Cuddly UK DJ, music-maker, and often-fascinating collaborator Fred Again dropped into the Cow Palace on Friday night for the ninth stop of his “10 Shows in 10 Cities in 10 Weeks” sprint, promoting new release USB002. San Francisco (well, technically Daly City) only got four days’ notice, but that didn’t stop the main arena from selling out in minutes. The ticket was officially $87, but you know how it goes: The second the AXS queue spat people out, StubHub lit up like a slot machine.
To good-natured Fred’s credit, his team tried to keep the grifting to a minimum; resale was capped at face value +10% on AXS, and they threatened to cancel any profiteered third-party sales. But I was wondering how it would even be enforced? Meanwhile, on StubHub and the Rave-Exchange Facebook group, listings shot up to $300, sometimes $500. I asked as many attendees as I could how much they actually paid–real deal investigative journalism—and most said somewhere in the $87–$120 zone.
A group of about 10 girls from LA told me they paid $260 each, plus hotel and flights. The highest number I got was from a Bay Area native who shelled out $300. So Fred’s intentions may have been pure, but the resale economy continues to put a stain on high demand shows.
Inside, none of that mattered for long. The energy hit hard immediately, which is rare for a crowd this massive and this pop-culture-online. This was a pure DJ set from Fred, rather than one of his lauded live shows, which don’t shy from more melodic, melancholic moments and hands-around-shoulders singalongs. Those who caught last year’s Civic Center show with Fred Again and Skrillex knew what to expect, though.
At the doors, staff slapped stickers on everyone’s phone cameras, continuing a growing club trend that Berlin techno temple Berghain pioneered more than a decade ago. A good portion of the room peeled them off (guilty as charged for essential journalism purposes), but the mere presence of the sticker worked like a moral compass. People still filmed, but quietly, maybe fearfully. Ten seconds, and then a panic shove into the pocket. Somehow, that collective low-stakes guilt created the best dance floor I’ve seen—at this scale and popularity—in years.
The opening locals came out swinging. DJs Clearcast, bad juuju, and Vertigo stitched together bass, breaks, house, Jersey club, and a good sampling of the Bay Area electronic scene. Then the UK wing took over: Oppidan brought crisp, bubbly garage; Hamdi dished out heavy bass and speed-garage, just like he did earlier this year at Portola. After the openers, it was safe to say the room was warmed up exceedingly well for the main act of the night.
Fred took the stage and played through every corner of his catalog: melodic house, bass bangers, emo vocal edits, even a hard-groove detour thanks to his work with Floating Points. But nothing hit harder than a remix of “You’re a Star” featuring Amyl and the Sniffers, which was twisted into the filthiest bass drop of the night. The entire arena, including me, snapped into the dirtiest stank face, throwing our heads around as if our necks were elastic.
By the time he closed out his set, you could feel why people had flown in or sold a kidney on StubHub. The night felt sweaty and communal, while serving as proof that dance music doesn’t need 3000 phones pointed upward to feel important.
I was approved for a media pass but couldn’t shoot professionally, so I brought a compact Lumix and grabbed a few personal shots anyway. I consider them souvenirs from a night where San Francisco showed up. The last stop of Fred Again’s tour is yet to be revealed, but Friday proved dance music is at its best when we’re all in the moment—or at the very least when people aren’t filming the entire night.
