By Lauren Cannon
Last Sunday Steve Aoki played at the Oakdale Theater in Wallingford and I was lucky enough to be able to see one of my favorite DJs. The “Aokify America” tour kicked off on October 4 in Chicago, and made its way all the way to Wallingford, Connecticut. The lineup varied for this tour including Wacka Flocka, Pharell, Borgore, Dirty Phonics and Felix Cartel, among others.
Most of you may recognize Mr. Aoki from last year when he played here at Central. If you are not familiar with Steve Aoki he is a DJ/producer and founder of Dim Mak records which he started in 1996 and has produced some of the amazing hits and remixes like “Turbulence” and “Pursuit of Happiness”, originally by Kid Cudi. He could be considered a House and EDM DJ here in America and around the world.
You could also call him an entertainer. When attending his concerts you will not be sitting down or watching quietly; his concerts are intense and quite the workout. With all the jumping the screaming and of course the caking it makes for quite the night. Some of his famous trademarks are “caking” the audience (throwing a cake into an audience member’s face), crowd surfing in a raft and spraying the audience with champagne.
The concert started off with some opening acts, including Dirty Phonics which is another band of DJs from France that are signed to Dim Mak records. Then came Wacka Flocka, not being much of a fan I didn’t watch too much of his act but the crowd went crazy and clearly his performance was good enough but for me was subpar. Of course he played his most popular songs like “No Hands and “Hard In The Paint”. Finally after all the anticipation and chanting, Aoki took the stage, he played “Turbulence”, “Pursuit of Happiness”, “Warp”, “Come With Me” and one of his amazing new singles “Boneless”.
This concert was one of the best I have ever been to. Not only is his music amazing but his stage presence is just as impressive. For those of you who haven’t been to a concert such as this one, it’s hard to describe the experience. Everyone’s just jumping up and down and dancing; the bass is so loud that it practically electrifies you. He did his usual caking of the audience and pulled members of the audience on stage and on his rafts that crowd surfs with.
My friend and student here at CCSU was able to go on stage and get caked which was quite the experience. At the end of the concert were the usual chants for an encore and of course he gave one to us. Wacka Flocka and Steve took the stage together one last time before closing the show and really hyped up the crowd. I have so much fun at these concerts; some people criticize him for putting on a show rather than actually playing music but I could care less. Sometimes putting on a show is just as fun as going to see your favorite singer and just watching them sit in a chair singing a melody. My night was made when I was pulled on to one of his rafts and crowd surfed. Hands down, this concert was totally worth the money. And if you’re wondering, yes my ears are still ringing.
