REVIEW/PHOTOS/VIDEOS: Skrillex @ The Sugar Mill – 9/30/11

Skrillex @ The Sugar Mill New Orleans - 9/30/11 - Photo © Jimmy Grotting

Welcome to Skrazil, America – whomp whomp wubwubwub

Do you remember the awesome ice level on Super Mario Brothers 2 where you glided smoothly across a simple platform, trying to avoid the enemies the game threw at you like white blobs and ninja ghouls? Oh you don’t? Damn I’m getting old, that was a much simpler time – those were the days man, those were the days…

Super Mario Bros. 2 - Ice Level - SNES

Agreeing to disagree

On that note, much to the joy of the rave kids, the much-buzzed about Skrillex Mothership Tour arrived in NOLA last night, magnetically attracting a glow-y bunch of jacked-up younguns who lapped up every second of the turbo-charged, mega-aggro dubstep thrown their way in the massive Sugar Mill warehouse. While James Murphy may’ve been the first to play Daft Punk to the rock kids, for better or worse, Skrillex is the DJ to bring the strange phenomenon known as dubstep to the mainstream. You don’t need me or SPIN magazine to tell you if you’re reading this, dubstep has arrived and may in fact have a longer shelf life on the storefront display rack than disco, boy bands or the 90s swing revival (remember that?).

I consider myself a considerably open-minded and eclectic music consumer with the ability to see the appeal of just about anything. Here are a few observations and things that I liked about last night: while I found the music mostly offensive to my ears, the corporeal energy in the room was astonishing, even at past DJ shows like Tiesto, ATB, Pretty Lights and Girl Talk, I haven’t seen an audience this affected by the noise swirling in the room. This scene obviously goes well beyond the music and a fan’s very existence within such a congregation seemed to drive their personal sense of hyper-activeness and instilled enhanced abilities to jump, shout and glow for 4 hours straight. The overwhelming majority of people were having themselves a great deal of fun and I personally think you won’t get much better people-watching in NOLA short of Halloween weekend or Mardi Gras day than last night at The Sugar Mill, twas a colorful, zanytown bunch. Moreover, Skrillex high line visuals were top notch, a futuristic video build of pixellated fractals, scenes from the great unknown and blinding strobes that was a show in itself. While I don’t foresee myself seeing Skrillex again anytime soon, there is something happening here. Continue on for a few crowd shots and several videos. My brain hurts.

10+ minutes

Samplin’ Jr. Gong:

About the author

Wesley grew up in coastal Georgia and is a former resident of The Music City and The Big Easy where he helped get LMB NOLA off-the-ground after launching in January 2011. Over the past few years, he has also contributed steadily to JamBase and Relix Magazine. Recently, Hodges moved on to L.A. where Abita Beer is hard to find, costs about $6 if located and impromptu parading in the streets will most likely get you arrested on the spot.

 

Tags: 12th Planet, Mothership Tour, Skrillex, The Sugar Mill