Deadmau5 has issued a sort-of-apology for what might go down as one of Coachella 2025’s most unhinged sets. I mean, the guy was completely hammered whilst performing.
The Canadian DJ, performing under his darker techno alias Testpilot, went B2B with ZHU on the festival’s new Quasar Stage last Friday night. The set was meant to run three and a half hours. It certainly didn’t.
Instead, it quickly descended into a blur of on-stage shots, slurred mic banter, and what fans have described as “chaotic but somehow still kinda great.” The vibes were confused but the crowd were weirdly on board.
By the next day, Deadmau5 (real name Joel Zimmerman) posted a photo of a water bottle to Instagram, captioned: “I dont remember a thing. But I don’t think I had a cig? So… that’s good I guess? Going back to bed. Wake me up around Thursday ish.”
In the comments, he joked that this was “probably” his last Coachella. Later, he doubled down with a shot of his cat, writing: “Man, even my cat is disappointed in me. Tho, it could be argued that she always has been.”
Then came the non-apology apology: “Sorry about last night. Lol. TO BE FAIR, I felt the first 3/4 was great!” He thanked ZHU for “introducing me to whisky and carrying my dumb ass,” before promising a bit of a personal reset involving quitting smoking, rediscovering his spirit animal, and making new music.
Despite the mess, it doesn’t sound like the DJ is hurting about it. Earlier this year, Zimmerman reportedly signed a $55 million deal with Create Music Group for his full catalogue including 4000+ tracks, Mau5trap label rights, and future releases. So if this really was his last Coachella, at least he went out blackout and got paid for it.
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