on Dance/Electronic albums, where it peaked at No. 2 upon release and is currently its fifth week on the chart. Album singles “Rumble” and RATATATA” are currently at No. 20 and No. 18 on the chart, respectively. Skrillex also appear on this same chart for “Baby again,” his recently released earworm single with Fred again.. and Four Tet.
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The Do Lab, organizers of its flagship festival Lightning In a Bottle and producers of its own stage at Coachella since 2004, have dropped its lineups for Coachella 2023 on Tuesday (March 28).
Over it’s nearly 20 year history at Coachella, the Do Lab’s stage has become famous for being a festival within a festival, bringing the production company’s heady, bespoke, sort of deliciously loose vibe to the polo field.
Weekend one will feature sets from dance/electronic starts including Aluna, Carlita, DJ Tennis, Flight Facilities, Michaël Brun, Phantoms, SOHMI, The Glitch Mob, Whipped Cream Daily Bread, Franky Wah, Henry Pope and Party Favor & Baauer playing b2b as Dylan and Harry.
Weekend two will bring in another round of heavyhitters including HOLLY b2b Machinedrum, Giolì & Assia, Mikey Lion, A-Trak and Chrome’s Dave1 playing together as The Brothers Maklovitch (as they are actual brothers), Carré b2b Samwise and many more. The Do Lab also assures surprise guests playing over both weekends.
These artists, some of whom are playing on other stages at Coachella over its upcoming back-to-back weekends (April 14-16 and April 21-23), join the festival’s already robust lineup of dance/electronic acts.
Key acts include Calvin Harris, who hasn’t played Coachella since his main stage slot in 2014, the Coachella debut of Eric Prydz’s revered HOLO show, a set from Deadmau5′ TESTPILOT alter-ego, along with genre pioneers The Chemical Brothers, whose last Coachella appearance was back in 2011.
Meanwhile, the Do Lab will throw its annual Lightning In a Bottle bash this Memorial Day weekend in Bakersfield, Calif. with a lineup including REZZ, LP Giobbi, Caribou, Diplo, Zhu, Tokimonsta and many more. 2023 marks the 20-year anniversary of Lightning In a Bottle, a key player in the “transformational festival” circuit that’s helped influence festival culture up and down the West Coast and to points well beyond.
See The Do Lab’s full 2023 Coachella lineup below.
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By its very name, “underground” music should be something you have to “dig” for. You have to seek it out, stray a bit from the beaten path and try something that feels a little risky. In this way, it seems diametrically opposed to the “mainstream,” which is very easy to find because it sits at the top of the charts, gets played on the radio (often ad nauseum), and requires little to no research to learn about.
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The class war between “mainstream” and “underground” dance music fans has existed for over a decade, since EDM roared into mainstream consciousness and many “serious” heads looked on aghast. This era cemented the idea that those who “do their research” have a one-up on the “uneducated” masses, because underground folk have earned some kind of status by way of taking ownership of their playlists, and mainstream music lovers just take what they’re given.
In the greater conversation of today’s U.S. electronic music industry, the “underground” is usually defined as house and deep house, techno and tech house; while the “mainstream” consists of EDM bangers, dance-pop crossover hits and maybe, sometimes, bass-heavy American dubstep.
But after attending Ultra Music Festival 2023 this past weekend (March 24-26) in Miami’s Bayfront Park, and scoping the lineups of large parties at the surrounding Miami Music Week, the so-called “underground” sound has clearly become as popular, if not more so, than its chart-topping counterpart.
So what are we even talking about now when we talk about underground music and the culture surrounding it?
Indeed, how “underground” is a back-to-back set from house/techno heroes Maceo Plex and Michael Bibi when it draws roughly 10,000 people into a covered stage the size of a small airplane hangar, just a five-minute walk from where Zedd is bringing out the trendiest up-and-coming rapper in the world? (Ice Spice’s cameo on the Ultra mainstage during Zedd’s Saturday night set even inspired hate from EDM fans on the Internet, despite her massive popularity and the fact that her 2021 hit “No Clarity” directly samples one of the star producer’s biggest hits.)
There’s a narrative that lives within dance music; this idea that one is lured to the rave scene by some big EDM pop hit and attends a couple festivals with their friends, mostly hanging around the mainstage to hear familiar favorites. A couple years down the line, if they keep going to dance festivals, they start exploring the side stages and get exposed to house and techno. Soon they trade their daisy bra for a black T-shirt and sunglasses, and now they’ve “evolved” into a “serious dance music fan.”
This narrative is bolstered by many within the industry, whether it’s a promoter trying to book more European acts Stateside or a blogger on Twitter reminding everyone that “we all started at the mainstage,” and surely it fits some people’s actual lived experience. But it also reeks of oversimplification into neat demographics that can be exploited for profit. Surely we all realize that in reality, people are more nuanced than “bass bro” or “black T-shirt techno.”
