Inglewood’s Intuit Dome was transformed into a high-decibel arena rave on Saturday night, bringing lasers, fog, flames, and massive Pokémon animations to thousands of music fans and gamers, as Time Out Los Angeles reported.
The sold-out event, dubbed Pokémon Night Out, combined big-name electronic dance music acts with visual elements from the long-running video game and anime franchise. The L.A.-area arena served as one of only two locations on the planet chosen to host the concert series, which is tied directly to the 30th anniversary of the video game franchise. A second stop is scheduled for London in November.
While the main event delivered a standard high-energy EDM spectacle, the Pokémon framing was visible from the moment attendees arrived. Thousands of fans wearing Pokémon T-shirts, athletic jerseys, and detailed cosplay filled the concourses and outside plazas. Crowds gathered early to line up for photographs beside a statue of Mewtwo and Mew, while a massive line stretched outside for official merchandise. Inside the venue, attendees actively logged into Pokémon Go on their mobile phones while waiting for the arena doors to open, while the lines for drinks at the bar remained practically nonexistent.
The music lineup featured two prominent dance acts that took different approaches to incorporating the theme. Opening act Alison Wonderland leaned into the source material throughout her set. She incorporated remixes of the original television series intro theme song along with a reworked version of the game's iconic, melancholy Lavender Town background music. Her stage performance was backed by a continuous parade of character illustrations, and she brought out a physical costumed Pikachu wearing a light-up hat and glasses to dance on stage.
Headliner Marshmello focused primarily on his standard electronic repertoire, but performed in front of arena-sized digital animations featuring prominent creatures from the franchise. Visual highlights during his set included giant animations of the legendary creatures Kyogre and Groudon battling across the video screens framing his DJ booth, the ghostly character Gengar hurling animated fireballs, and the psychic Pokémon Mewtwo levitating a digital render of Marshmello above the stage. Other fan-favorite characters like Jigglypuff and Charizard also made frequent appearances on the massive screens as attendees cheered and filmed the performance from the floor.
Despite the digital spectacle, physical character appearances remained minimal. Pikachu's early appearance during the opening set served as the only live costumed character to walk the stage throughout the night. Musically, Alison Wonderland's set provided the only direct remixes of the franchise's music tracks, as Marshmello chose not to include musical homages to the games or show during his headlining slot.
Still, the crowd filled out the arena floor and aisles, breaking the internet stereotype of passive concertgoers by actively dancing throughout the sets. The event proved that the affection for the decades-old franchise could easily fill a modern, top-tier sports arena in Southern California, leaving local dance fans to watch how the upcoming European performance compares.
