For the last weekend of January, the entire music community turns their eyes towards Los Angeles, the city that plays home and host to the annual Grammy Awards. Though ‘Music’s Biggest Night’ took place on Sunday, January 26th, the city was eager to jump into celebrations with several hot Pre-Grammy parties around town. Create Nightclub, a recent newcomer to the Southern California nightlife scene, has made more than a noticeable entrance with their consistent onslaught of dance music talent and undoubtedly, Grammy Weekend was no exception. Within the hour of announcing two coveted Pre-Grammy shows featuring Kaskade on Friday and Tiësto the following day, both events were sold out.

Hollywood was unusually busy and bustling early on in the evening; follow the rumble of the luxury car engines and the clicking heels and you’ll find yourself at the concealed entrance of Create, like the city’s best kept secret tucked away behind a wall of buildings. A lingering sense of anticipation buzzed around the venue as fans clad in Kaskade gear began to flow steadily into the dark dance floor. Vice opened the evening with an easing rendition of “California Love,” but without hesitation, weaved the pounding riff of Hard Rock Sofa & Swanky Tunes’ “Here We Go” which accelerated into a bass-driven assortment of pop, trap, and progressive hits. With a final highlight for a live vocal showcase of his original, “World Is Our Playground” featuring Mike Taylor, Vice began to tone the atmosphere down in preparation for the evening’s honored guest.

With a burst of Create’s striking neon light production, Kaskade glided behind the booth with his familiar look of concentration in preparation for his set ahead. A steady build rose a swell of cheers from his crowd before the resonating lyrics from his edit of Galantis’ “Smile” poured through the speakers of the club. As the dance room crowd bounced in sync to electro lifts, people began to materialize in the main room, lining the walls and covering every inch of the floor space.

Throughout his recent year of non-stop touring, Ryan Raddon has developed two vastly different ‘set’ styles ranging from a big room, Freaks of Nature Tour and hit packed type set and his ‘Redux,’ all-night deep house dive back to his roots. Post-Atmosphere and Atmosphere Tour, after demonstrating that his melodically striking Grammy-nominated album could also easily be translated into a festival ready electro show, his Create set to come was undetermined and up in the air. As the groove of his upcoming set began to pan out and the audience quickly packing onto the dance floor, Kaskade began to layer tech style house tunes one over the other. Wayne & Woods’ recent “Favela” and Style of Eye’s remix of “Roar” struck sweet spots with his audience, long before the well-seasoned producer even touched any of his own original track catalog.

As Friday night ticked closer to becoming Saturday morning, Kaskade seamlessly began a slow transition from heavier house to melody focused tracks, a maneuver that played perfectly into the floating energy of “Atmosphere” and “Last Chance” as he began to lay down his Atmosphere originals. As early club goers began to filter home around 2 AM, Ryan switched gears towards deep house to keep the night going strong with his diehard audience. Strokes of Don Diablo and CID’s “Got Me Thinkin” and the aptly accurate lyrics of GotSome’s “Bassline” lifted Create into late hours of the night. With closing time looming overhead, Kaskade concluded his Pre-Grammy set with flair: at 4 AM, he let his classic namesake “4 AM” close out for a final goodbye.

Kaskade was nominated for two Grammy awards including Best Dance Recording for “Atmosphere” and Best Dance/Electronica Album for Atmosphere.

Photos courtesy of NAFT Photography and Life After Dusk

Tags: create nightclub, Grammy Weekend, grammys, kaskade, los angeles, vice

Categories: Features