Swedish House Mafia say goodbye in style

We arrived at the bowl after walking for about a mile from the car park, just as Example was leaving the stage. I have been to the bowl a few times before, yet I cannot help be a little taken aback by the sight of the venue full each time I go there. 70,000 odd people all there with one sole purpose in mind, to give the Swedes the best send off possible in this, their goodbye show. And what a fine send off it was to be.

Next on stage after only a few minutes was the young prodigy Madeon, this hugely talented DJ/producer from France has only just turned 18, and strutted out onto the stage with the confidence of Zeus over looking the mortals, dropping huge track after track. It won't be to many years before he is topping bills world wide, even a power shortage not phasing him! As all power to the stage drops, he comes out front of the decks and hypes the crowd up, before calmly returning and firing the beats back up with a calmness that far surpasses such a young lad.

Next up with the unenviable task of following the young maestro was Alesso, and he more than stepped up on the big occasion commanding the army out front with his masterful set of progressive house, building the atmosphere up and up, it is clear to see on a day like today that all the acts today are clearly buzzing at the gigantic crowd, it seems like within a blink Alesso's hour is up, to be followed by Calvin Harris.

I had seen Harris the previous weekend and not been too impressed due to a sub standard sound system. Today did not prove to be a repeat of that, with the Scotsman bringing his A game, and he totally smashed his set out of the park. Bringing out all his big guns throughout his hour and ten minute set, he well and truly had the audience in the palm of his hand, Finishing with the mighty 'Bounce', it would have been interesting to have a seismograph on hand, as I could not see a single person standing still, from front to back the whole bowl was undulating.

Pete Tong followed Harris on stage with a sublime, Ibiza sunset inspired, set of chilled out tunes, which I think was a masterstroke as the pace up until that point had been quite relentless all day. A lot of people took the breather to fill up on food and drink, and to get their breath back before the all out assault which was to closely follow.


They were more than glad that they had had that little respite. There was lots of mud under foot, and although it had been sunny most the day unfortunately the damage had already been done in the leading week's horrendous weather. This made the conditions underfoot very hard work, but this did not deter a soul, and the pinnacle of the evening's dancing was fast approaching.

Enter Axwell, Sebastian Ingrosso and Steve Angello, better known as the Swedish House Mafia, on top of a 20 foot high video screen. They start the set with a giant version of 'Greyhound' setting the standard for a night full of crazy pyro, and the finest light show I have seen!

As the last of the daylight faded to black the pace never dipped, with the trio playing a perfect set. They dropped in remixes periodically of acts including Coldplay, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Florence + The Machine, all to huge receptions.

Time and time again the crowd also exploded to the Swedes' own big hitters, with 'Antidote' and 'Miami2ibiza' unleashing the full works of pyro, confetti cannons and more lasers than Star Wars! The crowd were treated to a visual feast to match the intense audio stimulation being provided.

A two hour set seemed to fly by in minutes with the trio soon standing atop of their desk addressing the hysterical crowd, thanking them for the best support "from a country that felt like home." They thanked every person who had come, explaining that "friends help you when you need them and that only true friends come out in the mud and rain and rave at a goodbye party" before jumping back behind the decks for their last huge tune of the night, 'Save The World'.

Again bringing back the finest light show I have ever witnessed, this was a superb way to end the night with the biggest sing-along, leaving the stage to a huge ovation, and the crowd continued to sing back the chorus to 'Save The World' over and over, as the sky erupted in a burst of fireworks, the end to an amazing night, it really is a shame if this is the end of the SHM story.

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