Deadmau5 delivers

Chameleon-like, orange and purple chandeliers set the mood for the phantasmagoric light show, enhanced by a light-adorned audience sporting glow-in-the-dark mouse ears, LED accessories and light-up poi.

The college-aged audience swelled and rolled with the music, electrified by the beat. It was jam-packed and getting to the front near the stage was more like scuba-diving than crowd-surfing.

Deadmau5 delivered and did not disappoint his fans at the Fillmore in Denver, where he and DJ Scrillex played two consecutive shows on Wednesday, Oct. 6th and Thursday, Oct. 7th.

Deadmau5 has become quite the icon in the world of electronic, house and dubstep music. His signature “dead mouse” costume and trademark label have become so recognized that it verges on iconographic.

DJ Scrillex, on tour with Deadmau5, received a warm welcome from the crowd as well. His remixes deviate less from their origin songs, so they’re easy to sing along to yet are refreshingly original and never miss a beat—except of course, when they’re supposed to.

Scrillex has a good stage presence too. Many DJs, especially openers who tend to be more amateur than Scrillex, look like they either don’t know they’re on stage or are unnaturally trying way too hard to dance to their own beats, which often just makes them look conceited.

Scrillex, with his plastic-rimmed glasses and half-shaven dreads, simply looked like he was enjoying himself and appreciating the audience’s feedback. He communicated with the audience, coming out every now and then from behind his digital turntable.

Deadmau5 even came out into a roped-off VIP zone near the bar in the audience. He was dancing and taking pictures on his cell phone of Scrillex and the audience, who were simultaneously trying to pose for him and get him to pose for them.

The transition between the two DJs upped the ante as far as visual spectacle goes, with Deadmau5 coming out during Scrillex’s last song, draped like a ghost in a white sheet and chasing Scrillex around.

When he finally came on to begin his set, he was perched behind a massive, cater-cornered cube. Initially, it was only outlined with green light, which complimented the light-up green outline of Deadmau5’s head. Then the cube, which was constructed with screens, began to put on a geometrical light show of its own.

Deadmau5’s music has an indescribable quality of layering: Layers that build on each other and erode, yet synthesize and remain integrated around an amalgamating beat. Though never boring, transitions between songs can be hard to pinpoint at times.

With his increasing popularity and recent international recognition, Deadmau5 seems to have what it takes to be an icon within his competitive genre, and it appears that he is here to stay.

Contact Staff Writer Anna McIntosh at Anna.mcintosh@colorado.edu.