There are lots of other people who were turned on to dance music by some other means of exploration, and some people skip the dance-pop train entirely. On the way home from Ultra on Sunday night, a friend of mine rattled off intimate life details about Italian house and techno DJ Joseph Capriati, but had never even heard the name Illenium, and only the latter artist has a Hot 100 tune.
Where does my friend fit in the grand scheme? In fact, right there Ultra Music Festival alongside the Marshmello stans, standing a few feet away from the guy in a Deorro jersey jammin’ out to a tech-house set from Mind Against. Maybe all of our tastes are a little different, but we’re all dancing in the same field.
Yes, there’s something sexy about being part of the “underground.” It’s got a sense of exclusivity, like you’re special for being there, even if tech-house has become the scene’s prevailing genre — one that was nearly unavoidable over the weekend regardless of what stage one was at. The “underground”s exotic allure is the backbone of Ultra’s “Resistance” concept. The brand debuted at the festival in 2015, the same year Major Lazer and DJ Snake released their record-setting “Lean On” and Martin Garrix collaborated with Usher, two feats that represented the peak of EDM’s U.S. radio saturation.
With a lineup this past weekend boasting sets from Tale of Us, Sasha, Jamie Jones and The Martinez Brothers, the idea seemed to be that house and techno DJs were somehow “resisting” the urge to do mainstream pop things, and that those who flocked to the stage were in the cool corner doing something really interesting. It’s not that they weren’t, but it’s hard to argue that anything happening on this massive stage, in front of its massive crowds, was somehow more exclusive than anything else going down in Bayfront Park over the weekend.
Maybe there’s not a huge overlap between the people who want to see Art Department and people who want to see Armin Van Buuren, but ultimately, both those categories of people will spend hundreds of dollars on a ticket, along with airfare, hotels and other amenities during one of the most expensive weeks in Miami tourism. Both acts are really popular. Otherwise, Ultra wouldn’t book them.
Not only are the Resistance stages popular, they’re also highly favored by the overall Ultra brand. Case in point, Ultra’s Resistance residency at newly opened South Beach mega-club M2. It follows in the footsteps of Ultra’s existing and highly lauded Resistance residency in Ibiza, and it debuted this week with performances by house and techno stars Carl Cox, Sasha and John Digweed, Solardo, Anfisa Letyago, Charlotte De Witte and other mainstays of the Resistance brand.
De Witte, the Belgian DJ-producer known for hard-edged dark techno, also made her debut on Ultra’s mainstage on Friday evening. The set was positioned like some kind of coup, with Ultra presenter Damian Pinto asking the audience to show de Witte the same amount of love they would for any of the other more familiar main stage acts, as if this incredibly talented and well-known international DJ accidentally ended up on the festival’s biggest stage without anyone having have ever heard of her.
Was it the first time a “serious” techno DJ played the Ultra main stage? Maybe, but Deadmau5 has played here, and he’s no stranger to the genre. Hardwell’s big comeback set last year was pretty dark and bangin’, both emphasizing and capitalizing on how popular the style has become for audiences worldwide. To act like de Witte’s performance was some kind of wild upset seems a little disingenuous, and a bit patronizing to audiences overall.
Dance world classism is so entrenched, it’s begun to affect the artists themselves. A producer friend who wasn’t playing Ultra this year but who came to the festival to hang and support her peers talked about the disappearance of “middle class DJs” – a phenomenon not dissimilar to the current economic crisis that’s diminished the strength of a true American middle class.
According to her, some artists feel they have to choose between high-paying, seemingly “mainstream” gigs like Ultra, EDC Vegas and the like, or walk a “more honorable” path playing “culturally-rich” spaces for much lower fees. It’s a decision that’s become increasingly difficult as corporate interests take control of the scene, and one that suggests the amount of money artists make or number of people they play in front of somehow defines the quality of their art. But it’s dangerous thinking, both in terms of how it might limit creativity, and in the sense of the welfare of artists who’d shirk financial gain for fear of losing credibility.
The Megastructure at Ultra Music Festival 2023
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Ultimately, this week’s Ultra and Miami Music Week proved that “underground” house and techno is really popular in the United States — just like many scenesters critical of EDM during the boom days hoped it someday would be. If you needed more proof, consider the 5,000-capacity mini festivals thrown at Miami venue Factory Town every night last week, including the sold-out Afterlife showcase featuring Tale of Us, Camelphat and Mathame, who then played to massive crowds at Ultra’s Resistance Megastructure four days later.
But at the end of the day, if one really loves music, “popular” shouldn’t be a dirty word. Tastes change and evolve over time, on micro and macro scales, but it’s slippery to suggest that the type of music one likes says anything about one’s value or intelligence as a human. (Case in point is M83, who played Ultra back in 2012 and who recently faced backlash from DJs on Twitter for saying he regrets any crossover EDM fame, due to his distaste for the fans that scene brought him.)
