Major Lazer
If you know me at all, then you probably know how borderline-obsessive over Major Lazer, the DJ duo of Diplo and Jillionaire. I think that their reggae dancehall-infused brand of EDM is absolutely genius and that they have a sound that's completely their own. As per usual, their awesome, 90 minute set was not to be missed. Here's the duo opening up their show with their remix of Rihanna's "Stay"
From there, they moved right into playing some new tracks from their upcoming album Free The Universe as well as some old favorites like "Pon de Floor" and "Original Don." But they didn't stop at that. Major Lazer shows are extremely interactive and get the crowd to actively participate in the experience. Their first round of antics came along when Diplo went crowd surfing inside some sort of inflatable hamster ball.
Then as another surprise for the audience, Sean Paul made an appearance to provide vocals for Congorock's "Bless di Nation."
Shortly after Sean Paul's appearance, Diplo grapped the microphone and said that he needed "about a million girls" up on the stage. Shortly afterward, chaos ensued as just about every girl within 10 feet of the stage tried to climb over the barricades and join the party on stage.
For one final onstage feat, Diplo called for one guy from the audience to come up on stage. The Major Lazer dancers then proceeded to twerk on the volunteer to the tunes of "Hold The Line" and TNGHT's "Higher Ground." I think at this point, it's safe to say that it's nearly impossible to get bored at a Major Lazer show.
Snoop Dogg
Snoop Dogg was probably the most random act that was booked for this year's Ultra fest, however despite his lack of big connections with the EDM scene, he offered up a surprisingly energetic and eclectic set. Featuring some of his recent and buzzworthy reggae tracks as well as covers of popular rap songs like 50 Cent's "P.I.M.P" and DJ Khaled's "All I Do Is Win," Snoop's set really got the crowd going.
Knife Party
Knife Party is known for their brand of hard, grimey electro-house/dubstep. Their sound is more aggressive than most, and because of that mosh pits and fights have been a notorious element to many of their shows. This particular show wasn't as pleasantly out of control as I had hoped (the crowd grew smaller as their set went on. I suspect people were moving out to get a good spot for Swedish House Mafia), however it was still, as always, loaded with Knife Party's signature sound that is sure to make just about anyone want to go crazy (for better or worse).
Swedish House Mafia
As you probably know, Swedish House Mafia played their last show ever on the last day of Ultra's second weekend. And while Crystal Castles and Wolfgang Gartner were both playing during the Swedes' final set, I think that is was almost an obligation to watch them perform for One Last Show. This was, without a doubt, the headlining event of the whole festival. I'd say that the vast majority of Ultra-goers intended to at least get a glimpse of this farewell party.
I'm 90% sure that the Swedes played one of their notorious pre-recorded sets, but nevertheless it was a great time. All of their songs (including songs individually remixed or produced by Axwell, Sebastian Ingrosso or Steve Angello) are huge and were meant to be played in front of audiences of this impressive size. In addition, the show's production (including lights, pyrotechnics, confetti, etc.) added an extra energy to the show that's hard to come by. The whole show was executed flawlessly, so while I've never been the biggest Swedish House Mafia fan, I can say that I genuinely enjoyed their final performance. I think this was the perfect way to say goodbye to all of their loyal fans.
No comments:
Post a Comment