“My Smallest Show Ever”: Inside Zedd’s Secret, Sweat-Soaked NYC Bodega Rave

Zedd shrunk his stadium-sized spectacle into a synth-fueled sardine tin of euphoria over the weekend, turning a humble NYC bodega into a secret rave he called his "smallest show ever."

Just 25 people shuffled into The Little Shop, a tiny corner store that lives up to its name in the South Seaport neighborhood of Manhattan. The bar was high thanks to MUNDO, whose renegade reggaeton and amapiano raves have been taking the Bronx by storm.

EDM met ATM at the shop, the location of which had been kept secret as part of an elaborate scavenger hunt initiative hosted in partnership with 5 gum. Fans had to decipher a series of hints and clues on social media, then show up to receive a Zedd-branded, glow-in-the-dark pack of 5 gum, which doubled as their ticket. One attendee even said he camped out overnight to ensure access to the rare rave.

The event's development took place over a period of 10 months, according to Maria Urista, Vice President, Gum & Mints at Mars. Her team, she says, set out to "deliver an extremely stimulating sensorial experience fans could get nowhere else" while celebrating dance music culture.

"We kept coming back to the energy and excitement around secret raves, performances for a group of fans dedicated enough to seek them out," Urista tells EDM.com. "It's what led us to developing an underground event of our own, but adding the tension of hiding it in plain sight, with one of the genre's most recognizable talents, in a location where 5 gum can already be found."

"From there, the toughest part to navigate was the ingenuity of our and Zedd’s fans—they dug into each clue we dropped so deeply, sharing theories with each other, and using some incredibly novel ways of piecing everything together," she continues. "We actually ended up changing our clues and the cadence of information we doled out in response to the fervent fan response."

The scene was surreal for those found themselves in Zedd's pocket universe. And the irony was palpable—a man accustomed to commanding crowds at the world's biggest festivals was now locked in a within-arm's-reach interplay with barely two dozen fans.

Remember 5 gum's wild commercials? The ones that showed the world "how it feels to chew 5 gum," which apparently meant spontaneous levitation, the ability to taste colors and the uncontrollable urge to parkour? Crammed into a single narrow bodega aisle and dripping sweat as Zedd performed the most intimate show of his career, we finally understood what they meant.

"This is just such a fucking unique experience for me," Zedd said at one point. "So I can't say 'thank you' enough because I never get to do this."

We experienced an exclusive nosedive into the stratospheric Telos, Zedd's first album in nearly a decade, which releases on Friday. As never-before-heard music and generational dance anthems like "Clarity" and "I Want You to Know" reverberated off linoleum floors, The Little Shop transformed into a hypnogogic dream where the ordinary collided spectacularly with the extraordinary.

In this minuscule slice of raving heaven, he proved that true musical magic isn't measured by the size of the venue, but by the electricity shared between an artist and their fans.

"It far exceeded my expectations and the energy and vibes were unmatched," said attendee Flo Patino. "From Zedd thanking us for being there, to talking to us, the new songs that haven't come out yet, everything was incredible—it felt like having a best friend in front of me playing. It was so beautiful that I got home, thought about everything that had happened and had teary eyes from the emotion because it felt like a once-in-a-lifetime experience."

The rave capitalized on 5 gum's long-latent goal of harnessing the energy of electronic dance music to appeal to their consumers, according to Urista. The partnership, she says, was the latest in the brand's mission "to be part of life's most thrilling moments" through music events and activations with beloved artists. 

"Music means so much to our consumers, and our product can be found at concerts, festivals and shows across the country—it’s only natural for our brand to look for ways to amp up that experience," Urista explains.

After a number of compelling brand activations in the hip-hop world, like a unique jewelry collection featuring actual 5 gum chewed by Yungblud and a custom cassette track with J.I.D that only five fans could listen to just five times before the tape shredded, it was time. So they called on Zedd, one of the world's most influential electronic music producers.

"We have wanted to play in EDM for years, and partnering with Zedd for this year’s campaign was a no-brainer," she continues. "His fandom and our audience perfectly overlap, he’s been creating some of the most thrilling music moments for more than a decade and he’s on the verge of releasing his first new album in almost 10 years—the perfect moment for the brand to celebrate."

Fans of Zedd can pre-save Telos here. The album is scheduled to release on August 30th, 2024.

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