scottklenn: Skrillex, 12th Planet Play To Sold-Out L.A. Crowd

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Skrillex, 12th Planet Play To Sold-Out L.A. Crowd

Skrill's high-energy gig with Diplo was part of six-show EDM series in Los Angeles.
By Lara Kathleen Kelley

Skrillex and 12th Planet perform in Los Angeles
Photo: Michelle Oglakhchyan

It's officially Skrillex week in Los Angeles, where MTV's EDM Artist of the Year just finished his second gig in a series of six back-to-back shows, each spotlighting diverse talent in the now-reigning dubstep scene. Wednesday night's gig at CYP2, a popular bi-weekly indie dance music event, featured Skrillex performing a back-to-back set with 12th Planet, Diplo and U.K. producer Caspa for a jam-packed crowd at the Echoplex.

"The show sold out in under 20 minutes," said Danny Johnson, co-producer of CYP2. "Skrillex and 12th Planet are best buds, Caspa is a dubstep don and Diplo has championed these artists from day one, so the lineup made perfect sense and the fans went crazy for it."

As soon as the doors opened, partygoers piled in, energy high and anticipation permeating the air. Music pumped from the speakers by DJ Franki Chan, owner of the IHeartComix label and CYP2 co-producer. Then DJ/producer Diplo lit up the crowd with bass-heavy beats and hard-core hip-hop tracks. But it wasn't until Skrillex took the stage with 12th Planet that the fans went crazy and began screaming, chanting and moshing for the dubstep duo.

Skrillex pumped up the fans and held them at his fingertips with tracks like "Breakin' a Sweat" and "Right on Time." The set included all of their popular singles as well as remixes of Avicii's "Levels," La Roux's "In for the Kill" and Rusko's "Hold On." Their two-and-a-half-hour set kept the crowd on their feet and begging for more bass until the lights came on.

12th Planet, born John Dadzie, had nothing but great things to say about the five-time Grammy-nominated artist formerly known as Sonny Moore.

"Skrillex and I met at Ultra Music Festival a few years ago and have been good friends ever since," he said. "We started doing collaborations together, and he would sing vocals during my sets. Since then, Skrillex has become a beast, and now when I get the opportunity to work with him, I learn as much as I possibly can."

12th Planet, recently deemed "U.S. dubstep godfather" by dance-music magazine Mixmag, spent much of 2011 on tour with Skrillex. "Performing with Skrillex reminds me of how much fun it is to tag-team DJ with one of your good friends. I love the chemistry that comes together when I play with Skrillex ... we can pretty much connect by E.S.P. during our sets."

Just this month, 12th Planet released his five-track free-for-download The End Is Near. It will be complemented by a 28-city North American tour that kicks off on February 2 in Miami, Florida.

The weeklong Skrillex takeover continues with a show Thursday (January 26) night at the Exchange in Downtown L.A. followed by massive gigs at the Avalon in Hollywood Friday night, the Palladium on Saturday and L.A. Live on Sunday. Next week he heads to New York for a series of dates, kicking off at Webster Hall on Tuesday.

Are you planning on seeing Skrillex live? Let us know in the comments!

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