Sebastian Ingrosso at EDC NY: a solid set with a few surprises (review)

Sebastian Ingrosso showed us his true self when he came to New York back in April, but seeing him again in an environment like Electric Daisy Carnival was something different altogether. The two story confines of Roseland Ballroom seem minuscule in retrospect after seeing Seb tear up EDC’s main stage, also known as the Kinetic Field. He played new bootlegs, old bootlegs, new tracks and old, and the 90-minute set was ignited by the constant pyrotechnics. Keep reading for a full recap of one of the best sets of the day.

True to his Swedish House Mafia affiliation, Seb kicked off the set with “Greyhound” before getting into the upcoming Hard Rock Sofa & Swanky Tunes track, “Here We Go.” This track is an absolute monster, and Dirty South would go on to play it on Sunday as well. Seb asked the crowd early if they were “ready to have some fun” and the answer was a resounding yes. Axwell’s mix of “In My Mind” was up next, before the familiar SHM bootleg of “Atom” with “Leave The World Behind.” I was glad to hear the acapella overlaid on Nari and Milani’s house banger, but I also think it might be time to phase this track out. Why not replace it with Ralvero’s “Rage”?

Next up was a cool bootleg of “Antidote” with “Internet Friends,” which we’re told was completed on-site right before the set. He changed it up and went sort of old school with “Cafe Del Mar” bootlegged with “Miami 2 Ibiza,” “Put Your Hands Up,” and “Walking Alone.” He overlaid the “Together” acapella atop Skitzofrenix and Jeff Boubleu’s track “Rushin,” before a mash of “Resurrection” with “Paradise.”

The high-intensity electro sounds of Dyro and Jacob Van Hage’s “EMP” contrasted Eric Prydz’s remix of “Midnight City” wonderfully, and it was probably one of my favorite combinations of the set. To follow that up, he paired “The Island” with Third Party’s remix of “Otherside” — two absolutely enormous singalong tracks that have been staples of SHM sets for a while.

Dyro and Jacob Van Hage – EMP

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While we didn’t get a surprise live vocal from Ryan Tedder, Alesso joined Seb on stage during “Calling” and the two sang along and jumped around for the duration of the track. While everyone was singing along, Seb proclaimed that “I fucking love this city!” Some tracks that followed include Dubvision’s “All By Myself,” the Tommy Trash instrumental mix of Steve Aoki’s “Ladi Dadi,” and Tommy Trash’s “The End.” He also managed to sneak in the upcoming Alesso track, “Clash.”

Of course, Seb also snuck in the new ID track between him and Tommy Trash, and he ended things with a few more enormous bootlegs. Matisse and Sadko’s remix of “Beating of My Heart” had its vocal stripped, only to be replaced with the “Sweet Disposition” acapella. In my opinion, it should be criminal to mess with Axwell’s remix of the Temper Trap track, but this had a hugely different vibe and was pretty enjoyable.

The last ten minutes of the set was a Swedish House Mafia tribute, starting with “One” with “Somebody That I Used To Know.” The last track (if you can even call it that) was “Heart Is King” with “Save The World,” but then it dropped into the breakdown from the Knife Party remix, and Arty’s remix of “Punk.”

Swedish House Mafia feat. John Martin – Save the World (Knife Party Remix)

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All in all, Sebastian Ingrosso proved once again at EDC NY that he is a masterful maestro and an equally inventive DJ. His set had high energy tracks and some more chill offerings, and the bootlegs and special edits were on point. The energy both from Seb and from the crowd was high the entire time, and the general consensus was that he absolutely smashed it. Of course, I wouldn’t have minded if he had snuck in the new “emotional” Swedish House Mafia track, but he had to leave something for EDC Vegas, right?

PS: Don’t forget to download the set for yourselves.

And we’ve got a stream as well!

For more Sebastian Ingrosso coverage, check out our Behind The Booth video interview as well as our review of his Roseland Ballroom event!