Swedish House Mafia at Madison Square Garden: the biggest night of dance music in NYC — ever
We first started hearing rumors of a Swedish House Mafia New York event in late summer, and as time went on we kept getting the sense that something big was in the works. First it was a cryptic website with seemingly-random numbers, and then it was scrambled codes showing up in SHM liveshows, but it wasn’t until the trio confirmed the news themselves on a special SHM takeover of Pete Tong’s Essential Selection on BBC Radio 1: Swedish House Mafia would be playing Madison Square Garden.
Ever since then we’ve been (im)patiently awaiting the trio’s arrival to New York City, and trying to figure out exactly what they would have in store. We knew that they would be pulling out all the stops, but tons of lights, tons of fans, and tons of music combined to be something more than we could’ve imagined. Swedish House Mafia took the Garden — and NYC in general — by storm, and we’ve got a full recap of exactly how the night went down.
A New York-infused version of the SHM intro sequence was projected on the enormous white cloth concealing the stage, and the beginning of Axwell’s “Together” was playing through the speakers. Suddenly the white sheet cascaded down to the floor, giving the audience its first glimpse of the mega DJs and their mega-structure from which they would command the Garden. Steve, Axwell, and Seb were perched atop an enormous semicircular DJ booth comprised entirely of LEDs, while another larger semicircle of LED panels served as their backdrop. A circular truss hung from the ceiling of MSG, housing even more lasers, spotlights, and LEDs, tying the whole production together into one massive array of lights. Of course, there was also a firing squad of CO2 cannons and lots of pyro — it is Swedish House Mafia after all.
The night got off to a very good start with a brand new track that we have no details on, followed by the incredible Axwell cut of Michael Calfan’s “Resurrection.” Our only complaint was that it may have gotten dropped too early in the night, but the “Watch The Sunrise” vocals worked wonderfully over the DA-approved anthem so we won’t complain. SHM has seemingly swapped out Nari and Milani’s “Kendo” as its electro track of choice, and replaced it with “Atom” from the same duo. You can certainly tell that they were both made by the same guys, but “Kendo” was becoming a bit dated and this brings new life.
“Lunar,” from David Guetta and Afrojack, Deniz Koyu’s “Hydra,” and Thomas Gold’s remix of “Set Fire To the Rain,” all served as a prelude to “Calling,” which needs no introduction. The tracks were interwoven and mixed so seamlessly over each other, and we watched Steve, Axwell, and Seb reaching over each other to mess with knobs and hardware on stage. Adele’s voice gave way perfectly to the drops of “Hydra” and the entire Garden went wild when the first piano riffs of Thomas Gold’s masterpiece came on.
You may not have heard of Ivan Gough or Feenixpawl yet, but their track “In My Mind” is an upcoming release on Axtone and sounded phenomenal in the cavernous arena. Sebastian Ingrosso’s bootleg of “Tung” with “Feel So Close” had nearly everyone around us singing along, and it was followed up with an inventive bootleg of “Replica” with the vocal from “Mother Protect.” Axwell’s bootleg of “Heart Is King” with “Losing My Religion” and “Punk” was another familiar track we were glad to hear at MSG, but it cut right into the drop of the instrumental mix of Deniz Koyu and Johan Wedel’s remix of “Dangerous.” Needless to say it was awesome to hear live, and we didn’t find ourselves missing the James Blunt vocals at all.
One thing we didn’t expect to hear in SHM’s set was dubstep, but the BPMs slowed down with a monstrous mashup of Cassius’ “I Love You So” and Michael Woods’ “Bullet.” Nero’s “Promises” was also integrated into the mix, combining to create a refreshingly different sound from SHM. The Nero vocal gave way to a sure-fire highlight of the night in the form of “Trio,” an upcoming collaboration from Arty and Matisse & Sadko. In the same way as Thomas Gold’s “Set Fire To the Rain” remix, its opening piano riffs are unassuming, but it evolves into a beautiful progressive melody with a killer drop that we’ve come to expect from Arty tracks.
Next thing we knew, Tinie Tempah appeared on stage to deliver the “Miami 2 Ibiza” vocals live. He was jumping around all over the place, standing atop the DJ booth and generally having a blast. They followed it up with the vocal mix of “Antidote” — which you honestly can’t appreciate until hearing live. We’re still a little iffy on the vocal mix, but in the MSG environment it really worked. “The End” and “One” helped give Mark Knight’s remix of “You’ve Got The Love” a dark edge that it doesn’t usually have. You wouldn’t think that these three tracks could work together, but it all came together splendidly — and it wasn’t “One” with “Calabria.” Finally.
Axwell took the mic and addressed the crowd before his mashup of “Nothing But Love” with “Around The World” came on. In the typical Axwell way, he told the world that there was “lot of love in the room” and said the Swedish House Mafia had the same love in return. After the emotional (read: entertaining) reprieve, things got right back to business with hard hitting tracks like Steve Angello’s “Yeah” and Tommy Trash’s remix of “One Last Ride.”
