Although DJ openers Mike Parkay and Silas Maximas set the night’s tempo with hard electro head bangers, the sold-out crowd at Syracuse’s Westcott Theater was in need of its final euphoric fix and was beginning to get restless. At 11:30 p.m. on Sunday, screamo frontman Sonny Moore turned dubstep DJ Skrillex still hadn’t taken the stage.
Just when eager fans thought they couldn’t wait any longer, a booming voice loudly chanted, “Up next, we have the one, the only … SKRILLEX!”
Although a second introduction was hardly necessary, Skrillex reaffirmed his identity by beginning Sunday night’s show with one of the first songs that brought him to fame, “My Name Is Skrillex,” immediately sending fans into a swirl of electronic sampling mixed in with heavy synths, guitar riffs and a little bit of heaven.
Spinning an epic set from start till finish, Skrillex barely stood still for more than a second at a time. The crowd danced perfectly in-sync with his continuous energy and whirled around the packed theater, tossing around glow sticks while fist pumping and head bobbing to the heavily syncopated bass and glitch drum beats.
Drawing mainly from his latest, and perhaps most popular work, Skrillex played through almost all of his EP, “Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites.” Seamlessly fusing carefully tuned voice clips, catchy instrumentals and monster dance riffs, songs such as “Rock N’ Roll” and “Scatta” made Skrillex’s post-hardcore past apparent.
A whirlwind of raw and limitless energy and talent, Skrillex sent the crowd into a continuous frenzy by working in fabulously constructed remixes, ranging in style, tempo and genre. Dynamic dubstep and electro renditions of Ludacris’s “How Low,” Michael Jackson’s “Pretty Young Thing” and I Square’s “Hey Sexy Lady” blended together perfectly with covers of classic house hits such as Pendulum’s “Island Pt. 2” and “Hold On” by Rusko.
Born in 1988, Skrillex has achieved an immense amount of fame and success, all before legally being allowed to rent a car. After shedding his gig as lead singer of punk band From First to Last, Moore traded in his microphone for a turntable and began spinning beats under the name of his old AIM screen name, Skrillex.
Moore has become wildly popular and has managed to book sold-out gigs and festivals all over the globe, fitting the electro and dubstep tag.
Not straying too far from his emo roots, Moore still rocks a hardcore image, sporting black-rimmed glasses, stringy long dark hair and gauged ears. The dramatic shift in genre hasn’t had too big of an impact on his performance either. Making hand gestures for the crowd to move forward, Skrillex hurtled his body into the sold out venue, crowd surfing for no more than a few seconds until he was promptly snatched up by burly security guards.
Although mosh pits and sing along sessions to songs with abrasive lyrics such as, “I want to kill everybody in the world,” gave Sunday night’s show a hardcore feel, it was impossible to forget that fans were there to experience a dubstep dance party.
The latest product of the electro-house genre, dubstep is a craze that has been infiltrating the lives of young adults all over the world. Outrageously popular for a reason, dubstep music is filled with danceable beats and tempos that are carefree and poppy, yet complex and textured at the same time.
On top of being great to listen to, dubstep resonates with a refreshing sense of high energy that transforms it into the ideal backdrop for a dance party. Not only characterized by musical style, a dubstep show is a cultural experience that encompasses elements such as flashy clothing, neon lighting and club drug usage.
As Skrillex’s flawless performance came to a close, fans eagerly called out for just one more song. Within seconds, Moore sauntered back on the stage, causing the entire room to wildly shout.
“I wasn’t planning on doing an encore, because I’m pretty beat from touring, but it’s my last night in the States before I head out to London. It’s good to be up here in Syracuse with you guys,” Moore said as he smiled to the crowd.
After playing his final song, a new and unreleased track, Skrillex once again addressed the crowd.
“I love you all so much from the bottom of my heart,” Skrillex said as he walked off the stage for good, leaving sweat-drenched fans scrambling to figure out when they could see the dubstep guru next.