Relentless Beats & Insomniac present: deadmau5 unplugged

Relentless Beats and Insomniac brought another epic EDM show to life at the Rawhide Event Center in Chandler, Arizona — this time, with a well-known veteran! That’s right, deadmau5 was headlining (albeit ‘unplugged’, which really just meant he was sans cube). Makes sense… I wouldn’t want to be trapped inside a cube, deejaying in 100-degree heat either! Opening the night was LAMORN and Speaker Honey, who both put on an incredible performances. Spencer Brown was up next before Nero took over; the party was just beginning and vibes were already on overload.

Admitting he was only operating at a 75, deadmau5 promised the crowd he will still be giving 100% — and, boy, did he ever.

Without the helmet at first, deadmau5 launched into housey faves before donning the ultra famous headgear he’s known for. This was the largest outdoor stage the DJ had ever performed, complete with mind-blowing visuals of DNA sequences, swimming catfish, mathematical equations and, of course, the deadmau5 logo, laughing and jumping like Pacman only to dissemble and glitch into nothingness the next second. deadmau5 set aside his neon glowing hat for a cardboard cutout of a cat, making it seem the feline was the one spinning the tracks. Oh, such entertaining antics!

Considering this was my first EDM event out of quarantine, it was as if nothing had changed — I was back in my happy place. Beautiful people were everywhere, giving light shows, hula hooping or just plain ol’ fashioned headbanging. With Tiësto and Dillon Francis on the horizon for the following day, this was just the start of the most epic weekend party in the desert!

Photography by Kristy Rose

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