This past weekend, it was cool when Kayzo’s live guitarist stood on a cage while fire spit from every corner of the Ultra live stage. It was really cool when a giant, 3-D lineup of exterminators shot cryo over the crowd at Eric Prydz’ stunning Holo show in the Megastructure. It was dope that Swedish House Mafia played Fred Again.. tracks between the trio’s classic hits as they closed out the main stage on Sunday and it was fun when Kaskade and deadmau5 bantered back and forth like besties while spinning on giant, glowing cubes. It was sick when Tiësto dropped drum’n’bass out of nowhere, and it was neat to hear Carl Cox create a live remix of Daft Punk’s “Da Funk” on the fly.
As genres continue melting into one another, “underground” music draws massive crowds, and the mainstage gets increasingly experimental, it’s hard to argue that many (or any) true “rules” to dance music remain. But — from the mainstage to the Resistance stage to all the places where mainstream and underground overlapped and to musical moments beyond — much of what went down at Ultra 2023 made people dance. Certainly, that remains the best test of what’s good.
Every week, Billboard Dance gives you a look at the newest tracks you need to know about for the dancefloor days and nights to come. These are the five recently released tracks keeping the beat going as we ease back into the workweek.
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LP Giobbi Feat. Sofi Tukker, “If Love Is a Skill”
The Artist: Real life friends LP Giobbi and Sophie Hawley Weld, of Sofi Tukker.
The Label: Counter Records
The Spiel: The newest single from LP Giobbi’s forthcoming debut album Light Places, “If Love Is a Skill” delivers a nuanced and subtle take on romance, a topic often treated with cringey overtness in dance music. Built from a looped beat, Giobbi’s delicate piano playing, equally delicate vocals from Hawley Weld and Michael Cheever on drum machine, the song unfurls languidly, and serves as a vibey counterpart to it’s harder, more club-focused and percussion heavy B-side, “Georgia.”
The Artist Says: “I’m the kind of artist that has to grind tooth and nail to get something good. Who sits with a loop throwing things in and out until finally (and sometimes never) it starts working” says Giobbi. “Watching Sophie work is a whole other experience. The music comes through her and she is so grounded and ready to catch it and be its conduit that it flows with such raw intensity catapulting through her.”
The Vibe: Pure seduction, but like, the kind that leads to real and long-lasting romance.
Yunè Pinku, “Sports”
The Artist: 19-year-old London-based Malaysian-Irish producer/singer/songwriter Yunè Pinku.
The Label: Platoon
The Spiel: Pinku’s considerable buzz is given additional weight with her latest single, “Sports,” which bends IDM and indie-pop into a dreamy, breezily cool earworm with staying power. The track is the latest single from Pinku’s forthcoming BABYLON IX EP, coming April 28k, with her U.S. debut live shows happening this June in Los Angeles.
The Artist Says: “‘Sports’ is based loosely on an angry version of Lana Del Rey’s ‘Video Games’ — mainly just the idea of someone putting a TV screen before the people they care about and their own life. I envisioned a sort of Wall-E-esque future: people glued to the chair with a TV guide vibe.”
The Vibe: Stoned inside a kaleidoscope.
J. Worra & Shift K3Y, “All The Girls”
The Artist: Denver-based fav J. Worra in collaboration with London’s Shift K3Y.
The Label: Ultra Records
The Spiel: This straightforward rager encourages “all the girls in the place with glitter on your face” and “all the boys in the back who are busy sendin’ racks” to engage in such activities as shaking their asses and moving their waists. Tell me how you could hear this one and not.
The Vibe: Literally just frenzied ass-shaking.
RÜFÜS DU SOL, “Something In The Way”
The Artist: RÜFÜS DU SOL
The Label: Rose Avenue Records
The Spiel: As part of tastemaking Aussie radio station triple j’s cover series, the trio do their thing with Nirvana‘s “Something In The Way” from the band’s 1991 masterpiece, Nevermind. The guys take the original and RÜFÜS DU SOL all over it, upping the BPM and adding layers of percussion, keyboard, synth and a string section — creating a richness and different sort of intensity from the already intense original.
The Vibe: Still fairly harrowing, but also now quite vibey.
Jai Wolf Feat. Evalyn, “Want It All”
The Artist: Bangladeshi-American artist Jai Wolf, with L.A.-based singer Evalyn.
The Label: Mom + Pop
The Spiel: Jai Wolf returns with his first new single in three years, the effervescent, pop adjacent “Want It All.” The track, which climaxes with a sax solo, comes before Jai Wolf’s Coachella performance in April.
The Artist Says: “This era feels like a true rebirth by pushing my sound into new territories while still feeling grounded in my usual sonic palette,” says Jai Wolf. “While a lot of electronic music is defined by the production, I really wanted to focus on lyrics and songwriting for the new music. It’s been cathartic putting my feelings to paper and then extrapolating them even further through interpretative dance for the music video.”
The Vibe: As polished and emotive as the aforementioned music video, which features elegant choreography and segments made with A.I.
