A back-to-back (B2B) is a long-understood DJ performance style featuring two (or more) artists mixing simultaneously. Skrillex, Four Tet, and Fred Again.. famously closed out Sunday night of Coachella 2023 Week 2 with a legendary, 360-degree boiler room-style set. B2Bs are popular for allowing fans to see familiar DJs collaborate to produce live sets that are original and different from their solo sets.
In the last few years, there has been a swift increase in marketing novel DJ duo bookings to sell more tickets for exclusive performances. Some artists have joined together to form a new project with a new sound, such as Kaskade and Deadmau5 forming Kx5, Nitti and Party Favor forming Sidepiece, and Ghastly and Joyryde forming Ghost Rydr. Other collaborative projects received a new name, but maintain a familiar sound that is akin to a B2B set – for example, Griztronics (GRiZ and Subtronics), Dab the Sky (Dabin and Said the Sky), and Gigantic NGHTMRE (Big Gigantic and NGHTMRE). Finally, there are DJ duos who have created entire tours around their joint work together, like Porter Robinson and Madeon on their worldwide Shelter Tour, Chris Lake and Fisher on their Under Construction Tour, Tchami and Malaa’s No Redemption Tour, and Morten and David Guetta combining for their Future Rave Tour.
Besides these specially named collaborations and tours, there are also rare artist pairings booked for festivals to create unique once-in-a-lifetime experiences. A few examples of this happened recently at Electric Daisy Festival (EDC) Las Vegas 2023 – John Summit was the surprise set at Circuit Grounds and went B2B with Subtronics for the first half hour, as well as a marquee debut B2B of EDM icon Marshmello and the demonic bass of SVDDEN DEATH.
So, why the sudden uptick in B2Bs? Artist collabs aren’t new. In fact, some of the most iconic and genre-defining dance tracks are joint projects or remixes of an original song: “Cinema (Skrillex Remix)” was released in 2011 by Benny Benassi, and the 2014 trap collab “Tell Me” became a career-defining hit for RL Grime and What So Not.
Electronic music has a way of evolving as artists try something new in the studio and perform live on the decks in front of a crowd. By pairing unlikely partners together or joining a well-loved complementary pair, it drives the FOMO that brings the fans out to witness live music that may never happen again. B2Bs also allow artists to partner on the decks so they can create combinations that would not be possible with only one person. For example, Borgore and Level Up had three tracks chopping at once during their EDC Las Vegas 2023 set which would have been nearly impossible with only two hands.
The collaborative process is also fun and exciting for the artists because there is less pressure with another DJ/producer beside you, and there is more opportunity to engage with the crowd. B2Bs can actually give artists more room to be creative with their mixes as partners can swap in and out of songs and play out tracks that might never be mixed together in another setting.
With the summer festival season in full swing, there are bunches of B2Bs to look forward to. Moonrise in Baltimore features Sullivan King B2B Wooli and Rusko B2B Dirt Monkey to name just a few. Excision’s Basstrack in Phoenix will showcase Phase One B2B Funtcase and Drinkurwater B2B Hairitage, while New York City’s Electric Zoo hosts HI-LO B2B Eli Brown and the world premiere Everything Always production from John Summit B2B Dom Dolla. Insomniac’s Nocturnal Wonderland has Nitti B2B Marten Horger and Getter B2B Space Laces, while Imagine in Atlanta features some new pairings such as Dillon Francis B2B Knock2 and Subtronics B2B Ganja White Night.
As one can see, the proliferation of B2Bs in a festival setting is a big draw for fans to see new sets from familiar artists working together. Succumb to the FOMO and go see that set in case it never happens again – that is the beauty and exclusivity of the B2B.
