Let’s be honest, if you know who Seven Lions is, odds are you probably know that every show that he has is never something to be disappointed about. Already being one of the biggest EDM artists out there, these shows are literally “WOW” and spectacular every time. Bill Graham is also the perfect venue for any show like this. Flames on the drops during the heavy dubstep segments, and lasers during the more electro songs. Literally, a rave.
As soon as the doors opened, music was already playing. This show had 3 openers, all having great music that was there to hype you up for the main act. Seven Lions on this part of his “Pantheon” tour brought out Gem and Tauri, Last Heroes, and Wooli. Put together, including Seven Lions, you get a constant 5 hours of electro house, melodic house/techno, melodic dubstep, future bass, riddim, trance, and glitch hop.
If you’re just now breaking into the EDM scene and culture, I would say that this show is pretty eye opening because the community of this genre of music is actually full of love and support to everyone. That is all that I saw at this show. In the hallways, the parking lot, and even in the bathrooms, everyone is just full of love and positive vibrations. I actually saw Seven Lions’ videographer pass by in the hallway and he gathered a group of people to get hyped for a shot. I just loved seeing that because I know for a fact that I’ve never seen that at any other show.
Going back to the music played that night, I would definitely rate it at a 10 out of 10. Unlike smaller shows, this one felt like it was just pieced together more carefully as if they knew how the crowd was going to react and with the energy they had. Seven Lions can get down with a lot of Trance, like A LOT, but he definitely did this time with an equal balance that was appropriate. In the bay, and typically for a show at Bill Graham, the music that most of the people want to hear is what is called the “simpy” music. I am not at all bashing on the style of music, I actually listen to it pretty frequently as well, but I will say it is the music like this that Seven Lions had a part of making that really makes his shows more cinematic and deeper hitting to the heart. I loved it.
In all, definitely check out a show like this, there’s something always happening at Bill Graham, so no excuse to not check something out this big. If I must say so too, get there before 8pm if you want to be able to get a parking spot at the main Bill Graham parking lot because it DOES fill up pretty fast. So just be sure to plan your entire night and you’ll be set straight to have a good time!
Written by Niko Ramirez
I am very familiar with the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium and the EDM community. I have attended many raves there in the past couple of years. Seven Lions is one of my favorite artists from this genre. Last time I saw them was at Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View. I can only imagine what it would have been like to see them at an indoor venue where the sound bounces off the walls.
First and foremost this was a great piece from Niko Ramirez. I really enjoyed his description of what a show like this can be like for people who might not be into the EDM scene. One piece that stood out to me in this article is how Ramirez noted that during this particular show, Seven Lions was able to balance out how much trance he played versus other things like “simpy music.” Another thing that stood out to me because I do frequent the Bill Graham Civic Center for EDM shows is how he mentioned to get there before 8 pm if you want parking in the parking garage right beneath the venue.