If you track seasons via the rave, then you know one of the clearest signs of spring is CRSSD, the San Diego dance festival that’s gone down annually (minus the pandemic years) since 2015.
The most recent iteration of the event, which happened March 4-5 in its longstanding location at San Diego’s Bayfront Park, was not just a harbinger of summer but also a sonic heatwave, with a lineup that included headliners ODESZA, Polo & Pan, Kavinsky, Bedouin, Maya Jane Coles, Deborah de Luca and Umek. (Another edition of CRSSD will also happen this summer, with the event always happening bi-annually.)
Drawing a crowd of roughly 15,000, this month’s fest also featured a strong crew of house and techno heavy-hitters from around the world, including these four acts whose sets can be relived (or heard for the very first time) exclusively here.
AMÉMÉ
The West African born, Brooklyn-based producer brought a tribal house mood with his 90-minute set, which got progressively steamier via remixed Haitian folk music courtesy of KEENE, layers of hand percussion, an edit of his own “Kaleta,” deep cuts from New York producer Easy Tyger and much more.
Jackmaster
Scotland’s Jackmaster was characteristically cool, playing intermittently hard, heavy, spare and sleek techno from a flurry of underground acts including Von, Joshua Puerta and Hezziane and ending his set with an impromptu b2b2b2b of pals alongside Skream, Seth Troxler and Ben Sterling.
Space 92 X POPOF present: Turbulences
Rising French star Space 92 went b2b with French vet POPOF for a pummeling techno set that grabs you by the proverbial collar and takes you along for the ride. The set wastes no time, launching with Adrenochrom’s excellent “Space Invader Defcon Three,” mixing in Space 92’s collab with Oliver Heldens’ HI-LO alias and staying darkly and deliciously relentless for the full 90 minutes.
Tom & Collins
The Mexican duo’s set spanned styles and origins of house music, crossing Latin rhythms with the extremely vibey “Booty” from Canary Islands-based Chantrero and the pair’s very own and very fire singles “Se Va,” “Hagüe,” along with several equally excellent tracks that are thus far un-Shazamable.
While house music was already popping when Todd Terry entered the scene in the late ’80s, the New York producer grabbed hold of the sound and evolved it — mixing house with breaks and hip-hop and forging an altogether grittier strain that became his signature.
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This sound scored Terry a pair of No. 1’s on Dance Club Songs in the late ’90s while making him a fixture in New York clubland and points well beyond it. He, like many house producers of the day, found a particularly warm welcome in London, which in the ’90s joyfully embraced the genre that would take much of the States longer to figure out.
Terry in fact helped put dance music on Top 40 radio in the U.S. via an England-born song, with his now-classic remix of Everything But The Girl‘s “Missing.” Terry’s edit added a beat and a New York club vibe to the previously spare track, becoming the de facto version of the song and helping push it to global ubiquity (and No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100).
He’s been a constant on the scene since, dropping a steady drip of tracks, albums, compilations and remixes for the past 35 years — dropping 1,000 original productions and 1,600 remixes in total, many of them through his own InHouse Records, Freeze Records and Terminator Records.
Out today (March 24), Terry’s latest — “I Give You Love” — is a collaboration with Estonian DJ/producer Janika Tenn and U.S. vocalist Lee Wilson. The bright-as-sunlight song finds the trio bringing warmth, emotion and a classic house feel that will no doubt land in Terry’s upcoming spring and summer dates, with his name on lineups for five festivals in the U.K. and Belgium this season.
Here, Terry talks about his affection for the U.K. scene, “sometimes” selling out and how — in this post-EDM era — the scene has “come back to being real house music.”
1. Where are you in the world right now, and what’s the setting like?
I’m in Estonia now and kinda snowed in at the moment, but it’s all good, nice place here to eat and chill. Then I’m off to London next, then back to New York to see family and play a gig at the Silo club in Brooklyn.
2. What is the first album or piece of music you bought for yourself, and what was the medium?
The first record I bought was James Brown‘s “Hot Butter Popcorn.” I couldn’t wait to bring it home and play it. The record player was in my sister’s room, so I had to wait till she left; it felt like it was forever, but it was fun to play it and dance around.
3. What did your parents do for a living when you were a kid, and what do or did they think of what you do for a living now?
My Mom would say, “Turn that music down.” I was like, “No, Ma, this is what’s gonna get us out of here.” My Mom didn’t realize that the record business was the way to go at the time. I wanted to do music for the love and for the business.
4. What’s the first non-gear thing you bought for yourself when you started making money as an artist?
The first thing I brought was a car. A car is always the best way to listen to your music besides the club, of course! I did finally get some Cerwin Vega speakers as well with my first check.
5. If you had to recommend one album for someone looking to get into dance/electronic music, what would you give them?
Kraftwerk was my favorite LP. I learned so much from that album — how to arrange and how to make different sounds to make people notice your music, and that you do not have to be a great singer to make a cool song.
