Tiësto turns up Chandler’s Rawhide Event Center

Saturday, June 5th was another brilliant night under the electric sky at Chandler, Arizona’s Rawhide Event Center, where EDM event heavyweights Insomniac and Relentless Beats teamed up to bring about the first stop of Tiësto’s Back to Business Tour — complete with extra special guests as direct support! First up was Ship Wrek and Bijou, putting on spectacular shows as headliners filtered in for the night, finally escaping the 100+ degree heat now that the sun was set.

With Tiësto — inarguably one of the best deejays of all time — at the helm, excitement hung in the air like a spiderweb, catching ahold of all who attended underneath.

And, the party REALLY exploded when Loud Luxury took over. This rising electronica duo continuously acknowledged the growing crowd, pointing, waving and shouting things like “LET’S FUCKING GOOO” as they high jumped off their deejay booth. The never-ending loop of visuals could be seen from every corner of the grounds, with an extra big stage to welcome Dillon Francis next. Fun fact: moments before Francis took the stage, security frantically waved their flashlights to clear a path backstage for the Loud Luxury boys (and entourage) to barrel through at a sprint. Turns out that they were double-booked and had to take a jet to Vegas to perform a second set that night!

As Dillon Francis took over the deejay booth, cheers erupted (soon to be followed by an equal eruption of party streamers in the air from stage cannons). The party was officially at an all-time high. Dillon Francis wove his hits in between visuals of clocks, metaphysical imagery and stills from the movie Space Jam, only to dial it back altogether to play the intro of Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” in its entirety. Of course, he dropped the beat to it eventually. Ending with a sky full of confetti, Dillon Francis exited for the main man of the hour — Mr. Tiësto, himself. With chants of “TI-ES-TO, TI-ES-TO” reverberating around the night sky, the famed electronic superstar came out to uproarious applause. Saluting his crowd, he immediately launched into “The Business” as everyone sang along. One hit right after another he played, with confetti guns popping off at the VIP booths every few moments and light shows happening left and right. It was rumored 10,000 people were in attendance that night… what a blissful culture shock to the quarantined year we all just had. If you weren’t able to catch Tiësto in Arizona, don’t worry — his residency in Vegas is only getting started!

Photography by Kristy Rose

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