Illenium helped shut out SXSW 2024 with a efficiency that was fairly actually one of many week’s heaviest when he performed the third and remaining present of Billboard’s annual THE STAGE at SXSW live performance sequence on Saturday, March 17.
Whereas the night forecast in Austin had known as for thunderstorms, the climate cooperated and no storms, and even sprinkles, materialized throughout the sold-out present. The efficiency drew 5,000 folks — lots of them sporting the jerseys which might be Illenium’s signature merch merchandise — to Austin’s Moody Amphitheater inside Waterloo Park.
The night time opened with a set from Canadian producer Fairlane, who performed a litany of remixes of emo and nu-metal classics by artists together with Fall Out Boy, Inexperienced Day and Linkin Park, including his personal guitar solos over lots of them.
Then, Illenium — who additionally wore an Illenium jersey, together with a backwards baseball hat — got here onstage at 9:30 p.m. and instantly launched right into a giddily heavy set constructed from body-pummeling bass music interspersed together with his signature pop oriented future bass anthems and a litany of tracks by a powerful crew of different bass realm artists. The ambiance within the park was hyped all through the set, which was punctuated by bursts of fireplace emanating from the stage, together with dynamic visuals.
THE STAGE takes place from March 14-16 as a part of SXSW, Austin’s annual music, movie and tech competition, and options performances from Billboard’s newest cowl stars: PartyNextDoor, Christian Nodal, and Illenium.
Final yr’s THE STAGE headliners included Lil Yachty, Feid and Kx5.
Learn on for the 5 greatest moments from Illenium’s present under.
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Everybody Going For It In The Crowd
There was a buzz within the air earlier than, throughout and after the efficiency, with a way of palpable pleasure emanating from the sold-out crowd. Respect to everybody assembled within the pit, and a particular shout out to all of the folks head-banging immediately within the entrance of the stage.
By way of huge time physique motion although, the sting of the group is usually one of the best place to actually dance exhausting, and through Illenium’s set it was right here that many individuals had been noticed flailing their limbs round, spinning in circles and customarily actually going for it on the amphitheater’s grassy garden. Such fringe dwellers included massive teams of associates, {couples} and some individuals who appeared to be on the present alone however gave the impression to be having simply as a lot enjoyable as anybody else on web site.
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Incorporating His Friends
Naturally, Illenium performed numerous his personal music — together with hits like “Take You Down,” The Chainsmokers and Lennon Stella collab “Takeaway” and his observe with Teddy Swims “All That Actually Issues” — together with a glut of music by different bass world stars.
Featured tracks included the Reaper Remix of Griz and Subtronics’ “GRIZTRONICS,” Excision and Wooli’s “Lockdown,” “Seven Lions’ “Rush Over Me,” “how2fly” by ISOxo, Knock2’s “murdah” and different Illenium collabs with cohorts like Mentioned The Sky and Spiritbox. Altogether, the hour and 15 minute present was constructed from a collection of tracks that collectively emphasised how each legendary and rising artists are clocking bangers and pushing boundaries on this hard-edged realm of digital music.
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A Preview Of a Forthcoming Collab
In his Billboard cowl story, Illenium revealed that he’ll be releasing a sequence of singles throughout 2024 with collaborators together with REZZ, Tiësto and Mike Shinoda. The SXSW viewers received a preview of the track seemingly coming soonest, with Illenium dropping “Not Even Love,” a collab with Seven Lions that the pair carried out collectively throughout Illenium’s Trilogy exhibits in Los Angeles final month and which they’ve been closely previewing on-line in the previous few weeks. The track is the followup to their 2016 collab “Rush Over Me,” which additionally confirmed up throughout the set.
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One Pleasant Non Sequitur
Simply when it appeared just like the bass couldn’t get any heavier or extra aggressive, Illenium discovered a method to make the sound even greater, wilder and extra pummeling, giving the entire present a giddy off-the-rails vibe. It was thus a enjoyable and shocking second when, amid all of the heavy stuff, he dropped Alice Deejay’s 1997 Eurodance basic “Higher Off Alone” and for a short minute linked the present to previous eras and different sonic realms of digital music.
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The Visuals
Whereas the music itself alternated between heavy and hovering, the photographs enjoying in tandem echoed this dichotomy. Illenium exhibits are identified for his or her dynamic visible element, and through this present imagery included animated wolves and phoenixes engaged in an epic, Lord of The Rings-style battle, a Tyrannosaurus Rex made of fireplace, animated landscapes from forests to deserts to huge oceans, to darker visuals like zombies (which confirmed up on display when Illenium performed his remix of The Cranberries’ 1994 basic “Zombie”) and pictures of gnashing fangs and glowing skulls.