6. What’s the last song you listened to?
The last record I checked out was Stevie Wonder‘s Songs in the Key of Life. It’s a true classic, forever and ever. This reminds me that I still got a long way to make great music. I hope one day I’ll get a chance to make that record with a really big giant label or team — a company that really gets it. I would hate to sound like everything that’s out there. This is the bad part of the business.
7. The word “legend” is associated with your name. When do you feel most legendary?
I feel as though I have to live up to that name as strongly as possible. The word “legend” means a lot to me, to keep going no matter what. I love the respect, so I have to give it my all to live up to it.
8. When you were helping develop the sound of house music in New York, did you have a sense of how massive the genre would become?
I got the sound of house music from Chicago. I sampled Chicago to create my style. I didn’t really know what I was doing; I just wanted to sound like them. Later I learned that I had sampled Marshall Jefferson, Kevin Saunderson, Tyree Cooper and Adonis. I didn’t know anything about this style, and I was learning it as I went. To find out that it was blowing up in London really opened my eyes to do more. Then it was everywhere in the world. Wow.
9. With house music now a global phenomenon and commercial force, what’s your take on the current scene?
It’s good that it came back to being real house music. I think EDM took us away from its soul on the dancefloor, but I still think we need more songs that represent the old-school feeling that got us here, like Ten City’s “That’s The Way Love Is,” Crystal Waters‘ “Gypsy Woman” and Lil Louis’ “Club Lonely,” these type songs are just the icing.
10. What’s the best city in the world for dance music currently?
London is the best city for me. The crowd always seems open to new sounds and funky music as well. I always have to break my new music on the dancefloor there. People dancing is the power to keep you going, and they definitely gave me the power to keep going in my career. House music forever is what we need in life. Thanks to London.
11. Do you have guilty pleasure music?
Old school funk is what I really like — such as James Brown, Quincy Jones, Gap Band, Funkadelic, and Chaka Khan. When rap music came out, that made it the next level for me: Eric B and Rakim, Big Daddy Kane, KRS-One and Nas.
12. Your latest release samples Steve Miller Band‘s “Fly Like an Eagle.” What was the appeal of working with this song, 47 years after its release?
This was a song I always wanted to rock. The infusion of warped sounds in the original made it interesting to me. I love weird s–t that makes you dance, so this is a track I always wanted to do a new version of in my style. Like what I did with reworking “Keep on Jumpin‘.”
13. Are there rising artists that you’re finding particularly exciting right now?
Janika Tenn, Majestic, DJ Kash. These emerging DJ/producer/artists are coming up with new styles for house music, dance and Afrobeats. They are the reason why I keep going. Sometimes you need a new vibe to inspire you to take a different look at things.
14. The most exciting thing happening in dance music currently is _____?
That the feel of the dancefloor is back. People are having a good time and not just standing around waiting for a drum roll to get hyped. We need to keep it feeling good.
15. The most annoying thing happening in dance music currently is _____?
That the major labels put out the worst dance records ever. I find myself selling out to them as well. I’m trying to stop taking the money to please them and please myself instead.
16. The biggest difference between making music in the ’80s and making music now is ____?
Computers! I think we are less creative because of them. We gotta bring our souls back to the table and add some live musicians.
17. The proudest moment of your career thus far?
That I don’t need to shop my music to other labels. I can do what I want and put out my music myself and [the music of] some other people I like on my own labels InHouse Records, Freeze Records, and Terminator Records.
18. What’s the best business decision you’ve ever made?
Getting rid of Zomba as my music publisher. They held me back at the beginning of my career. You gotta watch these people putting money in your face and not caring about you and your music.
19. Who was your greatest mentor, and what was the best advice they gave you?
My mentors, in the beginning, were Mark Finkelstein of Strictly Rhythm and my attorney Christopher Whent. They taught me to get my business right first. It’s hard to do sometimes; you just want to get your music out. You gotta take a step back and listen and get the business right first.
20. One piece of advice you’d give to your younger self?
To take my time. It’s not always good to rush, especially when it comes to the business side. I could have made a bunch more money if I got that right, but there is still time to make the money back. All those bastards that robbed me are dead, ha!
Many musicians, DJs, sound engineers and ravers call Los Angeles home, yet — rather surprisingly — its nightlife scene can sometimes feel underwhelming and disjointed. Brooklyn-born, L.A.-based promoter Tal Ohana has found a muse in the city’s expansive, sunny landscapes, seeing the city as “an open canvas” of possible D.I.Y. outdoor venues.
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“The scene here [for us] drastically grew, from us selling a couple thousand tickets to doubling and tripling [that number] in a couple of years,” Ohana tells Billboard over Zoom. “It’s still developing a bit; people are still trying to grasp [what we do.] It’s an exciting time.”
With his event company Stranger Than, Ohana has activated some of the city’s many outdoor public spaces with memorable raves, including the skyscraper-backed Grand Park and El Pueblo de Los Angeles in front of downtown’s iconic Union Station. He launched Stranger Than in 2017 in New York, and expanded to L.A. in 2018 with buzzy Burning Man camp Mayan Warrior’s debut in the city. The company has since brought many high-quality outdoor raves to L.A., often with DJs who are Burning Man and New York club regulars.
