Calvin Harris at Electric Zoo NY, Day 3, September 4, 2011 (review)

Calvin-Harris-Electric-Zoo-NY-2011-600-005

Our first time seeing Calvin Harris this summer at LAVO in New York was a super fun night filled with great music, and we were excited for his return at Electric Zoo’s main stage. The tall, boyish-looking Calvin took to the decks after John Dahlback, and when we noticed he wasn’t wearing a signature plaid button-down we got excited that he might change up the tracks as well. So, how’d it all pan out? Head past the break to find out.

The military-like drum roll of Thomas Gold’s “Marsch Marsch” kicked things off before the iconic opening drop of his smash hit, “I’m Not Alone.” This was a pattern that would continue throughout the set — a mixture of fresh new house tracks interspersed with the older pop songs that originally put him on the map.

He played the same “Babylon Holiday” bootleg from LAVO before “Tung,” the vocal mix of “Miami 2 Ibiza,” and “Kendo.” He then switched up the vibe completely by dropping the original version of “You Used To Hold Me,” and the “Knas is Coming Home” bootleg of Steve Angello and Dirty Money’s tracks.

Congorock & Dizzee Rascal – Holiday (Euan Cross Bootleg)

After showing his solidarity for his DJ friends he went back to straight up Calvin. “Awooga” kicked things off before the original mix of “Flashback,” which is still one of the best songs ever. He also played the original mix of “Bounce,” before debuting his new track that sounded like something we could see being played by an SHM-type. It had a strong bassline, but borrowed some of the nuances from “Awooga” and “Bounce.”

Calvin Harris – Awooga (Original Mix) Awooga - Bounce (feat. Kelis) - Single

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“Lise” was a deep house banger that contrasted starkly with the previous tracks, but Darude’s “Sandstorm” was refreshing to hear again. It’s one of those tracks that everyone knows but doesn’t necessarily know the name of, and a lot of folks around us echoed our surprise and delight. To close he played the Mark Knight remix of “You Got The Love” before his latest single, “Feel So Close.” Everyone was singing along the entire time, and afterwards he told everyone to have a fantastic weekend and take care. Calvin brought it, and he even thanked everyone at the end.

Florence And The Machine – You’ve Got The Love (Mark Knight remix) You've Got the Love (Mark Knight Remix) - Toolroom Records Ibiza 2011 Vol. 2

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Calvin Harris – Feel So Close (Extended Mix)  Feel So Close (Remixes) - Calvin Harris

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Posted by on September 9th, 2011 at 10:23 am.
  • Pfft

    To ask the obvious question, no doubt this work takes lots of time and effort, but unless we were at that gig and wanted to relive it through the magic of words, what the fuck is the point in reading a review of it, especially since most sets that most DJs are do are incredibly different depending on the crowd, venue etc.

  • http://engadget.com/editor/jacob-schulman Jacob Schulman

    It’s all about sharing the experience with people who couldn’t be there. Just because you don’t live in NY doesn’t mean you didn’t have to live vicariously through us. That’s also why we have such an emphasis on photos, and I wouldn’t post something if I didn’t feel that we had enough images to go along with it. We’ve also started with the “5 tracks you need to know” posts to try and present this kind of info in a different format.

    We’ve had a great response from readers and from artists about the more extensive we’ve been doing, but if you have any suggestions of things you might rather see, I’m all ears.

  • DJ Armani

    Just a question and not be ignorant why don’t you guys ever criticize the bad parts of the set? It’s nor like the DJs are going to lose fans if you criticize them! If anything they’ll learn from their mistakes. Honestly, Sidney Samson’s set was so offbeat he made a fool of himself. Afrojack just played the same songs he plays every set. David Guetta’s set was unbalanced. The best sets of EZ were Robbie Rivera’s, and Alesso’s. AN21 & Max Vangeli’s sets sound almost identical to each other. 

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=40704305 Nicole Santiago

    I wanted to go to day 3 so bad but couldn’t make it. Thanks for the post, Jacob. Btw Calvin is one of my favs :).

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001449994934 Evan Henry Catlett

    Calvin and Armin were hands down my two favorites at EZOO. I was up front for both!

  • adamjoseph

    why don’t you fuck off the blog then?
    people want to read something good, not bad. otherwise why would it be reviewed?
    you’re a dickhead. fuck off cunt.

  • Justin

    this blog sucks.

  • Jepierson

    i think the coverage was mostly good for all of EZOO as I was there and agree with a lot of the things that were said. I do agree with DJ Armani above however that the reviews could be a bit more critical. i guess it depends who you’re trying to cater the blog to then. DJ’s and producers who are a huge audience of this blog would probably like to see you calling out a few of the DJs for: #1 not bringing anything new to the table at this particular gig #2 making shabby or boring mixes #3 putting acapellas on top of tracks in the wrong key (AFROJACKK??)

  • Dave

    Saw Calvin Harris last night at the tent party in Montreal. I have to admit, I was disappointed with the set list, but the energy of the venue was off the hook!
    He seems very calm on the stage, might just be in contrast to Ingrosso who was here last week and doesn’t stop moving. Definitely a good show, but I was left wanting more from Harris.