Skrillex, Fred again.. and Four Tet – A look inside their last minute ‘Rumble’ release show in London
The trio of electronic magicians played a spectacular third secret set with tickets selling out in seconds, just hours before the show!
The spontaneous run of shows from the 5th to the 7th of January were each finalised on the day of the show. This comes after Skrillex and Fred Again.. were celebrating the drop of their much anticipated single ‘Rumble’ together on the 4th. They reached out via Instagram story asking for a last-minute venue in Fred’s hometown of London. Then the chaos erupted as each artist randomly released a ticket link on their stories, only a few hours before the show, and within seconds, tickets were sold out.
Fellow DJ, Nia Archives, as well as worldwide popstar Dua Lipa were some of the huge stars spotted dancing in the crowd on Saturday night. The final show of 3 was at Troxy in East London with a capacity of just over 3,000 and it did not disappoint!
If getting tickets wasn’t lucky enough, after arriving just 45 minutes early, I managed to make my way to secure a spot about half a meter from the front barrier. As soon as the doors were open at 8pm the three DJ’s were ready at the decks, warming up the crowd, chatting to fans and setting up for what was going to be an incredible 4 hours.
The show got off to a flying start with every track hyping up the crowd more and more. I looked behind me and the venue was full of people flooding the sides and back of the decks. Fred looked up at the cheering crowd before taking the microphone, “We’re on a hattrick London and we are so gassed that you’re here with us tonight – thank you!”
They teased the crowd with a remix of ‘Rhythm N Gash‘ followed by Fred’s huge single ‘Turn On The Lights again..‘ which got the fans bouncing and that’s when the real lightshow started. Dubstep heavyweight Skrillex then took to the decks, playing his own remix of Kendrick Lamar‘s ‘HUMBLE’. 
However, the show wasn’t without its flaws as 2 hours in the sound system started glitching and Four Tet was cut off more than once which left everybody confused. After an awkward few minutes of no music, three stressed DJ’s and Skrillex passing the blame to anyone but himself – of course it was fan favourite Fred Again.. who saved the day.
With a smile on his face, he took out his keyboard and plays the melody of his own song ‘Danielle‘ telling the crowd “we don’t know what’s going to happen, you don’t know what’s going to happen but we might as well give it our best.” At this point everyone (including myself) was just ecstatic that the show was carrying on despite sweat dripping from the ceiling.
The energy in the room then became electric as the trio welcomed special guest Flowdan and it was time to RUMBLE. The new single was remixed more than 5 times with Flowdan flawlessly rapping live to the crowds delight.
As the show was coming to a close, a roller-coaster of emotions were experienced. My night peaked when I heard a drum and bass remix of Harry Styles’ ‘As it Was’. Although this was short lived when the song was stopped after a careless crowd surfer dived off the decks and into the crowd, knocking out a girl on his way down.
After a short break and the girl getting to safety with help from none other than Sonny (Skrillex) himself – the show continued.
To end the remarkable evening, Fred Again.. played an emotional last tune from his first solo album called ‘Angie (i’ve been lost)’ telling the crowd to repeat the moving lyrics “Lost, I’ve been lost, but I’m really trying”.
The love and respect between the three talented producers was completely infectious. Throughout the night I could see strangers coming together to share moments that will last a lifetime.
Check out @chunesmp on TikTok for exclusive video content from the night.
To read more on Fred Again.. and his incredible rise to solo fame in the electronic scene, click this link: https://chunes-blogs-lincoln-ac-uk.blogs.lincoln.ac.uk/2022/10/04/fred-again-from-lowkey-background-producer-to-king-of-electronic-music/