From crowds of 80K to Fresno’s Rainbow Ballroom. ‘No difference’ for star EDM DJ

Here’s a bit of Dillon Francis lore.

The first time he played Fresno as a DJ was opening for the Backstreet Boys. “My friend Christian TV (now known as JMSN) was opening for them, and I was his DJ,” Francis told The Bee via email, likely referring to the boy band’s 2010 tour stop at the Save Mart Center.

“I would warm the crowd up the first five minutes before we performed,” he says, talking in advance of a stop at the Rainbow Ballroom on Friday. “Was an insane tour to be on because of all the venues we played.”

That was before the 38-year-old became a name in the EDM scene, before he had a major label deal or got a nod from Rolling Stone for best electronic album (for his 2014 debut). It was before he was rocking stages at mega festivals like Bonnaroo, Coachella and Stagecoach, where last weekend he performed with trap-music pioneer Flosstradamus (and also Waka Flacka Flame).

“We turned stagecoach into ragecoach,” per Francis’ posting on Instagram.

“See you on tour!”

Dillstradamus at the Rainbow Ballroom

That tour, dubbed Dillstradamus for the obvious combo of Dillon Francis and Flosstradamus, hits the Rainbow Ballroom on Friday, further cementing the venue as a hot spot for DJs (see Steve Aoki, Pauly D).

It’s actually a throwback to a thing the pair did back in the early 2010s. Those shows, known as Dillstradamus back2back, started as one-off after-party sets (and then its own full tour) They were notorious and “shorthand for a very specific style of mayhem,” according t0 the website EDM.com.

“We hadn’t done a Dillstradamus back2back since 2016,” Francis says. But then, the pair reconnected at a concert-after party in France last year, “and it was so fun. So we decided to run it back on tour.”

And while the Rainbow Ballroom isn’t some massive festival grounds fit for a crowd of 80,000 people, the scope of the venue won’t change what fans get from Francis. “No difference for me,” he says.

“Just gonna rock up and do my ttthhaaannnggg.”

This story was originally published April 29, 2026 at 2:43 PM with the headline "From crowds of 80K to Fresno’s Rainbow Ballroom. ‘No difference’ for star EDM DJ."