DJ_DAVE
The Echo — Los Angeles, CA
Artists // DJ_Dave
Venue // the echo
Date // 02122026
Indexed By // cameron
It turns out the easiest way to make friends at a concert is to say “I’m writing a show review for a magazine, can I ask you a few questions?”
It works really well. Especially if that show is in LA and everyone in the crowd are indie sleaze kids with fits ripped straight from 2012 tumblr.
This is the kind of scene that forms on Sunset Blvd on a Thursday night when someone comes up with the insane idea to book DJ_Dave and EsDeeKid at the same venue (kinda).
I know I’m at the right place whenever I see Maria from Bassvictim on a night out. Happens way more often than you would think, I don’t know when she finds the time to make music. Feel like she’s out more than anyone in this city, but I’m taking it as a good omen to start the night.
I think she’s probably here for EsDeeKid, but I here for DJ_Dave. Her first headline show in city where she now lives. If you don’t know who she is, I beg you to check her out. Very cutting edge, internet-era electronic music as much of a performance artist and creative technologist as a musician — she live codes all her music on some software I don’t really understand but looks really cool and sounds really good.
I’ll let her explain more.
After smoking a cig on the patio and feeling the vibrations of the bass in LV Sandals through the concrete above The Echoplex, I head inside to get my place for the show.
Simple set up, but the visuals were anything but. DJ_Dave takes the stage and kicks off the set by opening her terminal and initiating whatever script starts the bassline for Airglow (insane track btw).
The crowd slips into some sort of trance watching the lines of code generate on the screen behind her. The energy of the room displayed in 1’s and 0’s. Her voice floats above the tracks, a soft glow over schizophrenic beats tinged with retro-futurist nostalgia.
Can those numbers on her screen really be responsible for making me feel this way? I guess so. Type of shit the would’ve burned you at the stake for 200 years ago.
She also just has a really really good vibe. Her stage presence is one of radiant positivity, which comes across as uncommonly authentic. As you can imagine for a first show like this, the crowd was filled with a lot of her close friends and family. Very intimate, very personal. I felt lucky to be there.
A couple more songs into the set and someone offered me poppers, I said no but felt bad about it. I wonder if I give off an i-do-poppers vibe or if he was just trying to make friends.
After she played through a few unreleased tracks I didn’t know (but am very excited for) she pretended to leave the stage before her inevitable return to play Hard Refresh, her latest and most popular single that no one really believed she was gonna leave the stage without playing. THANK GOD shit didn’t, that shit banged.
Finally she wrapped up a pretty short set that I wish was far longer and the crowd dispersed.
On the way out, I watched two girls get out of a black Escalade trying to get into the venue only to be told the show was over. Sucks for them but they gave me my Overheard LA moment so great for me.
Girl #1 // oh my god… I told u we should’ve gotten here earlier. it started like 3 hours ago.
Girl #2 // I’m sorry, I got ready as fast as I could.
Girl #1 // what do you mean, you didn’t get up until like 6pm?
Girl #2 // who in this city is even awake before 6pm?
I love LA ( and DJ_Dave) <3
Highly, highly, highly recommend you go see one of her sets if you can. Very special performer that is inventing her own genre and pushing it forward at the same time.
* THE INDEX
Overall Rating // [3.7]
Atmosphere // [3.6]
Crowd // [3.8]
Venue // [3.7]
THE INDEXFEB 16, 2026
