This past Tuesday Nero headlined the Ogden Theater with the talented Dillon Francis as the opener for their Secondreality tour. Some of you may remember that this London duo also happened to open for Skrillex at the 1stBank Center last Halloween at the Spookytings Festival. Nero is comprised of Joe Ray and Dan Stephens and their latest tour highlights their newest “Welcome Reality” album (2011) which has become a smashing hit in both the United States and the UK.
To be honest the night started out a little rushed. Dillon Francis who played the Fox last December is starting to become a well known name in EDM and word on the street from festivals this spring is that he absolutely throws down. Many people were disappointed, however, to find that Dillon was supposed to start his set at 9 PM. He didn’t actually start playing until around 9:15 or so. Either way, there probably should have been another opener to push back the time because it was hard for many people to get down there by 9 PM, myself included, and everyone wanted to see him. I happened to catch the tail end of Dillon’s set and only got to see one of the very last songs so I unfortunately can’t accurately comment on how that part of the night went. However, the last half of the last song that I caught was absolutely brilliant. Keep an eye out for this guy.
Then Nero came on around 10:45 after about ten minutes of production changing the set and they sure came in with a bang. Their well known custom DJ booth fixed with retro game pieces, TVs and amps really added to the overall experience of the show. They opened strong with “New Life” and set a serious precedent for what was to come for the rest of the night. The rest of the songs were from the Welcome Reality album such as Doomsday, Angst, Must be the Feeling, Guilt, Promises, Innocence, 2808, Me & You, the list goes on. Alana came and made a guest appearance by singing on the DJ booth and on glowing cubes on the side of the stage for songs she was featured in. I was lucky enough to score a VIP pass and got the best seat in the house front row on the left side. The speaker decks were probably five feet away from my ear and that is why, two days later, my ears are still ringing like crazy from the noise. Was it worth it? Absolutely. People in the theater were going absolutely nuts the entire time. I’ve never seen the Ogden so packed with so much energy, ever. I only wish Nero could have played longer- the show ended at about 11:45 PM. I would have really liked to have seen them play until at least 12:30 or 1 AM by mixing a few other songs from different artists in with their own set list. Overall, great show. I can’t wait to see what Nero comes out with next!
OVERALL RATING: 4 out of 5 stars
