Illenium Reigned Supreme During Sold-Out San Francisco Shows

Illenium finally arrived in San Francisco for two epic sold-out weekends at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium. Here’s how the first night went down!

In 2024, San Francisco has been spoiled with many legendary events. From the iconic Skrillex and Fred again.. performance in the Civic Center Plaza to a four-night marathon of Martin Garrix sets to the pummeling beats of Excision, there’s been no shortage of excellent dance music in the bustling city.

This past weekend kicked off another stellar run of shows with the first of two sold-out weekends for Illenium as he finally returned to the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco. Admittedly, he has never been an artist that has caught my attention, so when this event was announced, there was no haste to make it out. It wasn’t until my partner expressed her enthusiasm over one of her favorite artists coming into town that I decided to open up and give Illenium another chance.

Upon arriving at the venue, I went upstairs to catch the end of HVDES. As my first exposure to her live sets, I was elated to see that she brought an electrifying energy that hooked the crowd for every song. With the release of her new album on the horizon, she is undoubtedly an artist to keep an ear on for the rest of the year.

Immediately after, fans in attendance were given a dose of drum and bass by Blanke as he put his ÆON:MODE project on full display. As soon as the speakers were filled with the grimy sounds of drum and bass, the entire venue erupted in screams of enthusiasm and surprise. This was the second time I saw Blanke under his drum and bass alias, and the track selection was even better than the first time. Viral hits mixed with unexpected twists and turns made for an exciting set that kept the energy high in preparation for the headlining performance.

ILLENIUM San Francisco — Photo Credit: Andrew Rosas

As ÆON:MODE’s set came to a close, fans in the venue had some time to rest during the intermission before the main event.

As I had spent most of the event up in the balcony section, I knew that it was time to go down into the thick of the crowd for Illenium’s set. Donning my Mil Muertes lucha libre mask, I geared up to go through the sea of people on the floor and get to a good spot where I could feel the bass shattering my bones. Unlike other past events I’ve attended at Bill Graham, the crowd was extremely nice, with many people complimenting me on my mask, even if they had mistaken it for Rey Mysterio’s.

Illenium took the decks within a few minutes when we finally settled on a spot and captivated the hearts of everyone for his entire set.

While there were times when Illenium’s set got too slow for my liking, it was versatile overall with fan-favorite records like “Takeaway” and “Good Things Fall Apart” and ridiculously heavy bass tunes like “One Two” by Virtual Riot. During his set, fun memories were created as I stepped out of character to headbang with newly made friends, screamed “Oh my gosh!” at least ten times, and enjoyed the sing-a-longs to tunes I didn’t know myself.

While Illenium has never been an artist who I absolutely needed to catch when he’s played, however, this show in San Francisco got me rethinking my previous notions about him. Initially, I was mentally prepared to endure a set full of sad-boy bass music, but I had lots of fun once I let go of my expectations and embraced the experience. I still don’t feel the urge to see him every chance I get (sorry, bassheads), but I gained respect for his ability to perform well and put on a show that, in short, made me think melodic bass music is cool.