Long Island, Pikachu can rave now.
Pokémon turned 30 this year, and on Saturday night it threw its first-ever EDM concert. Marshmello headlined a sold-out Intuit Dome in Los Angeles, with Alison Wonderland opening. They called it Pokémon Night Out.
- What
- Pokémon Night Out, a 30th-anniversary EDM concert
- Who
- Marshmello, with Alison Wonderland opening
- Where
- Intuit Dome, Inglewood, Calif. (sold out)
- When
- Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026, livestreamed on Pokémon’s YouTube and Twitch
- Next show
- The O2 Arena, London, Nov. 10. Tickets via AXS
Lasers, Pokémon battles and a lot of Pikachus
Both DJs built custom sets with new Pokémon visuals. Alison Wonderland remixed the classic TV theme and the spooky Lavender Town music from the original games. A neon Pikachu mascot danced behind her booth.
Then Marshmello took over the whole dome. Lasers, smoke, confetti, pyro. Fire Pokémon came with real flames. Ice Pokémon came with fake snow. Groudon and Kyogre went to war on a split screen of volcanoes and tidal waves. Mewtwo floated a tiny animated Marshmello across the screen.
He closed with “Happier.” Of course he did.
The crowd came dressed for it, too. Marshmello gave a shout-out to “all the Pikachus in the house.”
Why it matters
Pokémon says this is a first. “We’ve never done anything like this before,” Narbeh Minasians of The Pokémon Company International told Variety. He pointed to PLUR, the rave code of peace, love, unity and respect, as the bridge between the two worlds.
A kids’ game that grew up with its fans just packed an arena with ravers. That’s a big deal for dance music.
No East Coast date has been announced. If one drops, you’ll hear it here first. Keep it locked to WLIT.FM.
Sources: Variety, Forbes via Yahoo Entertainment, The Pokémon Company. Photo: Q1q2q3qwertz, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
