Courtesy of Daniel Yoshinari

Pendulum DJ El Hornet & MC The Verse

Pendulum DJ Set
Yost Theater
November 15, 2012

Though original Pendulum band mates Rob Swire and Gareth McGrillen have taken a break from touring live to work on their side project Knife Party, Paul 'El Hornet' Harding and MC Benjamin 'Verse' Mount have continued DJing and just embarked on a 12 stop North American Tour. They stormed through the Yost Theater last night in downtown Santa Ana as the second stop on this highly anticipated tour. This special 18-and-over event though booked by San Diego based LED, was mostly promoted by OC's own White Rabbit Group for an evening of banging beats and bass-in-your-face goodness which ignited a raging party despite the rain.

LED favorite FYOR was one of the opening selectors who had the privilege of warming up the crowd and sharing the stage which such an iconic band in the electronic dance music scene. We might have still been recovering from the madness at the Datsik show a couple of weeks ago, but we noticed the sound was a tad lower than normal this time. Regardless FYOR did a respectable job of splicing in some house with the electro hits the 18 year old crowd loves. Our favorite was Gesaffelstein's "Control Movement" which had the perfect warm up groove. By midnight however, those on the dance floor were packed like sardines and ready to be taken back by Pendulum's old school drum & bass sound.

See Also:
*Rusko Talks About Bringing UK Dubstep to Cali and Shares His New EP for Free
*Top Five Best and Worst Parts of Escape From Wonderland - NOS Events Center - October 27,2012
*Datsik Firepower Tour - Yost Theater - Monday October 22, 2012 [with VIDEO]

Courtesy of Ben Rugers / Xsight

Tyson Illingworth

After making waves Down Under as one of Australia's youngest and most popular DJs, tyDi garnered global attention from legends like Tiësto and Markus Schulz with his original tracks like "Meet Me in Kyoto." He shared the stage with the likes of Armin Van Buuren, Pal Van Dyk and John O'Callaghan at the mega Dutch festival Trance Energy in 2009 and the doors opened for him globally. Born Tyson Illingworth, the Aussie was honored as the International Dance Music Awards' "Best Breakthrough DJ" during WMC in 2010 and his success has since skyrocketed. Tonight the 25-year-old producer makes his OC debut at Sutra in Costa Mesa. We chatted him up and talked about his musical background, how his sound has progressed and why he plans to join the DJ elite who live in Los Angeles.

At the young age of 15, Illingworth ditched his drum kit and began learning to DJ and write songs. Just a year later he had won his first DJ competition in the Brisbane DJ Wars and was holding down residencies at the most premiere nightclubs in Australia. Juggling more traditional studies at the Queensland Conservatorium of Music while releasing his debut album Look Closer at 19 shows his determination and passion for electronic dance music. "I wouldn't say a degree is essential, but my Bachelor of Music and Technology has absolutely influenced my music," Illingworth says. He studied everything from song writing, playing classical orchestra music and production at the Conservatorium. "I think it was an advantage for me because I learned how to write a complex song properly and can conceptualize music in the studio well."

See Also:
*Free Ticket Tuesday Wednesday: tyDi at Sutra
*Markus Schulz - Sutra - October 30, 2012
*Kristina Sky Was Dragged To Her First EDM Rave in the '90s, She Hasn't Looked Back Since

R3HAB---See him at Sutra tonight

See Also:
Top Five Worst Places to Get Your EDM News
Nocturnal Wonderland: Our Recap From A to Z
Identity Management Group and Insomniac Events Create an EDM Power Merger in OC

Halloween is another excuse to dress up as your favorite characters while sneaking in an extra concert, festival or club night of partying to your favorite music. It seems like venues and promoters are using holidays these days to turn it into a week-long of festivities rather than the typical long weekend a la Memorial and Labor Day. Las Vegas has been doing it in the EDM scene and now it looks like OC is following suit. Identity Management has teamed up with Insomniac Events (founders of EDC) and other local promoters to bring you seven days of spooky celebrations at Sutra in Costa Mesa.

