UCSB alumnus Steve Aoki, founder of Dim Mak Records, played a show at Earl Warren Showgrounds last Sunday night. There were several opening acts before Aoki took the stage, one of which were EasyLove Records founders Austin “Fösh” Hulak and Eugene “Yooj” Albert. If you have partied in Isla Vista this year, you probably have seen or heard of an EasyLove event, which started two years ago and has only grown bigger. Today, EasyLove performs in Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, San Francisco and Los Angeles.
EasyLove bought out Bill’s Bus for the event, ushering tons of Isla Vista kids to the show and drastically increasing the turnout. They also provided the majority of lights for the show, which is fortunate because the event probably would have gone up in flames without them. The overall production of the event was poor with an amp blowing out almost immediately. What was more astonishing though was the crowd, which consisted of several high schoolers on ecstasy and bright colored candy gear. Where the fuck are your parents? Don’t you have curfews? Luckily I had backstage passes to escape from the monstrosity of the 13-year-old light shows.
DJ’s Fösh and Yooj played mostly electro house to an enthusiastic crowd for about 30 minutes. The other opening acts were decent, with the exception of the few that played Dim Mak hits before PeaceTreaty or Steve Aoki came on, which was confusing and disappointing. Leave it to the professionals, please. PeaceTreaty, a musical trio under the Dim Mak label, played before Aoki and killed it. In my opinion, Aoki should have opened for these guys. PeaceTreaty played for about an hour and a half and then Steve Aoki took the stage. This was my biggest disappointment of the night.
I don’t want to bash a former Gaucho, but Steve Aoki leaves me no choice, because he sucks. I’m not an expert when it comes to music, but at least I never claimed to be. If I were an expert, however, I would probably know better than to drop “Warp” — the most overplayed electro song of the past two years — twice in one set like Aoki. The only memorable part of his set that was thoroughly enjoyable was when he played “King of Africa”, a tune that samples the Lion King theme song. Aoki also played an exclusive preview of a song from his upcoming album (featuring Lil’ Jon), which was quite possibly the worst part of the show. Even if I were back at my 7th grade formal dance when Lil Jon was still sort of cool, I would probably still eye the DJ with a confused and enthusiastic “Why?!” The underage crowd seemed to enjoy it, either due to the drugs they appeared to be on or their simple-minded taste in music. Either way, Aoki seemed pleased with the turnout and reaction of the crowd.
EasyLove Records also managed to interview Steve Aoki and PeaceTreaty after the show. Check out easyloverecords.com for the full interviews and plenty of proper tunes.
Yeah, his dad would still own Benihana, were it not for the fact that he’s been dead since 2008.
I’d just like to say that that final sentence about Benihana was added by the editor. If I would have said anything about Benihana’s it would’ve been this:
“Please go out and support Aoki by eating at your local Benihana’s, at least THAT will be worth your money.”
However, I decided to stay focused on the music instead. I guess the editor didn’t feel that way.
Well, for the record, I fully agree that Aoki sucks. I just didn’t want a factual error to derail your otherwise excellent takedown of a pretty lame dude.
Here’s the interview with Steve Aoki:
http://easyloverecords.com/steveaokiinterview/
We have another with PeaceTreaty that we will be posting along with photos from the event!
Thanks Guys!
“I don’t want to bash a former Gaucho, but Steve Aoki leaves me no choice, because he sucks. I’m not an expert when it comes to music, but at least I never claimed to be”
And that’s where 99% of your readers stop reading. I’m used to the shoddy writing of the Artsweek, but this takes it to a whole new level. For the record, I’ve never listened to a single Steve Aoki song.
Shoddy writing is an understatement. This is clearly a student writer with a clear bias and agenda, not fit for any realm of journalism except for maybe something you’d see on FoxNews. It’s apparent why this student is at UCSB and now UCLA or UCBerkley, where I’m positive the journalism is of higher quality. This is perfectly fine for a blog, but don’t embarrass your publication and school with this garbage. Respect your craft, Alex, and check your ego at the newsroom entrance.
Matt
Hawai’i ’11
I read the article prior to publishing and the editor added in the comment about him “sucking.” I found this article to match up with the experience that i had at this show. This article wasn’t ment to be bias, but so much as a critique.
techno sucks
I’m confused as to why the random people above even bother spending their time reading this just to bash Alex……If you aren’t interested in the NEWS of the article itself, get a life and do something other than scrutinizing the arts section of the nexus. And UCSB is full of bright students who didn’t forfeit their high school lives for academics or experience some admittance-worthy trauma. We know how to have a good time and recieve A’s doing it, and that’s what sets us apart from “ucla” and “ucb.” Good job alex, many wouldn’t dare to speak the truth about… Read more »
like.
like.
Sorry to bash, but I’m trying to help. If this is your idea of “fun” than you are seriously missing out
Oh my bad I misinterpreted what you said.
I have to say, this article was amazing haha. Aside from the few biased remarks everything else jived with me… Steve Aoki is pretty weak. I was especially stoked on the part about the little kids running around on E, that really killed the show.
whoever wrote this is clearly a homosexual. this entire article seems like a cover up to hide the fact the writer likes to suck pole. i know you like that shit.
What part of the article indicates that exactly?
a) this article doesn’t seem like that at all.
b) the only person who would write a response like yours is someone who is probably hiding the fact they like to suck pole.
Steve’s hit “Spaceman” broke a lot of rules and gained massive ground for Asian American males. This crushed a stereotype, steamrollered over it. As a sociologist, I greatly appreciated it. However, in addition, the song was very good, as well, by Mainland and CA sociocultural standards! Am I biased because he graduated from my Sociology Dept at UCSB? Slightly, but not much. I sincerely doubt he realizes I could end his career in a single week, and most certainly hasn’t paid his respect to me, as of yet. :) I wouldn’t, of course, end his career in a week of… Read more »
Yea dude is a complete scam. Brings in CD’s of other peoples music with mixes that sound like they are sha! out in ten seconds, and then cut and pasted over and over again, and gets so f-d up he is blacked out, passing out IN THE CROWD while his cds are playing. There are two types of artists in the world. One who tries to convey a message or part of his soul with the rest of the world for a reason, and one who makes music purely for the fact to get fame and money, based on what… Read more »