With signature long dark hair tucked behind his ears, Grammy-nominated artist Steve Aoki took the stage at The Palladium in Worcester Saturday night to deliver an epic performance for a room packed with eager fans.
Hosted by the Massachusetts-based entertainment event company, NV Concepts, Aoki was the headlining act of a night that featured several Boston-based DJs, including Northeastern University alum L’Homie and EDM duo DUDEnGUY. Both acts were openers for Aoki Saturday night, but for L’Homie, this was an especially monumental performance because it would be his last official performance in the country.
L’Homie, now 26, graduated from Northeastern in 2015 with a degree in music industry. Originally from Hong Kong, L’Homie is going back home at the end of March to continue creating music and make his mark in Hong Kong’s emerging electronic dance music scene, he said.
“EDM is really taking off in Hong Kong,” L’Homie said. “I want to get on it before it’s past its point.”
On the opportunity to open for Aoki at The Palladium, L’Homie said he was contacted by NV Concepts a few weeks prior to the event to see if he was free to perform.
“They usually pull local artists from Boston to play at these events because we’re cheaper,” L’Homie said.
As the audience would soon know, Boston talent does not disappoint. In a night filled with confetti, smoke and lights, the neon and glitter covered crowd was as electric as the music. L’Homie opened the show and started the night off with easy beats that gradually became more pulsing toward the end of his 50-minute set. During the transitions between DJs, the audience was always buzzing, electrified by the last set and ecstatic for the next. The audience appeared to connect every artist that took the stage.
DUDEnGUY continued the crescendo to Aoki, playing “bangers” that hyped up the crowd. Right before Aoki took the stage, the entire theater went dark, save for the occasional light-up sneaker, while the crowd erupted chanting “A-O-KI.” Dressed in a long-sleeve white “Metallica” shirt and jeans, Aoki took the stage to smoke blaring and the audience screaming his name.
In the classic Steve Aoki style, he went into the crowd to meet fans, spraying champagne and, of course, ended up shirtless.
Several members of the audience carried signs with the words “Cake Me!” referring to another classic among Aoki’s interactive performances, in which he throws cake into the audience.
During the last half hour, when fans spotted event staff wrapping plastic around the speakers near the stage, the anticipation of the eventual “caking” grew even more.
In a surprise to fans, Aoki mentioned that he was dropping his new EP in a month, although he did not reveal a specific date. One thing that Aoki did release that night was the first Massachusetts performance of the song “How Else,” featuring iLoveMakonnen and Rich the Kid.
Aoki also performed his new single “Just Hold On,” featuring vocals by One Direction band member Louis Tomlinson. Unfortunately for 1D fans, Louis was not present to perform the song live with Aoki. However, with the confetti cannons firing on cue to the beats of the song, the energy never escaped the room and audience members had no trouble singing along.