Stranger Than’s move to L.A. was a strategic one, intended to utilize the city’s ample outdoor space and perpetually excellent weather. “I won’t necessarily call [the L.A. scene] ‘nightlife’ because the 2:00 a.m. [call time] really limits it,” Ohana says. “So producers and promoters are drawn to do day events… [which is] a completely different experience than what a normal nightlife show would be.”
“In most cities,” he continues, “you’ll have a lot of wide-range capacity venues that can accommodate 4,000 to 7,000 people. In L.A., it’s either your nightclub or your stadium, and there isn’t really much in between. If there is, it’s a corporate-owned venue that does rock shows and stuff, so it’s kind of tough to bring in outside and independent promoters that do this type of music.”
Stranger Than’s next event is happening well beyond any traditional venue. The 3,500-plus capacity beach party led by revered German producers Âme b2b Dixon is taking place this Saturday (March 25) on Cabrillo Beach in San Pedro. While the L.A. area is lined by beaches, beach parties with amplified sound are rare, because getting a permit for them is difficult. This will be one of the few large-scale dance events to be held on a Los Angeles beach, and the first on Cabrillo Beach. Ohana is hoping it won’t be the last.
He and his team have had their eyes on throwing a beach party since launching in L.A., and making this one a reality has been a two or three year process — Ohana has lost count — the longest it’s taken them to secure a venue. Cabrillo Beach has been used for TV and movie filming (including scenes from Face/Off and 50 First Dates), which gave them hope they could secure it for a party.
Indeed, because so much filming takes place in L.A., Ohana believes it’s easier to get permits to shut down a street or public space for a party than in other cities. (To wit, L.A. promoter Future Primitive has for years been doing events in downtown L.A.’s Pershing Square and in Chinatown.) One of Stranger Than’s seven full-time employees, Russel Hadaya, is focused on location scouting and managing, and also works as a film scout. The other employees work on marketing, talent buying, content creation and operations.
“We love to do these locations that have never been used before,” Ohana says. “Getting approval from the neighborhood and from the city is really the longest and hardest part about it. We have millions of ideas of where and what to do for events around the city, it’s always just a matter of if we’re able to, which is the biggest step and also fun for us.”
They’ve learned a lot over the last five years, including the importance of getting city officials and the local community on board, to ensure people feel comfortable with them throwing an event in their backyard.
“It was harder in the beginning than now,” Ohana says, “because the city knows us and knows what we’re doing.”
For Cabrillo Beach, they did neighborhood outreach to make sure locals that regularly use the beach and live nearby were on board before even approaching the city. Ohana emphasizes that they have to be clear in communicating details on how things will happen and to make sure the reality of it lines up neatly with expectations. Permits aren’t typically signed off on until the last minute, when the space is set up, so officials can verify everything looks safe and fits with what was outlined on the application. Through experience, they’ve also found more ease in the stressful waiting process.
“It’s a lot of pre-work. There’s a lot of meetings and making people comfortable,” he says. “When you look at it through their eyes, it’s understandable – with bringing 3,000-plus people to a location that never really accommodated that.” Wisely, they also extend a party invite to all the locals.
Just as with large events, the power of the brand is important and can help get people to out to parties, particularly with so many promoters and events in L.A. Stranger Than harnesses this power with events that often bring well-known international brands to new cities for the first time.
In addition to ongoing events with Mayan Warrior, Stranger Than has partnered with legendary the Ibiza club Circoloco for their L.A. and Austin tour dates, with Behrouz’s Do Not Sit on the Furniture, Audiofly’s Flying Circus, Amsterdam’s Garden of Babylon and other boutique house and techno brands. They’ve also done events with fellow L.A. promoter SBCLTR LA, the only local promoter they’ve officially linked up with, although they are open to collaborating with others.
“When I started Stranger Than, it was more about trying to find these bigger brands which were not really in the market yet,” Ohana says. “The first show was the debut of [Berlin’s] Keinemusik in the U.S… New York is very competitive and a hard market to work with. I came out to L.A. to do shows that have already been done in New York, but have not yet been done here.”
When he wanted to bring Mayan Warrior to L.A. in 2018, he asked local promoters for location advice, but says they didn’t have much to offer. So, he and his team used Google Maps to find a spot that could work. Grand Park hosts a free summer concert series on its upper level, but the Mayan Warrior party was the first time the lower level of the 12-acre park was used for an electronic music event. 2,600 people showed up to dance among its glittering lasers. They moved the second annual Mayan Warrior to El Pueblo – another downtown public community space home to free concerts and events. El Pueblo has since become a popular rave space, with San Diego tech house favorites Desert Hearts bringing their 2019 City Hearts party there with a similar layout and L.A. left-field house and techno promoter Midnight Lovers using the space as well.
