Illenium Closes out 2018 With Huge Awake 2.0 Tour: REVIEW

After touring in 2017 with his first variation of the Awake live tour, and even bringing it to a few festivals like Buku and Coachella –  Illenium knew there was more that he could bring to the table with this huge live show. Thus was born Awake 2.0 which he debuted to thousands of music-hungry Illenium fans that lovingly call themselves, Illenials, at the legendary Red Rocks venue in Colorado.

But Awake 2.0 was a feat that needed to be seen by more than just a sold out Red Rocks crowd. Only 3 cities were lucky enough to have the Awake 2.0 tour stop by – but that doesn’t mean just 3 dates. Illenium’s Awake 2.0 tour saw 3 dates in San Francisco, 3 Dates in New York and 3 dates in Chicago with every single one being a complete venue sell out. For those keeping score at home – that’s 8 shows – 8 sellouts. San Francisco’s Bill Graham Auditorium boasts an 8,500 capacity, Terminal 5 in New York holds 3,000 and Chicago’s Aragon Ballroom holds 5,000 people. I’ll let you do the math – but that’s a lot of Illenials getting…as Illenium would say, “Vibey.”

I had the opportunity to experience Illenium’s Awake 2.0 show in Chicago for Night 2 at the Aragon Ballroom on December 22nd, 2018.

To say that the crowd was ready would be an understatement – Xie, Trivecta, and Dabin opened the night and each brought a unique sound to the captivated crowd.

The 15-minute changeover between Dabin and Illenium, you could feel the excitement building. There was even an impromptu sing-along to Bassnectar’s “Wildstyle Method” as it played over the house speakers during the changeover.

From the first note – to the encore, die-hard fans in attendance sang along to every word, and held their breaths for Illenium’s live edits – a handful which he just released in celebration of his birthday.

  The Awake 2.0 show felt like the ‘graduated’ version of Awake 1.0. Night 2 featured Mitis on piano and keys, Dabin and Trivecta playing electric guitar, two percussionists and the legendary KJ Sawka on a full drumkit. I’ve said it before – and I will say it again and again, live percussion and EDM is such a nice surprise every time. The kick drums kick that much harder, the crash cymbals create a sense of controlled chaos and the bass drums fill out the room in a way that digital sounds just can’t.

Throughout the entirety of the 90 minutes, Illenium and his band held the crowd’s hand and led them through a journey of Awake and some incredible remixes. Along with a few new songs – Including his new remix for Halsey and a collaboration with Call Me Karizma, “God Damnit.”

For me the highlight of the night came in the break during “God Damnit.” It is one of Illenium’s slower songs, and his production really sets the stage for Call Me Karizma’s emotional, raw vocals. When the first note hit, everyone looked around to their friends so they could sing along together. Everyone took a chance to collect themselves and belt out every damn word. It was truly a beautiful scene.

Along with two sold out shows at the Aragon Ballroom – Illenium was the after-hours soundtrack to even more fans at The Mid and Prysm, 2 nightclubs in Chicago. His show at Prysm featured a huge b2b2b ft. Trivecta, Dabin, and KJ Sawka just to name a few.

Illenium is absolutely at the top of his game right now, and has gathered a devoted audience that is willing to follow him anywhere – as evident by the few people that I talked to that saw all four of Nick Miller’s Chicago performances. 2018 may be hard to top, we will see where 2019 takes this young producer.

Illenium

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Photo Credit: All photos by Drew Ressler/rukes.com