Early December banging back to back weekend

The first weekend in December was stacked in Sacramento with two massive events going down hosted by Midnite Events. Between Jingle Ball on Dec. 2 with Krewella, Dillon Francis and The Chainsmokers and the Porter & Madeon Shelter Live Tour on Dec. 3, it’s clear Sacramento is fast becoming a hub for the best in dance music.

Jingle Ball sold out within the week of announcement and it’s easy to understand why: a laundry list of household names headed up a bill that dance music fans in Sacramento are used to having to travel to San Francisco to see under one roof. I am such a sucker for Dillon Francis so if I see his name I know, I immediately know I’m in. His stage presence is unmatched and he cares deeply for his fans. This could be seen in the midst of an unexpected power outage during his set that caused all the sound and stage lighting to go dark. He pulled out a megaphone (from where I’m unsure, maybe he carries one with him just in case?) and started to converse with the dance floor without skipping a beat.  This kind of quick thinking is the mark of a true professional and the fans stood by patiently until the show started up again. The Chainsmokers expectedly played banger after banger. Drew showed off some moves on stage while Alex mixed. Although there were a few hiccups here and there, they still put on a spectacular show.

Shelter Live Tour – I’ve seen Porter Robinson a few times and his “Worlds” set makes me emotional every time, so seeing him again was a must. However while I’m familiar with Madeon’s early work and his recent LP “Adventure”, I had never seen him perform live so I was unsure what to expect. I walked into the venue aglow with excitement. Already knowing the praises that had been sung about the tour, my anticipation was palpable. I arrived during San Holo’s high energy set that perfectly set the tone for what was to come. He even came out into the crowd afterwards to greet fans and take pictures.

The rumor mill had me a bit worried as I heard that Madeon was feeling under the weather and might not perform, so I was relieved to see him step on to the stage along side Porter. Their set was truly one of a kind, they played off each other beautifully. Each artist provided some of their own vocals while simultaneously mixing and playing live instruments. Watching these two incredible artist go back and forth was amazing. During the encore song “Shelter”, the fans helped support Madeon whose voice wasn’t strong enough to carry it alone due to him feeling under the weather. It was chilling to hear all those people sharing such an incredible moment. I know they said it would be a temporary collaboration, however I just can’t stop myself from hoping to see more of them together in the future.

-Phil Nguyen