Vince Lyons waited in a line wrapped around the Westcott Theater, packed with people donning rainbow wigs and gas masks, standing in the cold for an hour.

Lyons, a college student from Baldwinsville, N.Y., studies music theory, and as an aspiring DJ, admires those who create dubstep music. He said he was looking forward to seeing Skrillex play.

Will it be worth waiting an entire hour?

He smiled and said, ‘I’ll let you know after the show.’

Rising dubstep artist Skrillex performed Sunday to a sold-out crowd at the Westcott Theater as his last show in the United States for a month. He plans to fly to London on Monday to tour and perform in Europe.

Despite the audience members’ low energy during the opening acts, Skrillex’s interactive performance ultimately hyped up the crowd. The sold-out show demonstrated dubstep’s rising popularity in Syracuse.

At about 9 p.m., an hour after the concert was supposed to start, Silas Maximus, one of the openers, began playing on the dimly lit stage. The concertgoers bobbed their heads and danced briefly, but many talked over the music while the scent of marijuana wafted through the room. At one point, Maximus stopped the music, and boos emitted from the crowd.

The second opener, Mikey Parkay, began at about 10 p.m. Unlike Maximus, who didn’t interact with the audience, Parkay was lively and upbeat, constantly fist pumping in rhythm with the music. The crowd erupted in cheers after his first song.

While everyone danced, Taylor Pormeter, a student from Cassadaga, N.Y., faced a slight predicament: He was in crutches.

‘All I could really do is put them up,’ he said.

Although he enjoyed the concert, Pormeter thought the opening acts could have been better.

For Kaitlin Maloney, a sophomore international relations major, this was her first dubstep concert experience. She said a friend introduced her to the genre, and she has since grown to like it.

‘You can feel it in your body,’she said, looking around at the restless crowd.

When Skrillex took the stage at 11 p.m., the crowd erupted into hysterics, and for the next hour and a half, he evoked high energy and enthusiasm to every single song in the set. Skrillex’s interactive performance kept the audience engaged.

Josh Masteropietro, a Syracuse resident, danced along with the rest of the audience. He smiled and said, ‘This is awesome, I love it, I am having fun,’ as he pointed toward Skrillex.

About halfway through his set, Skrillex paused. ‘You guys are making me sweat,’ he said. The crowd erupted into more cheers.

Many people knew Skrillex’s music and belted out the lyrics. However, Skrillex also played some classic tunes, such as Michael Jackson’s ‘Pretty Young Thing,’ and paused during the songs, encouraging the audience to sing along.

Skrillex’s antics continued throughout his set. He took a shirt, swung it around and then tossed it into the anxious crowd. During one of his more well-known songs, ‘Sexy Lady,’ he dovef rom the stage into the audience, much to the displeasure of the security who quickly beckoned him back on stage.

At the end of his set, he announced he would play a new song for the audience. The crowd screamed.

Max Cutri, a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences, said he couldn’t stop dancing throughout the night and thoroughly enjoyed Skrillex’s performance.

‘It was insane, such a good show,’ Cutri said. ‘He knew what the crowd wanted.’

cabidwel@syr.edu

Published on February 27, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Contact Colleen: cbidwill@syr.edu