Deadmau5 is in the house in Cincinnati

Ladies and Gentlemen, the Mau5 found a new house in Cincinnati.

Joel Thomas Zimmerman, aka Deadmau5, brought the A-team like the Cincinnati Bengals into the jungle and dropped the beats on all the party animals at the Andrew J Brady Music Center in Cincinnati, OH.

As a lover of Electronic Dance Music (EDM), I’ve had the opportunity to see Deadmau5 dozens of times; however, seeing him perform live with another iconic legend like Nero and a new hit wonder like Kasablanca was like adding a lion, a tiger and a bear to the stage… and all those animals threw the raddest EDM/dubstep/techno party Cincinnati’s ever had. We Cincinnatians needed this magical event to start off the month of October, as the city begins its transition into Blink — one of the largest light and art celebrations in the United States.

This tour was my first experience being inside and documenting the Andrew J Brady Music Center; I was very impressed by the acoustics covering three floors of audiences and the cleanliness of the facility, even during the live sets. The staff and security really put their hearts into maintaining the safety of the pit, where people would dance, and the two levels of balconies, which had a combination of seats and places to stand, as well as handicap accessibility. It’s a smart gesture on behalf of the architects, because it caters to all types of concerts, age groups and disabilities. 

What fascinates me most when going to EDM concerts/festivals is the range of ages that attend these colorful events.

Kids as young as 10 years old, wearing noise canceling headphones, are accompanied by their parents wearing ear plugs. Who knows how either of them directly know about Deadmau5 or EDM music? For some of those kids, songs like “Ghosts ‘N Stuff” are featured in the video game that they played yesterday during an online match, while parents may have been listening to Deadmau5’s music since his first album Get Scrapped came out in 2005. On top of that, you also have the international senior techno-goers, speaking dozens of different languages, who all have been listening to this genre of music since the late 70s/early 80s, showing up with their entire families and friend groups.

My point to that observation is that the We Are Friends Tour brought more than just friends to enjoy a night of high-beam LED lights and house music until our legs felt like Jello. The We Are Friends Tour brought life to a family of EDM lovers in Ohio who are all now excited to host some of the most internationally recognized performances in our hometown. If they say Ohio is the heart of the U.S., Cincinnati is about to be the reason it beats, because Kasablanca, Nero, and Deadmau5 gave us the electrifying pulse needed to jumpstart the Queen City’s newest venue as a new hub for EDM music in the Midwest. Thank you, thank you, thank you to Kasablanca, Nero and Deadmau5 for sharing your amazing talents and gifts to my hometown!

Photography by Rudy Frank

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