Swedish House Mafia Private Show in LA
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The world’s most famous DJ trio headlined Coachella last week, and they are returning to Indio yet again this week to duplicate the feat; but the men of Swedish House Mafia certainly weren’t slouches this past week. Swedish House Mafia took to the stage for a private event at the Belasco Theater in downtown LA on Wednesday, and the fact that I was fortunate enough to get into the spectacular event seemed to make me forget all about my ‘No-Chella’ woes.
In the days leading up to the event, word got out about a special private show sponsored by Vevo and Absolut featuring Playhouse Hollywood resident DJ Politik as well as Size Records standout, and one of my personal favorite EDM stars on the rise, Tim Mason, and special “surprise guests.” The identity of the surprise guests was hardly cryptic, and there were plenty of clues for EDM fans to pick up on. “The Greyhound” party flier features a promo image from Swedish House Mafia’s video for their new song, “Greyhound,” which is an original song inspired by the Absolut vodka cocktail “The Greyhound,” which consists of Absolut vodka and grapefruit juice. Being that Absolut and Vevo, two brands affiliated with the release of this track were sponsoring the event, and the official promo images were used in the flier, fans picked up on the connection really quickly. Further hinting that SHM would be the surprise guests was Tim Mason’s presence on the bill. Mason, who is signed to Steve Angello’s Size Records, is Angello’s protege and has an obvious connection to SHM.
(Photo Courtesy of: Notcot.org)
We were told to arrive at the event early, but we ended up arriving at the venue at around 10:30, much later than expected. The event, which officially began at 9 PM, only went until 12:30 AM. By the time we arrived, the line was an absolute monstrosity, wrapping far around the side of the building. It was very clear that not everyone in line, regardless of whether they were on the list or now, was going to get into the venue. Eventually, we caught a lucky break and were able to enter the venue around 11:15, but it was clear that many people were not going to be able to get in. The event was guest list only, and tickets were not sold. After entering the venue, I would suspect that the main floor capacity was no more than 2,000, but I was told that about 7,000 people ended up on the list. Whether this is true or not, it is clear that an excessive amount of people arrived at the venue with the intention of going in, and many were not able to. If the intention of the event organizers and sponsors was to build an exorbitant amount of hype for the event and the brands involved, which I suspect it was, then I would say mission accomplished.
(Photo Courtesy of: Notcot.org)
(Photo Courtesy of: Notcot.org)
After breathing a sigh of relief about finally getting into the venue, we headed over to the open bar sponsored by, you guessed it, Absolut. There was no shortage of Greyhound cocktails and other Absolut-fueled libations at Belasco on Wednesday. Consistent with the theme of the official music video for the EMI release was a bevy of women dressed in highly futuristic sci-fi costumes. The event organizers certainly didn’t hold back on theatrics for the night, and it was a lavish, unique, and extravagant experience. After being able to catch the end of Tim Mason’s set, the “surprise” guests took to the stage at 11:30. The crowd erupted with excitement as Swedish House Mafia stepped up to the decks, wasting no time in hyping up the masses by opening with “Greyhound.” The dance floor was packed, and not a single person in the crowd seemed to be having a bad time. Swedish House Mafia played a crowd-pleasing and energetic–albeit somewhat predictable–set consisting primarily of their own hits as a trio, solo, and other collaboration tracks, as well as many other monumental recent hits. They had the whole audience singing aloud to “Save The World,” dancing around to hits such as the vocal version of Sebastian Ingrosso’s chart topping collaboration with Alesso, “Calling (Lose My Mind),” and Axwell’s remix of Michael Calfan’s “Resurrection” and jumping up and down to other fan favorites such as Deniz Koyu’s “Tung.” This of course, is merely scratching the surface of the incredible set’s contents.
(Photo Courtesy of: Notcot.org)
This was my very first time seeing Swedish House Mafia, and naturally, they lived up to my expectations. Their energy was contagious, they knew exactly what the crowd wanted to hear, and they delivered. These performance elements, in addition to phenomenal productions, are what made Swedish House Mafia into the household name that they are today. When my twelve-year-old sister uses lyrics from “Save The World” as a caption for her Facebook photos, you know that Swedish House Mafia has erupted into something much big than themselves, something big enough to challenge the conventional boundaries that separate dance music from the mainstream. No longer does a definitive line separate the underground from popular culture. Acts such as Swedish House Mafia have blurred these lines, inviting the mainstream masses to be a part of this thing we call dance music. The fact that a large company such as Absolut commissioned a dance music act to be the face of their marketing campaign speaks volumes about the very relevant presence of dance music in contemporary popular culture and is truly a testament to the inspiring exponential growth of the EDM community in recent years.
Overall, it was a phenomenal and extravagant experience, courtesy of spectacular performances and a brilliant marketing campaign.