Halloween isn't until next Wednesday, but the celebrations begin tonight with a line-up for every night of the week until All Hallows Eve that is sure to satisfy your EDM needs without even having to ponder attending Monster Massive. The posh lounge will be transformed by various haunted themes and fantasies as some of the world's best DJs provide the soundtrack. Even DJ R3hab's Facebook profile picture announces his "USA Halloween Tour" which includes stops in Vegas, Hallofreaknween Festival in Denver and Sutra tonight. R3hab is sure to kick-start the chainsaw madness of hard-hitting electro and progressive house which out-shined Afrojack on many of their tour dates this year. For house addicts tonight will be the perfect rehab as the DJ fittingly born Fadil El Ghoul kicks off the festivities with opening sounds by Adam Auburn & Darwin Paul, Darreen Correa and Audiostache.

Alejandra Loera / OC Weekly

Datsik at the Yost Theater

Datsik Firepower Tour
October 22, 2012
Yost Theater

Last night Canadian dubstep prodigy Datsik brought his Firepower Records Tour to the Yost Theater in downtown Santa Ana. Datsik, better known as Troy Beetles, has already signed famed dubstep producers like Delta Heavy, Terravita, Bare Noize, XKore and DJ Getter after only launching the label earlier this year. They are currently on their debut tour packing an extra 50,000 watts of PK sound to every venue. This special 18-and-over event boasted bass heavy sounds from Datsik, Terravita, XKore, DJ Getter and The Firm thanks to San Diego promoters LED Presents and The Yost Theater.

Bass music pioneers Matt Simmers, Jon Spero and Chris Barlow, who make up Terravita, threw down a sick hour-long DJ set which incorporated an MC not only hyping up the crowd, but also rapping the vocals of many songs in true drum and bass form. Terravita has been bringing bass music and now dubstep to EDM fans for over 10 years incorporating elements of hip hop and even rock into EDM. They're high-energy and well-seasoned stage presence really made a difference and stole the show as they spliced everything from Genuiwine's "Pony" to their own original mixes like "Lockdown." Proving that you don't need fancy lasers or LED walls (the black curtains were covering Datsik's "Vortex" and allowed limited lights during their set) to make a crowd go wild. Pure talent, stage presence and sick remixes like their Prodigy "Smack My Bitch Up," dub version were all the young crowd needed to rage.

See Also:
*Datsik Fine-Tunes His TrapStyle Skills Before Migrating to SoCal
*Major Lazer - The Observatory - October 18, 2012 [with VIDEO]
*Slander: Two Former OC Frat Boys Help Take TrapStyle Worldwide

Kristina Sky

Kristina Sky sensed that the EDM movement would continue to gain popularity in the states since her early rave days in the 90s. The LA-bred trance artist started off promoting dessert parties before picking up vinyl records and a set of turntables 10 years ago. Today, she DJ's all over the world sharing stages and singles on record labels with idols like Armin Van Buuren and Paul Van Dyk. After playing on New Years Eve for power-house promoters Giant in 2006 alongside Ferry Corsten and Sasha & Digweed, she gained a much sought after residency at Avalon Nightclub in Hollywood and became one of the most in demand female DJ's of the decade. This Friday she comes back to her second home in OC for a headlining show at the Yost Theater in downtown Santa Ana. We spoke to Kristina about getting dragged to her first "rave," being a female in this mostly boys club and playing the ASOT stage at this years Electric Daisy Carnival in Las Vegas.

OC Weekly (Alejandra Loera): Describe to us that moment when you realized dance music and trance in particular spoke to you individually and changed your perspective on EDM.

