David Guetta at Electric Zoo 2012: Mr. EDM finally delivers an unusually risky set to mixed reactions
David Guetta is probably one of the most interesting artists still heavily involved in the music scene today. On one hand, he’s one of the most prominent, longest-standing DJs in the game, getting his start as a seventeen-year-old jockey in Parisian nightclubs. On the other hand, he’s the man who brought the world such anthems as “I Gotta Feeling” and “Sexy Bitch,” which have become positively ingrained in American pop culture.
There’s no denying that Guetta’s mainstream appeal has led to his exponential rise in popularity for the past number of years, and his ability to attract long-time dance music fans and new-to-the-scene teenie-boppers is both a blessing and a curse. Never was this more apparent to me than after watching his set at this year’s Electric Zoo.
Last time I saw David live was at Ultra Music Festival in Miami this past March. At the time, I wrote that his well-mixed blend of established favorites worked wonders with the crowd, and that he arguably “stole day 3″ of the show. Of course, the tracklist was essentially all top 10 hits that your parents probably know most of the words to — but since David produced them all, he’s allowed to play them all, right?
The David Guetta at this year’s Electric Zoo Festival was someone more willing to diverge from his usual shtick — a David Guetta unwilling to play only the songs that everyone expected, and only songs that he had produced. He knew that the New York crowd demanded more than the usual rotation of pool-party starters, and one night before Axwell blew everyone’s minds, he decided to change things up for himsel. A number exceedingly hard productions that gave the set a much darker start than usual — even if he did kick things off with back-to-back Sia tracks.
Things seemed normal in the beginning when the set got underway with Alesso’s remix of “Titanium,” but from there he quickly got into the new music. He proudly proclaimed that he was playing his newest single “She Wolf” for “the first time in the US,” but the crowd had a muted reaction to the dramatic, heavy track. He even tried to start an impromptu wave from his perch high atop the main stage platform, but that was only questionably successful with the crowd.
David Guetta feat Sia – She Wolf (Falling To Pieces) (Extended Mix)
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From there, he proceeded to take things along a much darker path than usual. DJ Obek and MC Ambush’s just released track “Craissy” was bootlegged with another acapella, and the hard-hitting electro offering was followed up with the most recent Jack Back release from Spencer & Hill, “1234.” Despite the rather aggressive (and admittedly quite good) music, the crowd’s energy faltered noticeably during the sequence. I was surprised by the relatively tame response to the usually-epic opening sequence of “Sweat,” which he used to coax the crowd back in. Perhaps a long day of partying under the nearly 100 degree heat was finally getting to attendees, but the reaction was just not the same as at past festivals.
Spencer and Hill – 1234
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After the slow first 30 minutes, David got back into a groove and quickly commanded the crowd’s complete attention and enthusiasm yet again. Afrojack’s “Rock The House” got Estelle’s “One Love” acapella, and that refreshing combination was followed up with the hotly-anticipated Sebastian Ingrosso / Tommy Trash collaboration, “Reload.” He played a new track called “Just One Last Time,” along with established overplayed anthems “Atom” and “Troll,” which at least got Will.I.Am and Eva Simons’ “This Is Love” acapella. It was certainly a different selection of tracks from Guetta, and I was personally surprised by many of his choices. Still, he needed to reel the crowd back in, and he was able to do so with these established favorites.
He kicked off the last leg of the set with Thomas Gold’s awesome bootleg of “Fix You” with “Apologize” and “Million Voices,” allowing me to forget the first half of the show and start fresh. Afrojack’s upcoming “bedtime track” helped bring the energy back down, before Michael Calfan’s remix of “Turn Me On.” There was also a medley of ”Can’t Stop Me” with “I Can Only Imagine,” and bits and pieces of “Sunshine” with Florence and the Machine’s “Spectrum” vocal thrown in for good measure. By now, David had fully regained the crowd’s attention, even if it took him a bit longer than normal to do so.
David Guetta ft. Nicky Minaj – Turn Me On (Michael Calfan Remix)
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Guetta’s last song selection of the night was poetic: his aptly-titled collaboration with Usher, “Without You.” It was a fitting end to a set that had a noticeably different energy from what I’ve personally come to expect. Things started off rather slow, and I think David’s newer tracks would’ve gone over better later in the set after people warmed up with some more of the classics.
I would be hard-pressed to say that this was my favorite Guetta show, but it was still a positive experience for me as a person fixated on the longevity of this music. Guetta announced his Jack Back imprint just a few short months ago at Ultra, and he is already slowly introducing his fans to what he believes is the next step for dance music. So no, don’t expect to hear “Sexy Bitch” in many sets moving forward, but do expect to hear more new sounds and new selections if you catch him live. In the same way that David’s previous unique brand of pop-house music seemed so new to us a few short years ago, I suspect he’s sowing the seeds for the evolution of that sound now.
Even though David Guetta’s Electric Zoo set wasn’t his best, his willingness to take risks and his effortless ability to turn around a crowd personally renewed my faith in his ability to keep things fresh — and that’s exactly what a good DJ is supposed to do.
I was There day one and Guetta Had My Least Favorite Set…Many People Around Me Said The Same As Well.
You should post the full tracklist so people can fully see what he played..
