On April 24, Las Vegas producer Justin “3LAU” Blau performed for a sold-out Segredo’s nightclub. This was his first show in Madison since rocking the Orpheum in October the same night as Freakfest, in the midst of State Street’s costumed calamity. After hearing the hype from all corners of Madison’s social spectrum from fall until now, in addition to several hours spent browsing SoundCloud, I knew I couldn’t afford to miss 3LAU again.
Antics, the collaboration of Steven Pitzl and Tanner Dixon from Milwaukee, Wis., took the stage to open the show. Similar to 3LAU, they captured the energy of the audience with original tracks, remixes and mashups. To me, the highlight of Antics’ set was their bass-injected remix of Icona Pop’s “I Love It,” which gave the restless audience something familiar to dance and sing along to. They played it pretty early in their set, raising the bar for the rest of the night.
3LAU took the stage nonchalantly. He didn’t dim the lights, and there was no hype-track or smoke machine introduction. He walked up to his computer and started his set—and it was like nothing I had seen at an EDM show before. Segredo’s unbarricaded stage and small standing room allow for an incredibly intimate concert experience. This was only amplified by 3LAU’s stage presence. He was filming for a music video, so it felt like he was constantly one-uping himself. His camera man followed as he dove from the stage in a monkey mask and poured shots of Patron waterfall-style into the mouths of eager fans dancing in front of the stage. By the end of the night, the crowd was soaked as 3LAU popped bottles of champagne and let it rain upon the audience.
There was more to 3LAU’s show, however, than just his stage presence. His set was impressive, and showed that an EDM show can be exciting without the lights and spectacle that larger venues often support. I wish I could have seen 3LAU at the Orpheum, although I’m sure it would have been a very different concert experience. He played one of my favorites, his remix of Bastille’s “Pompeii,” early in his set, along with his mashup of “Animals” by Martin Garrix and “Safe and Sound” by Capital Cities, plus other mashups that I recognized from his monthly “3LAU HAUS” mixes. These songs were complemented by originals such as “How You Love Me,” a track that has been gaining a lot of traction nationally over the last several weeks. In addition, although his visual display was not over the top, 3LAU secured my respect when pixelated visual samples from “Fight Club” were played on the big screen behind him.
