When Mike and I arrived at the show we saw a crowd of middle aged women waiting to get into Terminal 5.  I was a bit confused, and then remembered that there was supposed to be a special guest.  I didn’t really think anything of it at the time because I was more concerned with the fact that we were supposed to have a Q and A with Steve Aoki.  So we went on to ignore all the moms.  When security saw our under 21 IDs we were told we had to go to the other line.  The other line was a long line of people there for General Admission.  I politely explained the circumstances, but to make a long story short the nice lady handling PR that hooked Mike and I up with these Press Passes was forced to break the news to us that we wouldn’t be allowed in the Media area since we were not 21.

The show was being called Trident See What Unfolds Live.  It was announced in advance that Aoki would be playing but there was also an unannounced special guest.  We got to chill on the floor of Terminal 5 for a little, got the best spot in the house for the show because we were the first ones let in.  Before we knew it we were standing up front in a sea of older women.  We soon learned that the special guest was Duran Duran.  Aoki’s set wasn’t supposed to begin for another 30 minutes and I couldn’t take much more of the close contact with some of these women so we moved to the back.  It was at this time that fans for Steve Aoki began to arrive, and we were able to let out a sigh of relief.

Aoki’s set began early around 9:00.  He opened up laying down a steady beat and mixing on the spot, like a live DJ should.  I was immediately impressed and quick to vibe with him even though I was sober.  Then he moved into his most popular tracks as the set progressed, playing all the jams since he only was supposed to play an hour set.  I loved everything about his set, the cake, the water, the champagne, the inflatable boat, and his overall stage presence.  A DJ can have a stage presence, something that most do not have aside from their visuals.  Steve Aoki parties with the crowd and puts on a show like no other DJ I have seen before.  His roots lie in Hardcore so he just wants to bang his head, crowd surf, and cause a riot.  Aoki posesses all the qualities a crowd will feed on for any type of concert.  At the end of the show Duran Duran came out and played a new mashup with Aoki.  It’s an interesting collaboration that was brought together by the people at Trident.

With that being said Steve Aoki is one of those DJs that I would be willing to pay to see live again.  Even though I know how silly it is, it’s still fun.  He  creates a live experience unlike any other DJ I’ve seen while still playing the pre-recorded hits that his fans want to hear.  The biggest thing that I took away from this show was that Aoki is a wild showman looking to leave a lasting impression on as many people as possible.  As we walked out of the show I turned to Mike and said, “Steve Aoki is the man”.  He throws cakes at people in the crowd, pours bottles on bottles of champagne and water, rides an inflatable boat on a sea of screaming fans, and even lets his fans take the boat out for a quick trip.  He left his booth numerous times throughout the course of his set to jump with the crowd and rage.  Today he posted about his rider on his blog, only further strengthening my thoughts on his manhood.

The post includes photos of his actual rider and his explanation for all the items on it.  To read the full blog post go here.

Aoki posted a new track on his SoundCloud yesterday.

Along with this sweet remix about a month ago, which we were lucky enough to see him press play for us LIVE! But seriously, if you’re into this kind of Heavy / Hardcore House / Almost dubstep at times, but not really stuff, then you should enjoy this track.