00. Intro
01. David Guetta feat. Sia – Titanium (Alesso Remix) [FMIF]
02. David Guetta feat. Sia – She Wolf (Falling To Pieces) [What A Music]
03. Obek feat. Ambush MC – Craissy (Albert Neve & Chuckie 2k12
Update) [Cr2] w/ w/ Syndicate Of LAW – Right On Time (2000 Countdown The
Holy Digit Acappella)
04. Spencer & Hill – 1234 [Jack Back]
05. Snoop Dogg – Sweat (David Guetta & Afrojack Dub Remix) [Parlophone]
06. Afrojack – Rock The House [Wall] (Edit) w/ David Guetta feat. Estelle – One Love (Acappella)
07. Sebastian Ingrosso & Tommy Trash – Reload [Refune]
08. Digitalism – Zdarlight (Fedde Le Grand & Deniz Koyu Remix) [Toolroom] w/ ID Acappella
09. Jewelz & Scott Sparks – Toxic Rush [Flamingo]
10. Nari & Milani – Atom [Size] w/ ID Acappella
11. Qulinez – Troll [Size] w/ Will.I.Am feat. Eva Simons – This Is Love (Acappella)
12. David Guetta feat. Taped Rai – Just One Last Time [EMI]
13. Otto Knows – Million Voices [Refune] w/ Coldplay – Fix You [Virgin] w/ Timbaland pres. One Republic – Apologize (Acappella)
14. Afrojack – ID (1h1min)
15. David Guetta feat. Nicki Minaj – Turn Me On (Michael Calfan Remix) [FMIF]
16. Afrojack feat. Shermanology – Can’t Stop Me [Wall]
17. David Guetta feat. Chris Brown & Lil Wayne – I Can Only
Imagine (David Guetta & Daddy’s Groove Remix) [FMIF] w/ Powers That
Be vs Roland Clark – Planet Rock (Acappella)
18. David Guetta & Avicii – Sunshine [EMI] w/ Florence and the Machine – Spectrum (Acappella)
19. David Guetta feat. Usher – Without You [EMI]
20. Outro
Axwell is a huge favorite of mine but I thought his set needed another 30 minutes or so to really breath. I heard Heart Is King begin and couldn’t believe it was almost over. I saw him again last night at a club outside of Boston, MA. He played for 2.5 hours and the set, while similar, FELT a thousand times better. It was the Director’s Cut while the Zoo set was something cut down to fit a running time. Granted, that happens at a festival, you can’t play for forever, but I’ve seen DJs make better use of their time slots. A&B stole Day 2 and the whole Festival. Sorry, Axwell.
Shit….how did I post this on the wrong article. Please delete DA…
Wait so you would have rather heard one of his Justin Bieber concerts than actual dance music? I’m confused by the point you’re trying to make.
So Guetta finally doesn’t have the most boring mainstream set and still it isn’t good? I dont really get it..
I liked his set, I liked the unusual amounts of dark and deep electro tracks. I liked how guetta stepped outside of is comfort zone and took a gamble that in my eyes payed off (some people will disagree with me on this). But I enjoyed many of the songs in his set. Some of my personal favorites and some new ones for me to spin at a club.
people need to get over their bias against guetta. being an irrational
guetta hater makes you just as much a sheep in a herd as someone who only listens to top-40 music
yes you’ve heard many of these songs on the radio before. even so this just as solid a DJ set
as most of the mainstream edm djs at zoo. great energy, a good mix of
dark & uplifting, played his own recent releases (as he should) and a few IDs as
well. besides, guetta’s jackback records has been putting out some super
solid releases. give the man a chance
even though i probably wont see a guetta show ever, i am very impressed with him dropping that 2012 rendition of craissy and his and daddy’s groove’s remix of i can only imagine. if he keeps this up, he might win points from vehement supporters of people against the radio.
Are you going to review someone we actually want to hear? A-Trak, Congrock, Clockwork, Dada Life, Diplo, Flux Pavillion & Doctor P, Hardwell, LBL, Tiesto?
Interesting read, and it’s nice to hear he’s taking some risks.
But did anyone from DA get a chance to see Luciano or A-Trak? I’m personally more curious to hear about their sets. Or anything from the Sunday School Grove tent really..
“Perhaps a long day of partying under the nearly 100 degree heat was finally getting to attendees”
Perhaps its because the real EDM fans who know their shit were there, and don’t respect Guetta’s top 10 Pop records over and over… even when he tries to change it up he can’t do it anymore.
Yes. We had six writers at Zoo and have much more to come!
how about an article on some of the amazing sets from dash berlin and diplo for starters. both artist, 2 completely different sounds threw one hell of a party on sunday, especially Diplo!
THANK YOU!!!! review artists who actually made it a fucken zoo during their sets!
a-trak, diplo and hardwell had the best sets of the weekend…laidback luke was very good too
such a shame that the boys noize set is not available..
instead we get another set like this.. meh.
DA I love you guys but you need to stop trying to convince us that David Guetta is a relevant underground dance artist. Anybody who has been listening to real house music for more than 15 minutes knows this guy’s a joke.
Really great write up. Came in off of the back of your review for “People Of The Night” and have spent some time reading other posts. You’ve got yourself a new reader!
if you made the conscious decision to see guetta at ezoo, you’re not a “real edm fan”
More like anyone who’s been listening to house music since 2010 thinks he’s a joke because he’s making twice as much money as other, less talented producers who stick to the same genre for their whole life. Give the guy a fucking break – there’s no need to hate on him.
i respectfully disagree. he’s brought pop music to dance music, and now the crowd no long wants to take the ride but rather waits for hit after hit. this is what top 40 radio is for. i think the appeal of dance music is that it is fundamentally different, and i think most fans prefer it that way. I’m not hating cause he makes money, I’m hating because he is making music with neyo and other mainstream acts to get a bigger crowd. deadmau5 is making $ and i love the guy cause he keeps it so real. i just believe a fundamental quality of dance music is that it is not supposed to be the same thing we hear on repeat on the radio. but hey what do i know,
please clarify your definition of risky…because this set is a typical guetta set if you think this is risky then head to a congorock, laidback luke, porter robinson, or diplo set because THOSE are risky sets. Guetta is a showman not a DJ
In my opinion, this is so Inaccurate. Where I was in the crowd, everyone around me was loving David guettas set.