“It’s always different when you come in for the first time,” Ohana says. “If you’re using a location that has been used before you have something to work with, like a skeleton. Where was the stage? Where was the bar?”
While these outdoor spaces present a lot more variables — including weather, open-air sound challenges and having to fully build out the space with bars, security and more — Ohana loves the flexibility they provide to customize the experience. To ensure stellar sound, they assess events on a case-by-case basis and bring in a sound engineer when setting up.
This eagerness to try new things and find solutions amidst limitations is part of Ohana’s DNA. When he was 13, his older brother bought DJ decks to try his hand at spinning the trance records he loved, but gave up after a month. Ohana put the decks to good use and soon began throwing under-18 parties in his native Brooklyn. Soon, his events grew, and “the magic you can create with events took over.” His career path was clear.
Stranger Than remains most active in L.A. and New York, but also throws events in San Francisco, Miami and Austin, a city Ohana feels “is very similar to L.A. three or four years ago.” In New York, Stranger than works with independent house and techno promoter powerhouse Teksupport. (Ohana has been friends with owner Rob Toma for years, since they were both throwing teen raves in Brooklyn.) The partnership has helped Teksupport build a presence on the West Coast, where they also co-host buzzy events.
This past January, Stranger Than also threw their first non-afterparty L.A. club event in L.A, hosting Nina Kraviz and Madgalena at Hollywood’s Avalon. They planned it indoors because of the rainy winter, but Ohana was happy with how it turned out and is excited to do more events there. (He says that even though there’s less flexibility in a club, they can still bring design and production elements to make it feel unique.) They haven’t done any warehouse parties in L.A. because, Ohana explains, you can’t get permits for them. (The city has a number of privately run warehouses that host electronic shows, but legality around some of these events can be hazy, especially if they serve alcohol after 2 a.m.)
Of course, L.A.’s dance music scene is not new, it’s just constantly in flux, with boom and bust periods as certain sounds and scenes gained and lost popularity and as the city cracked down on, then once again warmed up to, dance events. Tech house followed EDM’s explosion, and house and techno have since gained popularity, paving the way for Stranger Than events focused on these genres. Warehouse raves have always been a part of the scene as an underground alternative to VIP-focused clubs. Back in the ‘90s, underground warehouse raves were scattered across L.A. and Southern California, creating the scene where Insomniac Events’ Founder and CEO Pasquale Rotella got his start.
He acknowledges that the scale of Stranger than events – where capacities range from 800 to 12,000 – makes it hard to build community with and among the ticket buyers, so he also wants to throw more intimate events to foster deeper connections while promoting more left-field acts.
“In the near future we want to do smaller capacity shows, very similar [to what we do now], open-airs with cool new locations. We want to book an artist that isn’t really going to necessarily sell thousands of tickets, but to have our attendees trust us to come out and hear them … there are a lot of other promoters doing that … the more of us that reach into that zone, the better.”
Miley Cyrus’ ‘River’ launches at No. 2 on Billboard’s multi-metric Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart (dated March 25). The track from her new album, Endless Summer Vacation, which she described as a “dancefloor banger” on Instagram, is Cyrus’ first on the chart as a lead act, her first top 10 and her second overall showing, after will.i.am’s “Fall Down,” on which she’s featured, hit No. 11 in 2013.
As previously reported, the LP launches at No. 3 on the Billboard 200, marking Cyrus’ 14th top 10.
The No. 2 debut for “River” is the highest for any track on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs since Elton John and Britney Spears soared in at No. 1 with “Hold Me Closer” last September. From the chart’s start in January 2013, only nine songs have launched at Nos. 1 or 2.
“River” begins with 13.7 million radio airplay audience impressions, 10.9 million official streams and 1,600 downloads sold in the United States (March 10-16), according to Luminate. Correspondingly, “River” rules the Dance/Electronic Streaming Songs chart, giving Cyrus her first leader in her first appearance.
The track also starts on Dance/Electronic Digital Song Sales (No. 4, Cyrus’ second top 10, equaling the peak of “Fall Down”), the Billboard Global 200 (No. 16), Billboard Global Excl. U.S. (No. 20) and the Billboard Hot 100 (No. 32, becoming her 21st top 40 hit). Not officially being promoted as the new album’s radio follow-up to “Flowers,” which rebounds for a seventh week atop the Hot 100, “River” also debuts on Adult Pop Airplay (No. 26), Pop Airplay (No. 27) and Radio Songs (No. 48).
Additionally on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs, Calvin Harris and Ellie Goulding debut their third top 10 collab, “Miracle” (No. 6). Previously, the DJ/producer and singer charted with “Outside” (Harris feat. Goulding; No. 2, Feb. 2015) and “I Need Your Love” (Harris feat. Goulding; No. 3, July 2013).
“Miracle” is Harris’ 22nd top 10, tying him with The Chainsmokers for the second-most among all acts (after Kygo’s 24). Goulding achieves her sixth top 10 and her highest-debuting, eclipsing the bow of “Outside” (No. 7, November 2014).