Kristina Sky: Being a punk and ska girl, I was really resistant to attend my first rave in the early '90s. I got dragged into it by a friend, but soon saw how untrue some of the stigmas were. It was really different from the aggressive punk shows I was used to, filled with mosh pits and such. It was the exact opposite - very friendly, calm and accepting. At the time the music connected with my classical background. I was in choir and played the violin in an orchestra for over five years. The sounds in trance and a lot of electronic music was a more new age kind of take on my classical thing. Back then there were no DJ idols or icons. Rather than freaking out about a song or DJ, going to these types of events was about the people in the scene and the community behind it.

See Also:
Despite Being Underrepresented, Female DJs Say There's No Crying in EDM
Norin & Rad: A Pair of Local DJs Putting OC Trance on the Map
John O'Callaghan and Kristina Sky at the Yost Theater Last Night

Shannon Nehls / OC Weekly

Anton Zaslavski, aka Zedd and Porter Robinson

Porter Robinson and Zedd
October 10, 2012
Yost Theater

Last night at the Yost Theater in downtown Santa Ana Art District and San Diego based promoters LED Presents brought the highly anticipated Porter Robinson and Zedd "Poseidon Back-to-Back Tour" to Orange County. You would think that once summer and festival season has come to an end the abundance of EDM shows in town would be fewer but the exact opposite is the truth. Fall brings about the release of lots of new albums and with that heavy touring from some of the biggest names in dance music. This sold out show was no exception as every party person and EDM enthusiast was in the building! We aren't kidding, everyone from Dumbo of the Poreotics dance crew to DJ Aero, Flinch and even J Rabbit were in attendance.

This was one of the wildest shows we've seen at the Yost Theater in a while as fans were packed inside like sardines on the dance-floor or up in the VIP tables and balcony area ready to experience some quality pulsating electronic music. Opening DJ Nick Thayer warmed up the crowd with an unimpressive blend of electro house and dub sounds. Some people like to say that Orange County doesn't really know their EDM, but we think we saw some die hard Zedd and Porter Robinson fans in attendance. They were dressed ready to rage like at a major music festival as opposed to your typical club night with fun Halloween inspired costumes and signs that played on Zedd's recent joke declaring the song "Le7els" by Swedish House Mafia is his "favorite song."

See Also:
Zedd Tells Us Why He Dislikes the Phrase "EDM"
Eric Prydz & Audrey Napoleon - Yost Theater - 8/16/2012
Coachella Week Two: Five Sahara Tent Faves

Derek Andersen & Scott Land aka Slander at Radius Fest

Derek Andersen and Scott Land met as fraternity brothers at University of California Irvine. Their DJ careers started as half a joke and half destiny. Originally DJing parties for their fraternity because at the time everyone only played hip-hop, Andersen was passionate about bringing house music to OC. After DJing only house music at his own party Derek teamed up with Scott to make Slander as a way to entertain their friends. It wasn't until DJing a beach party in Havasu for all of their fraternity bros that they realized they had found their calling. At the time the EDM scene was just about to blossom in Orange County and what they created was an innovative and fresh brand of house music that eventually, with connections from their fraternity, banged in every major OC club opening for world renowned DJs like Dillon Francis and Madeon.

Little did they know a mere two years later they would be pioneering a DJ movement that incorporates hip-hop with dance music in OC. The birth of their new trapstyle sound is actually what they were originally trying to get away from but magically creates a symbiosis of the two sounds. They headlined a show at Ten Nightclub in Newport Beach last night and tomorrow they are opening for A-Baum at the Yost Theater in Santa Ana. We caught up with Derek and Scott in their Newport home-base and talked about their transition from house heads to trapstyle advocates. We also learned a little about the genre that is taking the blogosphere and internet by storm.