It was Skyler Grey’s vocals on “Coming Home” that broke up the electro beats, only to have them return when Hard Rock Sofa’s “Quasar” was thrown into the mix. It’s reminiscent of “Tung” but not too similar, and the addition of “Aerodynamic” to the already-awesome bootleg just put the whole thing over the top. “Fix Your Pressure” was the last big bootleg before the final sprint of this amazing show, and the Coldplay interlude in the middle served as a nice departure from other tracks from the night.
Swedish House Mafia ended the night with a string of their own tracks, starting off with their remix of “Every Teardrop is a Waterfall.” Next, John Martin joined them on stage to sing “Save The World” live, before the familiar sounds of “Sweet Disposition” could be heard. There’s not many songs out there that have become as iconic as Axwell and Dirty South’s remix, and hearing it inside Madison Square Garden was simply an ethereal experience. During “Teenage Crime,” Steve Angello did his “squat down to the floor and then jump up” bit, but it seemed relatively lame. Everyone was already dancing, and it was an unnecessary interruption in our opinion. Couldn’t he have asked everyone to do a wave instead?
“Just a quiet night, with a few friends here in New York City… Ain’t that something New York?” Axwell asked as the set was winding down. Of course, he made a typical Axwell joke by remarking that “It went too fast… We came too fast,” before delivering one more message in the form of “Leave The World Behind.” However, instead of the usual instrumental, we got Alesso’s “Good Love” remix instead, and even some bits and pieces of Nicky Romero’s remix of “Flash.” The final track of the night was “Be” with “I Found U” and “Knas” — a great way to end on a high note.
Even in the enormous venue of Madison Square Garden and surrounded by an extensive live production, Axwell, Steve, and Seb commanded the passionate crowd in a way that seemed so effortless and graceful. Part of Swedish House Mafia’s allure is the exclusivity factor (they only get together every so often), but this is really a case of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts. Steve, Axwell, and Seb are all incredibly talented on their own, but they create something magical when they DJ together. The vibe in Madison Square Garden was really something you needed to experience to understand, but even just by listening to the set, you see their understanding of the music. They have an intricate ability to combine so many different types of songs in such a seamless way, and the venue made it all the more impressive.
Whether you love them, hate them, or think that they’ve gone too mainstream, one thing is for sure: Swedish House Mafia is the biggest name in dance music in the year 2011, and their spectacle at Madison Square Garden was a once-in-a-lifetime testament to their success.
biggest night for pop music ever maybe. half the people at this show couldn’t even name one of the members of SHM, let alone know anything about electronic music
great job gents
ditto
where does everyone get this impression that everyone there knew nothing about house music or the mafia?
HOLY CRAP.. well done, astronauts. amazing pictures, great review
disagree with you trav. There definitely were some people there who weren’t “true fans.” But you could tell most of the crowd were really into the edm world. SHM was SICKKK
how the hell do you think that’s even possible? if the tickets sold out in 10 minutes, one would have to be a huge fan of SHM in order to get a ticket..
Bought tickets off of stubhub. Half of the crowd were kids who had no idea about the music, they were just going because it was what everyone was hyped up about
I disagree that the amount of time it took to sell out has anything to do with being real EDM fans. Is everyone that attends a Britney spears concert really a ‘fan’ – I would argue no.
As EDM becomes more and more apparent in the mainstream, this is inevitable.
agree with trav..
not to mention that the Dillon Francis show was a much better place to be that night
Sooo no one is gonna bring up how John Martin was just spewing blood out his mouth on stage???? I was worried there for a sec.
Terrific voice, awesome set (didn’t expect to see Tinie there), great pictures. I WISH I WAS THERE!
I have always liked the scene at Webster Hall, it seems ‘nicer’ in general is always cheap. It isn’t classy, chic, or even relatively nice, but it beats the hell out of overpacked Jersey-guido Pacha
For myself both Roseland and MSG were amazing expereinces. It was annoying in the sense that I felt like I was at DayGlow with thousands of teenage kids in shm merchandise and neon accessories. At least 50% knew nothing about SHM before the last 6 months.
im guilty of this myself too but… all the hate needs to stop now. the dance music scene is about peace love respect and unity. were suppose to be welcoming people into this world not shutting them out. yeah its fucking gay yeah its mainstream whatever but the music has only gotten better over time, cant you agree? sure i hate whats happening to this but didnt you hate when people told you to turn this shit off too? sure we want to be the ones to bring to light the first song or show somebody a sweet set for the first time, but isnt it cool now that you can share it with everyone? lets be happy for our scene and stay united… i know this is really retarded of me to say but its not gonna stay exclusive for ever and we should be more welcoming and be willing to teach these kids what its all about instead of shutting everyone out. the main players will always stay with it and the true ones will leave for screamo….or something stupid.
its a confusing place to be as an edm fan and somebody who has supported SHM since their meteoric rise and you hate to see what is happening to them but at least they arent remixing lady gaga and katy perry like some other EDM artists (r3hab, afrojack, cough cough). sure its tough keeping an open mind but its pretty cool too when you think about all the more people youll have to share this music with.
Someone mentioned this to me but I didn’t see it myself! I was on the floor and not close up enough, but WTF happened??
