Kx5 gig hailed as largest ever electronic event in North America

50,000 fans descended into downtown Los Angeles this past Saturday, December 10 for the first ever headlining show at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum with electronic music act Kx5 – the powerhouse collaboration comprising genre icons Kaskade and deadmau5.

According to Pollstar, the show broke records landing it as the largest single-day concert event headlined by an electronic music artist ever in North America, with Billboard confirming Kx5 at the Coliseum as the biggest ticketed global headliner dance event of 2022.

Presented by Insomniac, the two-plus hour set was highlighted by Kx5 productions out now on mau5trap/Arkade including When I Talk with Elderbrook, Avalanche ft. James French, Take Me High and Alive featuring The Moth and The Flame (TMTF) as well as unreleased material.

These songs and more were intertwined with special edits of each artists favourite selections including Kaskade’s newest Dance With Me with Justus, Disarm You and fan favourite, his collab with Skylar Grey Room For Happiness and deadmau5 classics The Veld, Ghosts N Stuff and the song that introduced Kaskade to mau5, Faxing Berlin. The two artists closed the show with a surprise appearance from Hayla to perform their Top 40 radio smash Escape.

Over the course of the set, deadmau5 (Joel Zimmerman) and Kaskade (Ryan Raddon) performed on pods that rotated and moved across the stage while fireworks and flames burst overhead. 300 drones flew high above the Coliseum’s iconic torch and supporting arches creating unique formations, including a configuration of the state of California and flashing words “Welcome LA,” and song titles “Alive” and “Escape.”

The triumphant live show from Kx5 has them joining a significant roster of musical acts to have headlined the Coliseum including the Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, U2, Metallica and Prince to name a few. The show was a prestigious honour as part of the “Coliseum Forever” event series celebrating the 100th anniversary of the venue.

Kx5 is a collaboration over a decade and a half in the making. In the summer of 2021, Kaskade made history as the first public concert performed at Los Angeles’ SoFi Stadium. The sold-out show featured a surprise set by deadmau5 and had the two artists reuniting again for a set to close the show and catapulted them to start a music project together as Kx5.

deadmau5 and Kaskade effectively changed the electronic music landscape when they paired together for 2008’s slow-burning I Remember and their follow up Move For Me cemented their influence as the standard. Both tracks peaked at No. 1 within a week of one another on Billboard’s Dance/Mix Show Airplay chart. The Grammy-nominated artists’ paths crossed again on 2016’s ominous Beneath with Me featuring Skylar Grey.

Escape (featuring Hayla) – released this past March as their debut single as Kx5 – continues to impact at Top 40 radio and per Mediabase is the #1 Dance Radio Airplay Song of 2022. The duo have collaborated on tracks previously but with Kx5 they have solidified it into a wholly new artistic project, one which will consist of more studio releases in the coming months leading into an album in 2023. They will headline Ultra Music Festival in Miami in March 2023.

Main image credit: @ginajoyphoto