Electronic music duo Snow Strippers transformed SOMA San Diego into a haze-filled dance floor on Feb. 15, reshaping the venue with explosive bass, chest-thumping sound and strobe-heavy effects.
Snow Strippers consists of singer Tatiana “Tati” Schwaninger and producer Graham Perez. The duo met in Florida and began making music as Snow Strippers in 2021, marking Schwaninger’s debut as a recording artist and continuing Perez’s work as a producer.
Cynthia Liu, a marketing major at SDSU, said she first listened to the duo’s debut album, “The Snow Strippers,” while touring the campus.
“I was searching through Spotify for some new music and I stumbled across their debut album,” she said. “From the moment I stepped onto campus and heard ‘Know My Name’ for the first time, it felt like a whole new world opening up for me.”
The show commenced at 7 p.m. with a two-hour opening sequence by supporting acts evilgiane, anna luna and ksuuvi. As each performer took the stage, the crowd’s energy continuously grew. Ksuuvi, the final opener, riled up the audience by repeatedly encouraging the crowd to “open the room up” moments before Snow Strippers took the stage.
Perez stepped into the DJ booth behind a dense, blue fog as Snow Strippers began their set with the 2023 single, “Just Your Doll.” The crowd went into an uproar, with the room drowning in flashing white lights as Schwaninger danced her way onto the stage. Despite the intensity of the bass, fans’ chants blared loudly as they sang along.
Concertgoer Sadee Neenan said this moment was her favorite part of the performance.
“The lights and lasers were insane,” she said. “I felt the bass in my soul, it was definitely a surreal moment.”
Snow Strippers emphasized elevating the venue into a full-scale dance party. During “Under A Siege,” Schwaninger stepped away from the microphone, allowing the pulsating electronic sound and green and pink laser lights to take charge of the sea of fans.
Halfway through the set, Schwaninger stepped behind the stage, giving Perez his own moment to showcase his production skills by playing a pair of unreleased tracks.
Arms and phones shot up as Schwaninger returned to the stage to play the duo’s most popular song on Spotify, “Under Your Spell.” First released on the 2023 album, “April Mixtape 3,” the track gained immense popularity in 2024 on TikTok, surpassing 257 million streams on Spotify alone.
Nearly three years after its release, fans continue to show off their devotion to the song, screaming and jumping along with every lyric and beat.
Liu, who has been a Snow Strippers fan since 2023, said she thinks highly of the duo’s break into the mainstream audience.
“They’ve now discovered their sound more, while simultaneously creating a revolutionary style of music that has influenced other artists to make EDM more digestible for a wider audience,” she said. “Snow Strippers’ music gets the audience entranced in a way that everyone wants to move their bodies and let themselves get lost in the music.”
As a thank you to the energetic crowd, Snow Strippers ended the night by performing a never-before-heard unreleased song. The track left fans ecstatic, buzzing for more by the duo and ending the show on a memorable note.
“It’s like a party that you wish could never end,” Liu said.
