Zedd - Dim Mak Sunday - 11-27-11

Liz Ohanesian

Zedd

​Zedd
Dim Mak Sundays
11-27-11

Better than... bottle service.

Last summer, Zedd hit L.A. to warm up the crowd when Deadmau5's Meowingtons Hax tour hit the Palladium for a few sold-out nights. He returned to the city last night as a headliner for his own mini tour, supporting the single "Stars Come Out," which came out on Steve Aoki's Dim Mak imprint last week.

The 22-year-old German producer is one of the top electronic dance music artists to watch right now. Earlier this year, his remix of the theme video game classic The Legend of Zelda became a dance floor sensation. The same can be said for tracks like "Dovregubben" and "Shave It," the latter released through Skrillex's label, OWSLA. It's likely that "Stars Come Out," a progressive house-leaning tune with vocals from singer Heather Bright, will do the same thing.

Considering that this was the launch of several Southern California dates, Zedd's gig last night at Dim Mak Sundays at Drai's was an understated event. The producer's relationship to Dim Mak made this party an obvious choice for a gig, but it still seemed like a strange venue for the young, increasingly popular figure on the EDM scene.

Drai's is a posh, indoor/outdoor hipster venue on top of the W Hotel. There's a lot of space, but most of that is used for table service. There are cabanas where party-goers can watch TV poolside. The indoor portion of the venue is filled with ample booths frequently filled with large parties sharing bottles of alcohol. The club caters to an upscale crowd: girls in skintight minidresses and huge wedge sandals, guys who throw on a blazer or button-down shirt with jeans. Sometimes it was hard to tell if people were there for Zedd or for the bottle service.

This was a sharp contrast to when Zedd opened for Deadmau5. At the Palladium show, the producer played very early, but still drew a good-sized crowd. His audience then was young -- many far too young to get into a 21+ venue -- neon-clad and ready for the dance floor. At Drai's there is hardly a dance floor. It's just a small space that stands between the club entrance and the primo booths.

Liz Ohanesian

Steve Aoki

​The man behind Dim Mak, Steve Aoki, made a brief appearance at the club. Surrounded by a large entourage, he dropped a dubstep remix that he said he had just finished. After spinning just one song, he introduced Zedd. The crowd screamed. Cameras waved in the air. It was clear that there were Zedd fans in the house.