“Miracle” starts with 3.2 million streams and 1,000 sold, also good for No. 7 beginnings on both Dance/Electronic Streaming Songs and Dance/Electronic Digital Song Sales.
Bizarrap and Shakira surge following their joint interview and performance on NBC’s The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon March 10. “Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53” improves on Dance/Electronic Digital Song Sales (7-2; 2,100 sold, up 167%). It ranks at No. 3 on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs, after eight weeks at its No. 2 high.
Shifting to the Dance/Mix Show Airplay chart, Snakehips, BIA and Lucky Daye slither 13-9 with “Solitude.” The first top 10 for each act, the track is drawing core-dance airplay on supporters including Music Choice’s Dance/EDM Channel, KMVQ-HD2 San Francisco and iHeartRadio’s Evolution.
Plus, ILLENIUM adds his seventh Dance/Mix Show Airplay top 10 and Nina Nesbitt notches her first with “Luv Me a Little” (16-10). (The chart measures radio airplay on a select group of full-time dance stations, along with plays during mix shows on around 70 top 40-formatted reporters.)
While Los Angeles has most recently been experiencing a rain-soaked winter and spring, the heat of summer is officially on the horizon with the announcement of Future Primitive’s annual summer series.
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The Los Angeles dance event producer will host a crew of house and techno greats in locations around the city this summer, starting with Guy Gerbers’ Rumors event — which launched nine years ago in Ibiza — at Gin Ling Square in Chinatown on May 6.
That show will be followed by Lee Burridge‘s All Day I Dream in downtown’s Pershing Square on May 20, with this L.A. stop being part of a global 2023 tour that includes shows in Brazil, Dubai, Switzerland, Canada, Ibiza and more.
This same location will host Jamie Jones‘ Paradise In the Park on June 3-4, with that longstanding event — launched at Ibiza’s famous DC10 in 2012 — expanding to two days for the first time in its six-year history.
Finally, the Future Primitive team will return to Chinatown for the debut performance from Astra Club, the white-hot duo composed of DJ Tennis and Carlita at Gin Ling Square.
Full lineups for each of these shows will be announced in the coming months.
Future Primitive is a Los Angeles-based independent promoter that’s become the West Coast partner for a flurry of European brands and artists. The company is focused on bringing the hottest parties and players from the global dance circuit to the City of Angels, placing them in urban setting that have been transformed into dazzling outdoor clubs.
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Wednesday (March 22) marks the 10-year anniversary of one of EDM’s milestone moments: the Ultra Music Festival performance where Avicii was booed while debuting his then-new single “Wake Me Up.”
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2013 was a heady time for dance music in the U.S., marking the height of the EDM explosion, the influx of money and fans to the scene and Avicii as its biggest star — a position he’d earned after releasing a litany of genre-defining hits, including his 2011 breakout track “Levels.”
But on March 22, 2013, things went sideways for Avicii, if only momentarily.
It was on this day that the artist born Tim Bergling used his mainstage set at Miami’s Ultra Music Festival to debut a new track. A group of musicians assembled onstage and proceeded to play a bluegrass song that had little resemblance to the maximalist EDM the assembled crowd was expecting.
Instead, they got banjo, two guitars and vocalist Aloe Blacc singing about carrying the weight of the world. According to those in the crowd that night, the performance “did not pop.”
“When we performed at Ultra, it was just awkward,” Blacc told Spin in 2019. “I don’t think even the sound people knew what they were doing. Everybody else at the festival had air cannons and pyro and half-naked girls dancing onstage. Then here comes Tim with drums, banjo, fiddle, guitar and three singers.”
But despite the audience really not getting it, the world soon would. That new track, “Wake Me Up,” soon exploded, ultimately becoming the most successful song in the Avicii catalog. It was the Swedish producer’s only top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, reaching No. 4 in October 2013. It spent 26 weeks at No. 1 on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs in 2013-14 and spent 10 weeks at No. 1 Dance/Mix Show Airplay. In the last decade it’s been streamed more than 2.97 billion times globally, according to Luminate.
But this Ultra 2013 performance — which also included a similarly frosty reception for the other new country-leaning Avicii track “Hey Brother” — contained much more than its most famous moment. Nearly 10 minutes of new footage released by the Avicii estate on Wednesday captures this show’s renditions of “Addicted to You” and “Dear Boy,” which (like “Wake Me Up” and “Hey Brother”) are also from Avicii’s 2013 album True. That LP was released six months after the 2013 Ultra show.
This footage of “Addicted to You” features guest vocalist Audra Mae, who is the great-great niece of Judy Garland, taking the stage. The song is followed by “Dear Boy,” which finds the late producer — who would die five years after this show — manning the decks while wearing his signature backward baseball hat as the lights flash in front of him and the crowd goes as wild as they eventually would for “Wake Me Up.” Watch the performance below.