Skrillex again.. Reinvigorates San Francisco

When Skrillex and Fred again.. put tickets for their show at San Francisco’s Civic Center in front of City Hall, they sold out in minutes. The show continued Fred again..’s pop-up raves across the globe, with three more shows scheduled for later this week at Frost Amphitheatre on the Stanford campus in Palo Alto, California. But the show at City Hall marked a different moment for San Francisco, a city that has been struggling in recent years. It allowed members of the community to come together and return to the counter-culture roots that have always existed, but felt like they’ve been lost.

While the show seemingly took place overnight, it had been in the works for months in advance. The permit for the show at Civic Center was pulled in February, with Fred again.. superfans were able to figure out on Reddit that the likelihood of a show there was pretty high as soon as his dates at Frost Amphitheater were announced the week before the pop-up.

Skrillex hopping on was a bit more of a surprise. But, as the DJ and music producer said while playing in front of City Hall, the show was meaningful to him, too. He spent 10 years of his life growing up in the area, attending elementary school not too far from where the show was located. While Fred again.. played “Danielle (smile on my face),” Skrillex shared why this moment felt so special to him.

“San Francisco is my second home,” Skrillex said as he addressed the crowd of 25,000 fans. “I used to walk through this park with my friends.”

Behind Skrillex and Fred again.., San Francisco’s mayor, London Breed, watched from the balcony and threw a party of her own. Fans climbed up the trees lining either side of the crowd for a better look, Fred again.. and Skrillex both remarking they were their favorite part of the show (before kindly asking them to climb down due to safety concerns, telling them, “Shout out the tree game, give it to the tree girls and tree people. Shout them out coming down as well. We gotta respect the city, we gotta respect San Francisco for letting us have a rave in the middle of the city!”).

“There’s never been a single ticketed event like this in Civic Center,” Another Planet Entertainment VP of Concerts, Eric Barleen, tells Pollstar. “To be in the heart of the city in front of City Hall totally spoke to them. And then, we’ve just been working with them in the city in terms of all the permitting and their ever-changing production. It’s been really fun. It’s exciting. It just feels like, from the moment we announced, there’s been a huge buzz amongst the Bay Area and people are extremely excited.”

That energy was palpable the second fans stepped foot out of the Civic Center BART Station. Thousands of fans stood outside the gates, winding their way through to get the scanners. Those in line would talk to one another, making conversation with strangers as they slowly walked through the maze that finally dumped out in front of the Civic Center. The entire area was closed down, inviting them into a mini-festival with food, merchandise booths, bars and countless portable bathrooms. The area looked nicer than it had in years, the walkways clean and the city humming in excitement. Those who didn’t have a chance to buy tickets for the show (tickets for Fred again.. shows always cap at $100 per) watched from the rooftops of nearby buildings. The surrounding blocks could hear sound from the show clearly, but Skrillex and Fred again.. stopped at 10 p.m. on the dot to comply with the city’s noise guidelines.

While the show itself was a surprise, Skrillex and Fred again.. had one final trick up their sleeve: an appearance from Anderson .Paak. He jumped onstage alongside the two DJs and music producers, joining them for a night that will forever go down in San Francisco’s history.

Fred again.. is booked by Wasserman Music SVP’s Evan Hancock and Ben Shprits. Skrillex is booked by Wasserman Music’s Lee Anderson.