Andrew Veeder on November 13th, 2013

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As days off go, Sunday was full-on.

Shortly after 6:30 p.m. outside the Shrine Auditorium, the Fool’s Gold Records owner took the stage to a huge applause and said, “My name is A-Trak and I’m going to play some records.” The DJ/producer, who started the label with Nick Catchdubs in 2007, also won the DMC World Championship over half his life ago in 1997 at the age of 15, and dazzled the audience with his flawless turntablism – setting the tone at Fool’s Gold Day Off, which celebrated the influential label’s six years.

• ||| Photos by Zimo Huang

A-Trak juggled beats tighter and tighter, down to a single beat like it was effortless, before jumping into another track. Roughly 7,000 were on-hand by his set, dancing through “All The Way Turnt Up,” as well as his own remixes of Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ “Heads Will Roll” and Martin Solveig’s “The Night Out.” The harder the beats hit, the more pumped the crowd got.

Headliner Danny Brown came onstage and immediately jumped down into the photo pit to high-five and hug front-row fans, his tongue hanging out most of the time. Backed by DJ SKYWLKR, they kicked it off with “Express Yourself” and never relented. Brown’s high-pitched, nasal flow growled through a set that featured multiple songs from his new album “Old,” including “Hand Stand,” “Dip,” and “Kush Coma.” Freddie Gibbs returned to the stage to join “The Return,” and then Schoolboy Q made a surprise appearance to tag-team “Dope Fiend Rental.” He stayed onstage and performed his new track “Collard Greens,” with the masses in a frenzy, and then Brown closed with “Smokin & Drinkin” and stuck his tongue out some more in appreciation.

Australian DJ/producer Anna Lunoe played a 2:45 p.m. set of upbeat house and electro, including her single “Breathe.” Nick Catchdubs spun a set next, to a crowd already in the thousands and saw two pairs of crutches in the air among the seas of dancing hands. Travi$ Scott was a no-show due to a missed flight, so IAMSU and the H.B.K. (Heartbreak) Gang joined Catchdubs for a lively set with tracks from their debut album “Gang Forever.”

The sun was going down as DJ Izzo got the crowd hyped up for Freddie Gibbs, who finally walked onstage to announce that someone in the crowd had thrown a bottle at him and that he should shoot the place up as an alternative before exiting. Then, he stormed right back up and began a raucous and angry set including “BFK” and “Still Livin” from last year’s “Baby Face Killa.” Luckily, the only shooting was by Fool’s Gold affiliates firing air-powered guns to launch t-shirts into the audience. Nick Catchdubs spun another short set, proving that DJs can drop any Kendrick Lamar song nowadays and it’ll go over like gangbusters.

DJ Quik came up next, the sun now set, and played a WestCcoast funk-filled greatest hits set that contained “Can You Work Wit That” and “We Still Party.” He rapped from the photo pit and had a fun energy. There were spectators of each of the eight levels of the adjoining parking structure and staircase that were dancing from a bird’s eye view. DJ/producer Kill The Noise came on next to a roaring applause and dropped a 45-minute set of dubby electro, amping the masses up. After his set, A-Trak took the stage and they gushed respect back and forth.

The RSVP check-in lines in front of the Shrine were haphazard, as it took some fans close to an hour to finally get inside the venue, and the event seemed understaffed, but young spectators seemed unwavered and ready for a “day on” at Day Off.