I was watching the livestream and I caught that. I was wondering wth happened to him.
You are right and you are wrong. Music runs in phases between what is popular and what isn’t. In a few years EDM will be yesterdays news no doubt in my mind. Problem is this, the people that MEGASUPERAWESOME “DJs” bring to the genre kill the vibe at venues across the board.Listen i go to a club or hall to fucking dance when i listen to dance music. Not fist pump or jump up and down like an idiot or sit in a seat. I go to dance, not to “rage” because its the cool thing to do. And lets be honest more then half who went to this show only went to say they did.Thats just stupid. And big names like this also kill the art of mixing. Laidback Luke could put that amount of songs in an hour easy compared to what SHM did at MSG. BRING THE MIXING BACK! SHM are “DJs” for the eyes not the feet, thats why they need all the smoke and mirrors its all and act. Killing the art and letting every joe shmoe who can beatmatch two songs and put his hands in the air thinking he can mix… Its sad times for good DJs
Disagree with ITSucksToKnowThings. Agree with Waldorf. EDM has been embraced since the 80′s and has thrived around the rest of the world for decades. People have celebrated this type of music for years and years, staying united and enjoying the culture. America is an anomaly in that people’s attitudes are overly critical, and mass media never promoted the EDM scene. When you get down to it, the scene revolves around artistic expression and celebration. If it sounds good, people like it. Axwell, Seb, and Steve are producers first, and showmen next. And if you know your history, they’ve been around for longer than two years. The problem with America is that they’re about 20 years behind.
The crowd at webster hall might just be full of the most douchebaggy people ever. In fact i’ve seen more fights break out at webster than any other venue or club, and I’m at one every weekend. So i wouldn’t say “nicer”, but its definitely got its own vibe perfect for a nice grindy night. And as for buddyboy up there whining about remixes of top 40 songs, Not only is that completely reasonable, it’s a good way of bridging the gap between people who love that kind of music and EDM. Also I’m pretty sure they have plenty of other songs, how many do you have? (none, cough cough)
Because it’s America. As I explained in my previous post, overly critical attitudes. To say that nobody knew anything about electro/progressive/trance prior to attending this show is just vain and busch league. Obviously everyone is too young to remember a little frame of time called the raver scene in the late 90′s/early 2000′s.
Well of course im talking about America.I don’t live in Europe and frankly could care less with what kindof crowds fill those clubs. I live in NY and have seen the changes even from just two years ago when Pacha had Dada Life open for Bennassi and let me tell you there was so much room in that club where you could dance. Now that show would be packed to the brim with a bunch of kids who heard beautiful people and cinema and think Benassi’s the best DJ ever. That said europe has been ahead with techno and trance and since big european artists started moving into house the american market opened up for all of them and they hit a goldmine. And in America music comes in waves. From rock to disco to indie/grunge to rap its all been popular at one point and becoming more obselete with the pop trends. Maybe EDM is here to say who knows, i just hope the crowd that follows it grows up sooner then later.
I think the reason is because they are sellouts and most diehard EDM fans wouldnt pay to see that. Realizing its more of a concert then anything.
Ive seen SHM grow from a tent at Creamfields in ’07 which Subliminal hosted- back then the production budget wasnt as big but they destroyed the place.
Ever since then the success and growth of them as a group has been phenomenal from their dark forest nights in pacha, uk tour, residency at Ushuaia, uk tour, Masqurade motel in miami, edc, ultra etc etc etc.
As the mainstream interest grows, as does the awareness of house, progressive house, dance, edm- call it what you want. Dont hate on these guys for being massively successful?
Their career’s have progressed a the sucess and intrest has built however they’re all still individually and collectivly banging out the highest quality big room progressive music you’ll hear on any label, I cant find fault with that..
Granted- Guetta’s gone down a different route with the pop productions but so what, he’s got bills to pay and i bet cathy likes buying expensive handbags so needs must. Between them theyve unquestionably raised the game for Dj’s, events, production, marketing, promotion. The big labels (outside of holland) have now sat up and taken note.
So now SHM have not only nailed ultra, edc and the other festivals in he US but they’ve proven they can hold their own worldwide from Europe to South America and Australia. Long live the music…. long live the SHM
Looked like he’d BADLY bust his lip up. The only possibilities I can imagine is that he either got punched by someone before he was meant to perform, or that he walked into some of the equipment backstage ? I’d love to know! He knew he was pouring with blood bad.
Also on a note of John Martin… what a dreadful ‘live’ performance as a vocalist… he was just singing along with his volume slightly down to the original track, you can tell as the reverb on the vox is completely different which he sings bottom left of the stage later on in the track, and then you can hear him completely out of key to the original track shortly after. Shame as he’s got a fantastic vocal on the released track.
Great show, I met plenty of rave kids who had seen Seb, Steve, and Axwell at different venues and were true fans. I refuse to accept the hate. PLUR is what its about and that night was definitely representative of that. Best night of my life, best show of my life, best DJs in the world.
I’m curious about this too. You can definitely see it at 1:10 in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MfUDlrA6dE