Wow. I was overwhelmed with how on point the talent at Monster Massive was this year. With so many great artists performing on 4 different stages, my biggest dilemma on Saturday night was deciding which ones to actually see. This was my first time ever attending Monster Massive and I was told that the halloween theme is strict. Luckily, I found a set of Sesame Street costumes at Target that turned out to be a hit. My boyfriend was Elmo, our good friend Steve was Cookie Monster, and I was the very yellow Big Bird [see below]. My sister flew in from San Francisco to join us; with such a great crew, I had high expectations.
The first thing we did once getting inside and meeting up with our group was a walk around to scope out the layout and get situated with the different stages. In a search for the main stage Tomb of Doom (where Schossow was spinning), we heard some magnetic music coming from a side stage and decided to hangout for a minute. That minute turned into a whole 90 minute set after realizing that the thumping house beats getting us excited were being spun by the one and only, Robbie Rivera. He played all the crowd favorites including a rad remix of Hello by Martin Solveig & Dragonette. We were all having such a great time dancing that we almost forgot Moby was about to begin inside the LA Arena.
We rushed into the tightly packed crowd just in time to catch the eclectic Moby right as he was about to walk on stage. I had missed his epic dj set at EDC & Electric Zoo and was very surprised when I was told by numerous electro lovers that he was one of the best djs they had ever seen. What makes Moby stand out? He puts on a show. While it's the music that matters most, you will often find competitive light shows, sound systems, and overall stage setups, however, it is rare to find a DJ that really gets involved with the crowd. Let's be real, Moby acts as if he's a rockstar. He leaped onto the speakers, jumped up and down around the stage, sung along with the fans, and was out of breath like the rest of us. His charisma is unmistakable. My favorite part of the set was when he debuted a remix of his own hit Porcelain. It's definitely worth a youtube search and if you're too lazy, I've done it for you: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaCV5uK7wes.
I'm not a huge trance fan but Gareth Emery is one of the top trance DJs in the world and I didn't want to miss a chance to at least see a little of his performance. Because he had the exact same set time as Moby, we decided to leave 20 minutes early and catch the end. I will admit that I was impressed, but not close to the way the crowd seemed to be. I've always been shocked by how big of a following trance artists have, and this was no surprise. Gareth has great stage presence and the giant flames shooting out of his stage won over his fans. My main disappointment was that I had missed his hit song Sanctuary.
My sister was stoked on seeing The Glitch Mob so we decided to go check them out next. All I knew about the group is that they are ahead of their game when it comes to technology. Composed of 3 guys, The Glitch Mob uses laptops and MIDI controllers (like the Lemur) to make their out-of-the-ordinary music. Check out the music video of Beyond Monday to see them in action. While I can see the appeal of their high tech equipment accompanied by live drumming, I wasn't feeling the sounds they were producing. When the show was over, I was more than ready to end my night over at Axwell's stage.
Axwell is one third of the reputable electro group Swedish House Mafia. I just recently saw Steve Angello's set at Nocturnal and have tickets to see the third member Sebastian Ingrosso perform at the Avalon in a few weeks. SHM just can't do a bad show and it seemed like Axwell was straight showing off. He opened up with Miami to Ibiza and was on a roll dropping Sweet Disposition, Nothing But Love, and even a couple brand new tracks, which I have yet to get my hands on. Hit after hit, the crowd could not stop screaming. His current single Teenage Crime had the entire crowd singing together at the top of their lungs. It was tragic seeing Axwell's performance come to an end. So many epic sets in one night had me on cloud nine. Now I must sit in anticipation until the Together As One lineup is released :(
-A5iA
