After saving the day at Titletown's Flo Rida concert, DJay Mando is back Saturday
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GREEN BAY - DJay Mando is headed back to the Titletown District on Saturday night to open for singer-rapper Bryce Vine, but topping his last show there might be a tall order.
The Milwaukee-based Mando and his crew memorably performed a marathon set outside Lambeau Field on June 3 when travel delays kept headliner Flo Rida from taking the stage on time in front of a huge crowd. What was originally scheduled to be an hourlong opening performance turned into nearly three, with Flo Rida eventually showing up an hour and 40 minutes late.
All in a night’s work for Mando, who is well-known for the high-energy vibe he brings to Milwaukee Bucks and Wisconsin Badgers games.
“That was was easily one of the most fun shows I’ve ever been a part of, just because it kind of had everything,” he said. “There was just so many people. That was the first time that I’ve seen Titletown where it’s front to back, side to side flooded with people. All eyes were on us pretty much, and we had to go overtime to kind of keep things cohesive, and that was a lot of fun, too.”
With the help of his “secret weapons,” dancers Dos, Chris G, Dellz and Heaven, they kept the energy positive and crowd bouncing, shaking and rocking while Flo Rida was still in the air en route from a gig earlier in the day in Illinois.
“Our job is to make sure the people that are there don’t realize how long they’re waiting for the headliner most times, and so the way you do that is by making sure they have fun,” he said. “Our job is fun, and we have fun doing it, and I feel like that energy is contagious.”
Last-minute changes in how long one of his sets might go is more common than people might realize, he said. Sometimes a half-hour turns into three hours. He did one at EPIC Event Center in Ashwaubenon that was scheduled for 30 to 45 minutes but ultimately clocked in at just 8 minutes.
It’s all about being flexible and, if all else fails, play "Jump Around." As a University of Wisconsin-Madison graduate, it's one of Mando's favorites to spin and all but guarantees a "mini earthquake" in the crowd.
When the twists and turns kept coming at the Flo Rida show, his manager was sitting stage left and giving him signals as to how much longer to play as updates were coming in backstage. It went something like this:
Flo Rida was still in the air. Go another 30 minutes.
Then another 45 minutes.
Flo Rida landed but is in Titletown traffic. Go another 30 minutes.
Flo Rida has arrived and is in the dressing room getting ready. Go another 25 minutes.
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At one point when it looked like Flo Rida was ready to hit the stage, they took down Mando’s stage setup, only to find out he would need to go back on to fill more time. So back up it went. Mando worried the crowd might be upset when he and his dancers showed back up.
“But when we hit the stage again and like, ‘Yo, we’re back,’ everybody just erupted. It was awesome,” Mando said.
He was thrilled by all the raves on social media the next day for going the distance to keep fans happy.
“It was anywhere from high school and college kids to 40- and 50-year-old suburban moms. Everybody, no matter the age, no matter where you came from, wherever, everybody had fun at that show," Mando said. "That’s just what makes me the happiest, because our goal as musicians is to bring people together and have fun, and I feel like we accomplished that for sure.”
Mando, who has been DJing full time since 2016, has been busy in recent weeks with performances at Summerfest and at T-Pain’s Escape From Wiscansin Fest in Milwaukee.
He’s scheduled to perform at 6 p.m. Saturday for the free Titletown Beats concert at Titletown, with Vine going on at 7:30 p.m.
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Kendra Meinert is an entertainment and feature writer at the Green Bay Press-Gazette. Contact her at 920-431-8347 or kmeinert@greenbay.gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @KendraMeinert.
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: DJay Mando, who saved the day at Flo Rida show, returns to Green Bay
