If you were anywhere near the Wharf last Friday or Saturday night, it was not an earthquake that you were feeling… it was Deadmau5 shaking The Anthem to its core, quite literally. Joel Zimmerman, better known as Deadmau5, came into town with MSTRKRFT and Jay Robinson on Friday and played back to back full-house shows at The Anthem. Both evenings started with Jay Robinson on the decks DJ’ing some underground house tracks and some of his own material. MSTRKRFT came up next and absolutely electrified the crowd. I knew I was at The Anthem, but it felt like I was in Berlin at Berghain. MSTRKRFT mixed a few classic house staples together, but mostly played material from their albums “Operator” and “Fist of Gold.”
Deadmau5’s set was scheduled from 9:50 until midnight and this show was the most on time show I’ve ever seen. The stage changes were accurate down to the second it seemed. When Deadmau5 took the stage, the crowd of thousands of people went bonkers. The onslaught on the senses was about to commence. The show began with Joel behind the cube out of sight from the audience. He communicated with the audience through various visuals and texts displayed on the cube throughout the show. The visuals cycled through otherworldly kaleidoscope visuals to hilarious cows dancing in 80’s aerobic outfits and so on. The lights quite literally commanded the show. They were the focal point beside the music Deadmau5 was playing on his extremely complex rig within the cube.
As the show went on, the party grew more intense and the dance moves, more vigorous. As I roamed the venue taking photos, I saw more and more people dancing. Everyone from young teens to someone’s grandparents were enjoying a night at the rave. (Coolest grandparents of all time, by the way). My one concern about going into this show was that I would grow disinterested in looking at the cube after the first hour. I couldn’t have been more wrong. The show rarely gave a moment to rest or a moment of pause. To make things even better, Deadmau5 brought fellow Canadian, Lights, out to perform their song “Drama Free.” I’m convinced Lights makes any song or performance better to some degree.
Joel brought a vibe of ambivalence and fun to the atmosphere which is portrayed by the lights, visuals, and the fact we spend most of the night not being able to see him. It feels a lot like Kanye West’s Yeezus tour which featured a mountain as the centerstage where Kanye gallivanted around in various masks handmade out of diamonds by Maison Margiella. The audience was eventually able to see Joel’s face, right around the time Lights joins him on stage. Overall, I feel extremely grateful that I was able to experience the legendary cube. Seeing the cube in the flesh was a great experience that I would urge anyone that has any inklings in wanting to see Deadmau5 or has any interest in a fun night out!
Enjoy these photos, by both Alex Koch and Brandon Amos, of Deadmau5 performing at The Anthem on Saturday, November 30th.
