Pokémon's first EDM concert filled the Intuit Dome with Marshmello, Alison Wonderland and on-screen battles, and London is next on Nov. 10.
Pokémon marked its 30th anniversary on Saturday night with something it had never tried before: a full EDM concert. Variety reports that Pokémon Night Out filled the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles with lasers, pyrotechnics and a giant video wall, with Marshmello headlining and Alison Wonderland in support.
The show was livestreamed on Twitch and YouTube, according to the official Pokémon 30 site, and a second date is set for The O2 in London on November 10.
Pokémon Night Out, set by set
Variety says Alison Wonderland opened with a countdown of nearly every Pokémon while she played in front of the video wall. She remixed the classic theme from the TV show and brought out a neon-lit Pikachu mascot with colour-changing ears. The standout moment, per the report, was her remix of the Lavender Town theme, played over footage from Pokémon Red and Blue.
Marshmello's set leaned harder on the screen. Variety describes his DJ booth appearing to float in the middle of the wall while animated Pokémon flew, danced and fought around him. Corviknight crossed a city skyline, Toxtricity jammed alongside him during "Come & Go" with Juice Wrld, and Lucario and Greninja burst through a frozen screen in the middle of an ice-covered battle.
The biggest reaction, the outlet says, came when Groudon and Kyogre faced off, with the screen split between erupting volcanoes and crashing waves. The night ended with Mewtwo telekinetically lifting rocks and even a mini animated Marshmello, before the real one closed on "Happier".
Why EDM, and why now
Narbeh Minasians, senior director of brand communications and digital marketing at The Pokémon Company International, told Variety the fit was natural. He pointed to EDM's "peace, love, unity and respect" principles and said they line up with Pokémon's mission of bringing people together. "We've never done anything like this before," he said.
It is an easy pairing to doubt on paper. A family-friendly monster-catching series and head-banging dance music do not obviously share a crowd. But the people who grew up with Red and Blue in the late 1990s are now old enough to buy arena tickets, and that is the audience the official site describes, a show "curated for audiences seeking a deeper connection with the brand".
Variety adds that cosplayers packed the arena, dressed as Pokémon and as trainers from the anime.
Our take
This part is analysis, not reporting. The livestream is the most interesting piece for us. A concert built around a video wall, with animated battles scripted to the music, translates to a screen far better than most live shows do, so the stream probably worked well for anyone not in the building. Variety's writer hopes the show paves the way for more Pokémon music events. Whether a second EDM date still feels like an event rather than a routine is something the London crowd will show.
Picture credit: The Pokémon Company
