Steve Aoki gives SF champagne wishes and cake-in-your-face dreams

Photos by Sterling Munksgard // Written by Mike Frash

Steve Aoki with Borgore, Waka Flocka Flame, Keys N Krates, and Kryoman
Bill Graham Civic Auditorium – San Francisco
November 16, 2013

Steve Aoki did his best to prove the internet wrong in San Francisco Saturday by mashing together old favorites with new jams for this hyperactive, sold out Aokify America Tour stop — but that’s not to say his performance wasn’t layered in sweet, sticky spectacle. In the world of EDM, Aoki and cake have become somewhat synonymous (see the crowd signs in the photos below). The genre-bending American DJ has made a habit out of tossing a huge cake at whomever he thinks deserves it most. Aoki’s cake-lore spread further this past summer at VELD Music Fest when Aoki caked a dude being held up in his wheelchair 80 feet away from the stage. Bullseye. Aoki also brought along his massive neon-lit robots and inflatable rafts for ragers to go on faux-whitewater adventures above the crowd.

Borgore preceded Aoki with stage aesthetics that revolved around strippers, poles, pasties and champagne that kept the young crowd in a hyper-sexualized state of mind. Waka Flocka Flame curated the crazy early with a high energy set that forced the kandi kids and cake-heads to pump and jump early.