deadmau5’s Return to Miami Goes Off Without a Hitch

deadmau5 had sworn off Miami for good. His New Year’s Day show at Mansion ended after 90 minutes of mixing music and tweeting his disdain for the VIP that crowded the front of the stage with their backs to him and on their phones. We thought we would never see Joel Zimmerman, the man behind the head, grace the 305 again. Then, in swooped Club Space, affiliated with the Opium Group that runs Mansion, and offered a free show for the devoted fans who never got the recognition they deserved…and Joel was about it.

Weeks later, it was actually happening: a free show was going down at Ice Palace Studios (a production venue downtown) the day after Valentine’s Day from 10pm to 5am. Tickets went on sale at $1 a pop to benefit the Miami Children’s Hospital and they all sold out in less than two minutes. The show was 21+ and no VIP was given. We were ready.

The night of the show came and it was packed, as predicted. The venue could hold up to 4,000 people and the lines were massive. For any true show-veteran, if you wanted to get inside easily and beat the cold weather, you had to get there early. When EDMTunes arrived, the line, full of mau5heads, was wrapped around the block. Once inside, we could tell we were in for something different. For one, this was a giant warehouse with enough speakers brought in to shake the entire place and two, it was the right, dedicated crowd this time.

There was only one opener, DJ ALX, a local, and Zimmerman took to the stage at 1am. He didn’t have the head on at the beginning, he put it on later, but it was placed nicely next to him the whole time as he wove in and out of old, familiar tracks and even some new ones. Glancing around the crowd, you could see tons of people with their eyes closed and smiles plastered on their faces as they let the music take over. Fan-made mau5 heads bobbed up and down to the rhythm and when 3am was approaching…he kept on playing. It went like this till 5:15 a.m. The pop-up bars were dismantled around 4:30 a.m. and deadmau5 was still going, concluding the night with his legendary “I Remember.” You could tell he was happy and in his element and the tweet he sent out summed it up:

 

deadmau5 will be back in Miami on March 23rd for another special show with Sea-Doo watercraft for their new product, the Sea-Doo Spark. The event is titled “Spark Some Fun Miami” and it will take place at the Fontainebleau Miami Beach. He’s back, ladies and gentlemen!

Photos viaWorld Red Eye