RL Grime, Baauer, Shiohmo to Host Pop Up ACLU Benefit Concert [Tickets On Sale Today]

If you were following along back then, you knew the conversation around the ACLU and the Trump administration was loud everywhere, dance music included. A handful of artists and celebrities had already stepped up to show support, and most recently, Zedd announced his own benefit concert for April 3 in Los Angeles.

Then the WeDidIt collective, along with Because of U and Mixed Management, announced they’d be hosting their own fundraiser in LA — a benefit show with a genuinely stacked lineup. Announced using their real names, Henry Steinway (a.k.a. RL Grime), Henry Laufer (a.k.a. Shlohmo), Harry Rodrigues (a.k.a Baauer), Sam Griesemer & Jerome Potter (a.k.a. DJ Dodger Stadium), Jasper Patterson (a.k.a. Groundislava), Djavan Santas (a.k.a. D33j) and Nick Meledandri (a.k.a Nick Melons) were all set to perform at the benefit on March 16 in Los Angeles.

All the funds raised were slated to go straight to the ACLU, and tickets went on sale that same day.

How The Night Actually Went

The show ended up selling out. It went down at the Fonda Theatre in Hollywood on March 16, 2017, and the bill even grew a little bigger than announced — producer Michael Washington joined the lineup alongside RL Grime, Baauer, Shlohmo, and the rest of the WEDIDIT crew. The ACLU set up an info table in the lobby with educational materials, and a merch booth on-site kicked its proceeds toward the cause as well. According to Vice’s coverage of the night, it felt less like a typical club show and more like a room full of fans using music as a form of protest — energetic, packed, and there for the cause as much as the sets themselves.

Part Of A Bigger Moment

This wasn’t a one-off. Early 2017 saw a wave of dance music artists organizing benefit shows in response to the Trump administration’s early policies, including the travel ban the ACLU was actively fighting in court at the time. Zedd’s own ACLU benefit went down just a couple weeks later on April 3. Whether or not you were following the politics closely, it was a rare moment where some of the scene’s biggest producers and its most online fans found common ground for a good cause.