Party like Zedd

IN ANOTHER successful instalment of Heineken’s Live Your Music, presented by Future Sound Asia, DJ and music producer Anton Zaslavski (or better known as Zedd) made his electrifying Malaysian debut at KL Live last Friday night.
The 28-year-old, whose songs like Clarity, Beautiful Now, and Stay are usually found in the Billboard’s Hot 100 charts, showcased his skills to a sold-out crowd, as part of his Asia Club Tour 2018.
As the doors opened at 8pm, the music fans who came to see Zedd treated the event like they would any other Friday night out in the club.
Three local dance acts – HypeEmBeats, BATE, and Chukiess & Whackboi – took turns entertaining the EDM crowd for the several hours before the German DJ took his spot on the stage.
In particular, the DJ duo who comprise BATE managed to keep party-goers hyped and happy before ending their set with their own debut single, One I love.
The homegrown boys, Ethan Curzon and Yeah Wai Hong, have been active on the DJ decks for the last six years, most notably as residents in Zouk’s Mainroom.
They had even skipped their usual Friday night slot at the club to open for Zedd.
Eventually, the clock struck midnight. While in the fairy tale, midnight was when Cinderella left the ball, there in KL Live, it was when Zedd finally walked on stage.
The show began with a light show and trippy multi-coloured graphics playing on the giant screen behind the deck.
And then the deafening screams began.
If the previous DJ acts were musical appetisers, then the Grammy-award winner’s set was the main course and dessert all rolled into one.
As soon as he assumed his position behind decks, it became clear why his songs took over the music charts as fast as they did.
There was a subtle and noticeable shift in music, where instead of it just being loud – typical club music, Zedd’s skilled ministrations made it feel like the music was vibrating through you.
The DJ, whose boyish features were silhouetted by the blindingly bright lights radiating from the stage, could literally make you feel the music.
However, a few minutes into his show, this world-renowned DJ encountered some technical difficulties.
The previously enthusiastic crowd showed their displeasure, but fortunately, the whole ordeal only lasted less than 15 seconds, and they were once again jumping to his hits like I Want You to Know, and Let Me Love You.
At this point of the night, the crowd, who were sweaty from dancing but still euphoric, could be seen singing their hearts out.
Some even formed dance circles, like a game of ‘ring around the rosie’.
Unlike the nursery rhyme, they didn’t ‘all fall down’, but they did dance around, and if they were strangers, by the end of the night, they were probably already friends.
The enthusiastic energy seemed to reach Zedd himself, leaving observers wondering what his fitness routine was like, because the man was constantly bouncing around, looking like he was jumping rope (minus the rope), and was jumping even while he was recording the crowd with his phone.
Besides contemporary hits, Zedd also threw in a mix of classic Michael Jackson tunes, and even had the famous zombie scene from Thriller playing on screen, before (sadly) running into a split-second sound malfunction again.
By the time he sampled Billie Jean, confetti blasted through the air from the stage, interspersed with cold, white fog.
When Zedd played Clarity towards the end of the explosive night, the whole second floor of KL Live was literally shaking with a deafening combination of music and screams.
Everyone’s ears seemed to be ringing for minutes after the show had ended, and people could hardly hear each other talk.
Zedd’s show was definitely a party to remember.