Much has happened
since Skrillex was last slated to play in Madison. The Green Bay Packers won
Superbowl XLV, Governor Scott Walker’s proposed budget repair bill caused (and
is causing) mass protests of historic proportions at the capitol building for
weeks and, most recently, the location of Girl Talk’s March 7 Orpheum show was
moved to the Allient Energy Center.

Skrillex follows
Deadmau5 and is preceding Girl Talk and Bassnectar as far as big-name
electronic music in this city goes. It’s hard to tell if he’s leading the curve
upward to the other shows to come this spring, or just causing a speed bump in
the linear progression of the Deadmau5/Girl Talk/Bassnectar triumvirate. The
average sober person at last night’s show might think Skrillex, at the very
least, has some growing up to do. Here are a few examples.

He smoked a cigarette
(inside the historic Majestic Theatre) and was given a cup of water to put it
out.

He drank straight
from a bottle of …? Onstage.

He proceeded to pour
said liquid into crowd members’ mouths, though after first politely asking “You
guys 21?”

He took off his
glasses, and voluntarily crowd surfed while Majestic staff looked on.

He commanded audience
members with a female next to them to hoist her onto their shoulders; a command
which was carried out to a vast degree.

While he took a
(somewhat awkward) bathroom break, Majestic staff put an end to the female
hoisting.

The Majestic was
packed by 11–really packed, it seems like they may have oversold the show–and
Skrillex didn’t go on for some time after that (doors opened at 9). Illinois’Positive Vibr8ions & DJ Solo were highly
energetic openers, and proved to be a nice change for people who had endured
the full longevity of the two openers for Skrillex’s first attempt in Madison (DJs
2PercentMulq and Radish). DJ Solo even
pulled out some unexpected drum & bass sounds.

Whatever his faults,
Skrillex did play some great music. I’m not going to attempt to call it
dubstep, house, or anything else, since he wisely explained he is just “a music
person.” He played some of his own and some other names, including a pioneer of
electro music, Pendulum.

He seemed to be
having as much fun with the Madison crowd as they were listening to the music
he produced, and he complimented the volume of singing it was able to produce. Overall,
he just about made up for the nagging feeling of immaturity that came along
with the music–such as his thrice posed question of, “Where’s the after party?”