David Guetta at Ultra 2012: how the Frenchman stole day 3
We still can’t quite put our finger on it, but there’s just something about David Guetta that is unparalleled by any other EDM artist on the planet. While he often gets some flack for creating more pop-style tracks and venturing away from pure “house music,” it’s impossible to deny that he is one of the most influential members of the dance music community.
“Do you realize what’s going on in the world — and in America especially?” he asked the crowd about halfway through his set. “Our music is taking over and it’s crazy!” he proclaimed as he prepared to drop his FMIF remix of “Memories.” “I never thought that one day this would happen, but it’s unbelievable.” He went on to deliver a classic Guetta set that combined brand new tracks with established favorites, and the end result was arguably one of the most fun sets of the entire weekend.
David started off with Alesso’s remix of “Titanium,” and quickly followed it up with his Nicky Romero collaboration “Wild One Two.” That was about as poppy as the set would get, as he quickly bumped up the energy and delivered a selection of tracks that was harder than sets we’ve seen from him in the past. Afrojack joined him to drop “Can’t Stop Me,” and at one point we also Benny Benassi, Steve Aoki, and Lil Jon in attendance as well. He followed it up with back to back Nicky Romero tracks: “Metropolis” and “Generation 303.”
Swedish House Mafia’s “Greyhound,” has received its fair share of play, but the addition of Example’s “The Way You Kissed Me” acapella made it a unique standout of the weekend. He also played “Turn Up The Bass” with “When Love Takes Over” and “Aerodynamic,” only to follow it up with another monster bootleg “Levels” with Gotye’s “Somebody that I Used to Know” acapella. There was a brief electro interlude added in as well, and the entire sequence was a highlight of the night. We joked on Twitter that Gotye’s vocal was destined to become the next “Rolling In The Deep” (in terms of becoming the de facto acapella to bootleg with virtually any track), and David adding it to his set only makes us more comfortable in that prediction.
As David began to drop “Memories,” he repeated the bit he did at Electric Zoo, and asked everyone to take out their cellphones so he could ” see all those lights” before letting out a prolonged “wooooweeeeeee” that brought smiles to faces all around.
He finished the set like he started it, by dropping familiar tracks that worked wonders with the already-entranced crowd. Nicky Minaj’s “Turn Me On” got a new electro edit to match the rest of the hard-hitting set, and he ended with the Usher collaboration, “Without You.” We thought that Kaskade would be a tough act to follow, and were simply blown away by Guetta’s mixing skills, track selection, and ability to read the crowd. The DJ talent at Ultra this year was simply off the charts so we’re not going to come out and call it the best set of the weekend, but it’s definitely up there.
Categories: Music