Tigerlily performing at Temple SF in San Francisco, CA. January 23, 2016. Photo: Jared Stossel.

Whenever an international artist comes to a city in the United States that they've never performed in for the first time, I can only imagine the combination of anxiety and excitement that runs through their brain. For Tigerlily, I feel like that anxiety must have turned to pure excitement within just three seconds of showing her face behind the decks at Temple SF in San Francisco last Saturday night. Not only was the line all the way out the door from 10 PM onward, but there was a moment when she poked her head up from behind the decks prior to her set to make sure her USB drive was set up and ready to go (I was standing behind the stage). The crowd sees her while the opening DJ is finishing up, and they go ballistic.

She sinks back down behind the turntables after she finishes setting up, waiting for the lights to go down, and crowd starts chanting without hesitation: "TIGER! TIGER! TIGER!" The looks that were exchanged between her and her tour manager couldn't help but make me smile. The DJ looked on in complete disbelief. I canb only imagine how gratifying that moment must have felt.

Around 12:30 PM, the blue-haired Australian DJ took the stage for an hour-and-a-half long headlining set. As a DJ, you have to read the room at every moment of your set. I can honestly say that the energy didn't drop at any moment during that hour and a half. That's VERY hard to do. I've seen some bigger name DJs in the past where the energy will reach a lull for about twenty minutes before coming back up. I admire the fact that Tigerlily was able to keep the same level of energy up throughout the duration of the show.

One of the things that I admired about her set was the fact that she was able to play a lot of the hits that are circulating the turntables right now, but each track was presented with a unique twist. A lot of electro-house and big room DJ sets have become increasingly similar at shows nowadays because these DJs are playing the same exact songs, just in a different order. In this case, Tigerlily was able to play all of these songs, but make them each more unique that what you'd usually hear. My personal favorite was a twist on the incredibly popular "Where Are U Now" by Jack U (aka production super-duo Skrillex and Diplo). I'm not sure if the mashup was created by her, but the Justin Bieber vocal track's pitch was elevated and layered over "Language" by Porter Robinson. This proved to be a very powerful moment in the set, one that saw the entire club moving from front to back. It was nearly impossible to move through the crowd.

I know for a fact that the Bay Area awaits the next time that Tigerlily will come through the area and perform, whether it's at a club show or EDM massive of some type (god knows we have plenty of those around here). Whatever the situation, it is very clear that after Saturday night's performance, she will be welcomed back with open arms and a dance floor that's ready to go crazy.