Show Review: Swedish House Mafia
Swedish House Mafia played two back-to-back shows for almost 70,000 fans during in Los Angeles on their One Last Tour before splitting up indefinitely.
Selling out its Saturday, March 9th show in a matter of hours when tickets went on sale back in 2012, the trio added a Friday show to their tour. With the announcement that SHM members Axwell, Steve Angello and Sebastian Ingrosso will no longer produce and play music together as Swedish House Mafia, fans clamored to purchase tickets even after it sold out. Tickets sold for hundreds of dollars more than their original price. An average general admission ticket had originally cost about $117, including fees.
The Masquerade Motel themed show was held at the L.A. State Historic Park on March 8th and 9th, and was a truly remarkable production. Pyrotechnics, smoke, lights and lasers, as well as bubbles and massive LED stage displays all played a role in creating a sensory experience for the sea of attendees.
What was interesting about this show was the timing, which was not announced when tickets first went on sale towards the end of 2012. The party started in broad daylight, when doors opened at 2:30 p.m. To ticket holders' greater surprise, the event ended at the relatively early hour of midnight. However, the fans' allegiance to their beloved headliners was so great that no complaints were heard once the party got started.
SHM is known for taking its audience on a journey of sound, with emotional highs and lows, and one such moment occurred when they played "Calling" featuring Ryan Tedder. The words displayed on the LED screens, and the crowd sang along, "I will find you / I will reach you / Or I will lose my mind...." The SHM remix of Coldplay's "Every Teardrop is a Waterfall" and Temper Trap's "Sweet Disposition" also got major crowd reactions.
Zedd played a high-energy, hard-hitting set as he often does, and it was one of the best sets of the evening. He played a much more varied set, and got the crowd especially hyped during "Spectrum," "Clarity," and "Sweet Nothing." Alesso followed, playing crowd favorites such as his own remix of "Pressure" featuring Nadia Ali, Starkillers & Alex Kenji.
Others playing on one of the two stages on Saturday included AN21 & Max Vangeli along with the talented and bass-heavy Clockwork, NO_ID and Monsta. As is often the case, the crowd was much more bearable towards the front before the headliners took the stage. As soon as SHM appeared, it felt like we were in a human compressor the remainder of the night.
The three black t-shirt-clad DJs did not disappoint with the much-anticipated finale, as they thanked the crowd and and teased it towards the end by finally playing "One." They also turned the sound down as they held out a mic for the crowd to rap some of Tinie Tempah's verses on "Miami 2 Ibiza." The screens then flashed the words, "We came, we raved, we loved."
Finally, Swedish House Mafia ended with an acoustic version of "Don't You Worry Child," and with one final burst of fireworks in the sky, they were gone.