See Also:

*Borgore on His Dubstep Track With Miley Cyrus: "I'm Fucking All These Chicks, That's What I'm Going to Sing About"
*Krewella Want to Play Hard With OC Fans This Weekend
*Bassrush Massive @ the Orleans Arena

"Notice To All Opening DJ's" Posted Backstage at the Yost Theater

See Also:

*Morgan Page - Yost Theater - 7/3/12

Look what someone sent us from backstage at the Yost Theater in the the downtown Santa Ana Art District. A "Notice to All Opening DJs" laminated and taped on the speakers backstage. If you'll remember, we posted a very similar list (almost identical, actually) a couple weeks ago called "Top Five Codes of Conduct for Opening DJs at EDM Shows." We're hoping it was a decent conversation starter that prompted opening DJs to be creative with their sets and respect their headliners. Our list was spammed all over the internet a few days after we posted it, which tells us the topic of DJ etiquette is a real issue in the dance music scene in Orange County. But kuddos to the Yost Theater for at least doing something about it and continuing to bring respected DJs to OC week after week...and for paying attention to our blog.

Follow us on Twitter @OCweeklyMusic Like us on Facebook Heard Mentality

Matt Oliver / OC Weekly

Stilt Walkers Greeting Guests at the Staples Center

See Also:

Kaskade - Staples Center - 7/27/12

Kaskade @ the Staples Center

Kaskade invaded the West Coast over the weekend as part of his summer Freaks of Nature Tour with stops in LA, San Francisco and Las Vegas. We were lucky enough to attend both sold out shows in LA, first at Staples Center and then the after party at Exchange LA. Naturally, we couldn't help but compare the two to see which was better. For LA-based DJ  Ryan Raddon,  Freaks of Nature marks the biggest tour of his career with more than 50 North American shows playing at venues of all sizes from ballrooms, theaters and arenas. But which of his Saturday night gigs produced the best atmosphere and all around EDM show? Take a look at our notes and decide.

Jed Ramos / Exchange LA

Kaskade at Exchange LA

1.The Music

Winner: Exchange LA

If you are an electronic dance music junkie like us, then chances are you have already seen Kaskade this year at either Ultra Music Festival, Coachella and/or EDC. This is not including the countless times you made the trip to Vegas to catch him at Marquee. The FON Tour set at the Staples Center was very similar to his Coachella set with lots of predictable yet electrifying Kaskade mash-ups and edits of his hits. Don't get us wrong this set was banging and he played really hard for the LA crowd who loves to get down to the Swedish House Mafia and Knife Party bangers, but as EDM enthusiasts we love to hear new shit too. He did play an awesome new unreleased track "No One Knows Who We Are" and an Alex Gaudino "I'm in love" vs. Kaskade's "I'll Never Dream" mash-up that made us go bananas!

Nikko Lamere

Krewella

See Also:

Krewella - Ten Nightclub - 7/29/12

Starting as a side project in high school the new electro trio that is Krewella was formed by sisters Jahan and Yasmine Yousaf after meeting Kris Trindl, also known as Rainman, at a party in 2007. "It kind of just happened naturally," says Jahan. "We never had professional training in music theory or anything and are all three self taught." Growing up in the artsy Chicago West Loop these three were isolated from the music scene and created their own zone to learn from each other with influences from progressive house, electro, moombahton and dubstep. "We make creepy music that's definitely progressive with melodic vocals," shares Yasmine. "We make music based on what we feel is good whether that be moombathon or dubstep, but we don't want to be pigeon holed into one sound," adds Trindl.

This seems to be the popular trend with younger DJs and producers. EDM is slowly becoming M or just music encompassing all sub genres of electronic dance music. Most DJs are blending their styles to play a little of everything and Krewella is no exception. When asked how they feel about the trap music movement Yasmine says "I think it's easy to jump on the bandwagon and make a so so trap song, but when it's done by someone who is very talented like Flosstradamus or Diplo then the quality is there and it's really dope." Krewella is largely inspired by the music which they grow up listening to like Incubus, Tool, A Perfect Circle and Bloc Party. "That's what I listened to as a teenager developing and figuring out who I was," explains Jahan.