LED Los Angeles took place on Valentine's Day this last weekend and instead of love being in the air, it was bass. Brazzabelle, Valentino Khan, Milo & Otis, DJ Mustard and Borgore all played incredible sets as expected, but the main attraction was the fans, the atmosphere, and the production value.
I arrived at the Shrine around 7PM (extremely early as doors did not open until 9PM) and there were already 20-30 excited fans waiting for entrance. Incredible to me as Los Angeles has always been a city that has historically been a fan of the late night. The event sold out earlier the same day, yet there were still many fans filing in attempting to purchase tickets at the door and from the surrounding crowds. In fact, I witnessed one of the largest shirtless men I have ever seen in my life harass people for the hour I was outside in attempts to find a ticket. For those of you wondering, he did indeed find a ticket somehow and I saw him dancing his heart out at Borgore later that night. It was awesome. I am one who usually is very aware of my surroundings and the eclectic makeup of the attendees with people representing any and every type of Los Angeles demographic available was one thing about the event I noticed immediately. However, any sort of group preference or identification was ditched at the door and it was clear that everyone was there for the music and no sort of any other ulterior motive. Energy, in my opinion, is one of the main dictations for the overall experience at an event and LED Los Angeles was absolutely pulsing with it right from the onset.
I got inside right as Brazzabelle took the stage at 9PM and already there was a large gathering of dedicated fans jamming out along with her. She was most definitely the right choice as opener because her energy matched that of the fans and this really set the tone for the rest of the night. Her progressive style matched exactly what she puts out on her ravercise mix series (check them out on her soundcloud they are really enjoyable) and all of those fans anxiously waiting outside prior to the event were now inside jumping and dancing around. The passion was really contagious and spread to the people starting to fill up the sold out Shrine.
Photo credit courtesy of LED
Valentino Khan took the stage next to essentially a full sold out venue and within a few minutes of his set I could tell the crowd was surprised by the caliber of his set and if there were people in the crowd that did not know who he was prior, they would most definitely remember who he was after his performance. He definitely rocked the crowd from the onset, but the second he dropped the Valentino Khan and Bro Safari remix of “Y.A.L.A” by M.I.A the whole place elevated their energy and lifted the entire Shrine into another echelon. Valentino Khan closed out his time with some new music as well that you should keep a look out for!
Right after Valentino Khan, Milo & Otis followed and maintained the atmosphere that was already building. During this set I made my way around the venue to further evaluate the crowd and the overall production and set up of the venue. The Shrine is obviously a venue set up and well equipped for this type of event as usually every large American headliner tour in the EDM world goes through or ends there. Stage and sound set ups were great. The sound was so loud it was shaking the walls of the venue and could be heard clearly outside, yet did not compromise the quality of the sound itself. A great laser display was equipped with strategic lighting and being played with every artist. This was of really high quality and it was one of the most enjoyable factors of the event for me. As I made my way into the pit of the crowd, I noticed it was rambunctious and lively with no traces of any bumping body related fighting issues so that was nice. I had no prior experience with Milo & Otis before this event, but I was very impressed at how they captivated the crowd with some great trap mixing and stage presence.
Photo credit courtesy of LED
DJ Mustard followed Milo & Otis and the greatest shift in energy occurred here. The slow dark intro he played really built up a suspense factor and when he started dropping his hip hop tracks like “My N***a”, “Paranoid”, and “Show Me” the ratchet intensity levels were next level and there was plenty of bro trap arms and twerking amongst the observers. The crowd responded greatly and reacted with screams and yells to every new song DJ Mustard played that they knew. He mixed hip-hop and trap so seamlessly and well, which added so much to the fun factor. He had the crowd singing and dancing and not once was there a break in energy. After a tremendous set he slowed things down and ended with “Ice Rink” by DJ Mustard and Cashmere Cat. The crowd did not mind one bit and enjoyed every second of it.
The show finally reached its apex as Borgore took the stage to close it out. There was so much anticipation leading up to this point as Borgore was the main attraction to this line-up. As I made my way around the venue and talked to a multitude of different people, I even heard many refer to this line-up as “Borgore and friends”. In typical Borgore fashion he rocked his set and elevated the amount of “ratchetness” (is that even a word?) to a whole new level. He brought out special guest Ookay and they put on a performance via great stage presence and stripper pole, which was both absolutely amazing and hilarious. Borgore closed the show with approximately 15 minutes of an on stage twerk competition on stage, much to the crowds delight. Borogre ended LED Los Angeles on a great note and had the entire crowd buzzing as they all walked to their cars and searched for after parties around Los Angeles.
LED Los Angeles was a great event that exhibited an amazing line up, a great sound accompanied by incredible laser and light shows, and an atmosphere that anybody would have wanted to be a part of. I would 100% recommend attendance next year and subsequently to any event LED puts on in the future. It is absolutely worth your money and your time. The energy that this event showed is really exciting and is exactly what most attendees look for. LED is one of the last brands still staying true to indoor events and I think there is much more show quality and a sense of community indoors. However, if you are not convinced, check it out for yourself! LED events are really modestly priced and if you get your ticket early they are around 40 dollars! Definitely a steal for the caliber being produced!
*Disclaimer- I approach every festival or concert with an open mind and hold no expectation whatsoever for what I am about to experience. All of my reviews are written in a style reflecting exactly what I see, feel, and live. There are no prior biases or preferences projected into my reviews.
