http://steveaoki.com

Identity Festival: Steve Aoki, Jessie and the Toy Boys, Chad Hugo and More – Hollywood Palladium – 9/4/11

By Roselle Chen

Steve Aoki
A giant clock in white neon counted down to Steve Aoki’s 8:30 p.m. set on the outdoor stage. His stage props were the night’s most impressive, with ten foot tall letters spelling out “AOKI” below his DJ station. “Los Angeles, are you fuckin’ ready?” he asked.
The Dim Mak Records founder opened with “Brrrat,” which flashed in white on the screen behind him. Aoki had one finger pointed in the air and jumped up and down, his long hair swaying.

At times he looked sort of like an Asian Jesus, with both arms outstretched and flashing lights beaming down on him and the audience. He announced a new song with Tiesto, “Tornado,” that had hard electro house beats. A time lapse of L.A. filled the stage’s giant screen, and he threw a blue blow up raft into the crowd and dove in, letting the audience carry him like a current back to stage.

About 20 beach balls were thrown into the crowd, and he shook up champagne and sprayed it into the sea of bobbing hands and heads. He threw t-shirts, flyers and white confetti at everyone.

Shots of Aoki getting electrocuted by lightning flashed on the screen behind him and he came down from his pedestal to perform loud, energetic numbers like “Misfits:” “Yo, we are the misfits/ We’ll take you motherfuckers down/ Fuck the order, we choose disorder!”

The crowd was worked into a frenzy with his big, boisterous beats, with people at first dancing in their own style but eventually jumping up and down in unison, almost hypnotized by Aoki’s fervor. His half-sisters, Devon and Echo Aoki, joined him on stage, bounced together and hugged.

Rivers Cuomo from Weezer hit the stage for “Earthquakey People,” rapping to the frenetic synths and also jumping up and down with Aoki. He finished with a high five and a hug from the DJ.

Check out reviews of some other artists who played that day and find out Steve’s set list at LA Weekly’s website.