Deadmau5 and Friends

Recently I celebrated a birthday in pretty epic fashion, largely in part to the amazing people at ACL Live (Moody Theater in Austin, TX), and also because Joel Thomas Zimmerman, a.k.a. Deadmau5, made absolutely sure of it. On Nov. 20, he and friends Morgin Madison, Lamorn, and NERO performed in Austin at the Moody Theater for one of their final dates of the “We Are Friends” tour for ACL Live, and it certainly did not disappoint.

Deadmau5 is, has been, and will always be a world-renowned Canadian electronic music producer. He produces plenty of progressive house music, but I wouldn’t feel comfortable putting him in a box that small. His masterful skill has been crafted over decades of experience, and his palette is as diverse as it is deeply rich. He can play, mix, produce, and create just about any type of EDM and make it seem effortless. Natural and organic. As I said, he's been doing this for a while and has received six Grammy Award nominations for his work.

I loved the line-up for this event. In addition to Deadmau5, I’ve also been a large fan of NERO from the beginning of my immersion into the EDM world. They’re a Grammy-winning British electronic music trio widely known for their debut album, “Welcome to Reality,” which many fans consider to the best album in the history of the genre. Nero was solo for this particular show. “We Are Friends” is such a fitting name for this tour because each artist played in sync with the other and supported each other, and it was very cool to see and hear live. Especially at the Moody Theater. The line-up even included some names that weren’t on any of the advertisements, so that was a nice surprise.

Deadmau5 has worked with several world-renowned producers like NERO over the years, such as Kaskade, Tiesto, Armin van Buuren, Excision, Rhezz, Nosia, Foreign Beggars, Wolfgang Gartner, Skrillex, Feed Me, Kill The Noise, Rob Swire, Chris Lake, DJ Aero, and the amazing percussionist many know and love, Tommy Lee.  

In 2007, he founded his own record label, Mau5trap. He’s currently one of the highest-paid electronic music producers in the world and is a masked music artist similar to Marshmello, Gorillaz, and Daft Punk. His works have been included in so many compilation albums over the years that even if you may not know the name or be able to name the title of any of his tracks, I’d be willing to put money on the notion that you’ve heard at least one, if not several, of his bangers in the time that you’ve been paying attention.

Morgin Madison and Lamorn, both quickly rising electronic music producers, were equally fantastic. I was unfamiliar with them prior to this show, but I’m glad I caught them. I want to give a special shout-out to Lamorn, though; he was incredible. His tunes had a MGMT vibe but in his own unique style that, I’ll be bold and say it, could have blown them out of the water. If you haven’t heard of this guy, please go follow him on Spotify/Songkick and just watch, because that dude’s going places. It was so awesome, I danced without a care in the world.

Speaking of dancing, hands down to my good friend NERO, who followed Lamorn and SLAYED! He definitely brought the temperature and BPMs up to get us all properly prepared for Deadmau5. Banger after banger after banger. ‘Nough said!

When Joel came out to greet us, he was in his regular exposed human form (unmasked) but don’t you worry, because when the mood was set and the audience was under his control, the famous Deadmau5 mask came out. 

It seemed like he truly played for hours and we couldn’t get enough of it. He crossed just about every genre I care to listen to and masterfully and patiently would build the beat without haste so that by the time it dropped, it truly was a crescendo of bass and energy, joy and light. Lastly, right before the encore, Rezz was surprisingly brought out to do some hype-man dancing and mixing with Joel. The love and vibrations between these two were so passionate and unconditional, how could you not fall in love? 

I did.

And, you know, if I'd had the 75 bucks to get into the afterparty at Mayfair Lounge, where Deadmau5 was playing immediately after, I would have paid it because I couldn’t get enough of him. He’s just a talented artist all around.

For more information on this electronic talent, you can find them at:

Deadmau5 at www.Deadmau5.com

NERO at www.Facebook.com/nero, www.Twitter.com/nerouk, and www.Instagram.com/nero

Morgin Madison at www.MorginMadison.com

Lamorn at www.Lamorn.world

Questions? Comments? E-mail us at mixedalternativemag@gmail.com.