“I knew I was in for a good time,” said Tracy Somerville, a sophomore at Eastern Michigan University. She eagerly waited in line for EMU’s third concert this fall at its luxurious Convocation Center, following an ear-wrenching performance by Kid Cudi earlier this month. “I knew I wasn’t going to be disappointed.”
Deadmau5, commonly mispronounced as Dead-mau-5, is an electronic/“house” DJ known for his television appearance on this year’s MTV VMAs and the gigantic Mickey Mouse-like head he sports at his shows. Joel Zimmerman, the man behind the mask, had his career skyrocket in 2007 after being named “Producer of 2007” in DJ Magazine. Despite being frowned upon in the contemporary Rock N’ Roll/Hip-Hop atmosphere that is music today, electronic-DJing has an underground, cult-following in Detroit and its neighboring cities, such as Ypsilanti, making it one of the most growing styles out there.
“I like electronic music,” junior Nick Nessler said. “And Deadmau5 is a friendly crossover to electronic music [for any listener]. But I got deeper into the electronic music that suited me; house.”
As there had been a consistent line outside of the Convocation Center as people were trying to get in that evening, the faces of those who couldn’t go still showed their support for “the mau5” wearing T-shirts and beaded bracelets, known as “candy,” across campus the Monday of the show.
“Is this like a therapy session – should I lie down?” asked senior Sean Phillips, wearing a T-shirt with “Deadmau5” written across it and the face of a broken spirit. “I’m really bummed I can’t go. Deadmau5 puts on a really good show. From what I’ve seen on YouTube, this tour is one of the best presentations for any electronic show.”
At 8, the show started with a set from ex-From First to Last vocalist, Sunny Moore, who played under the pseudonym Skrillex. His extreme change from a post-hardcore singer to an electro/house DJ was perceived well as the crowd on the floor danced with furious hips grinding into others.
After what seemed like a hour of stage time for Skrillex’s impressionable attempt as an electronic performer had finished, it was only a mere 15 minutes before the crowd started rushing to its seats or to the main floor in excitement for Deadmau5’s performance, during which the audience was free to move and gain the whole experience of a show that made you just want to dance.
“As far as the seating – how can you rave sitting down?” asked Whitney Parker from Oakland County. “It’s scary dancing on the stairs thinking you’re going to fall over at any time.”
The audience rushed the aisles heading for the main floor with glow sticks wrapped around any place they would stay; “mau5 ears” and homemade “mau5 heads” were around every corner. Then, behind a cube shaped platform, Deadmau5 took the stage without any introduction. His appearance made the crowd jump like an earthquake, full of energy and applause.
The mau5 stood over his cube with his arms crossed, when all of a sudden the bass dropped and a slow winding sound started to make the place groove. The dark head and dim lighting of the show encased a feeling that took aback the people all around eventually making them full of life as deadmau5 started raising the beat for what may be considered some of the best DJing around.
Bodies’ touching bodies and no one giving any acknowledgement to it is what makes electronic shows so appealing for anyone who likes to dance the night away. It didn’t even matter how hot the entire Convocation Center got, the energy of the room was what kept everyone alive. But what captured any eye at the show were the lighting effects, turning Windows 95 into a backdrop and the cubed podium into a rubik’s cube couldn’t have made any raver at the show more excited.
As the party wound down, and people made their way to their cars and charter busses, with weak knees and pulsating ankles, anyone in attendance would have said they had a classy time watching Deadmau5 perform with his goofy mouse head that said weird things like “Sometimes things get complicated. Sometimes dreams do come true.”
“It was an intoxicating blend of music with spectacular lighting,” Tracy Somerville said afterward. “They literally went hand-in-hand as if it wasn’t just to be heard, and it wasn’t just to be seen. It was an experience.”
See a gallery of all this fall’s Convocation Center concerts.
