On Sunday night Avicii brought his Swedish madness to the Ocean Club at Marina Bay in Quincy, MA. This was my first time at the venue, which is just south of Boston. The closest comparison I can make is to a Miami club: open-air, cabanas, palm trees, sand, pool tables, etc. The DJ booth is elevated above the crowd so the performer has a great view of his/her audience.
Avicii was supposed to go on at 9pm but openers and resident DJs Bamboora and Dirty DEK were slaying the decks until about 10:30 (I think). I had conversed with Bamboora a couple times but have yet to meet him in person or catch one of his sets. Needless to say I was impressed: he was dropping nothing but bangers. One of my favorite tracks he dropped was Wolfgang Gartner’s “Space Junk” vs. Steve Angello’s KNAS. The build up of SJ would be playing and the drop would go into KNAS, something I hadn’t heard before.
By the time Bamboora and Dirty Dek finished up, the venue was poppin. It was a pretty mixed crowd and relatively tame due to 21+ (I’m comparing this to something like a Rusko or Pretty Lights show where the crowd is high schoolers spunned out). Lots of glow sticks and ladies dressed to kill; certainly nothing to complain about.
Once Avicii went on the crowd went nuts. This 21-year-old really does have the world by the balls. Even those who are mildly interested in Electronic Dance Music know his name, know his songs, and can sing along when the hook plays. He opened with a song I had never heard before (after asking around we were to conclude this was a new track, see it in the backstage video below) and from there he had everyone mesmerized by a DJ set of deep bass, pulsating synths and melodic choruses.
Most of his song selections did not come unexpectedly after hearing his set from EDC Las Vegas and knowing he doesn’t have a huge music catalog of his own right now. Of course, I was enjoying the scenery, grabbing drinks, and visiting friends in cabanas so I can’t say I was paying attention 100% of the time.
Notable Avicii tracks included “Levels”, “My Feelings For You”, “Swede Dreams”, “Blessed”, and his newest track which people are calling “Papa Was a Rolling Stone” (listen below). He also dropped his newest releases which were “Fade into Darkness” (this is actually “Penguin” re-edited with vocals) and “Enough is Enough.”
Clad in his flannel shirt, Avicii kept the crowd on it’s toes with long buildups and thumping drops. Hands and glow sticks were in the air during the entire 2+ hour set. Other notable tracks were Alesso’s remix of Nadia Ali, Starkillers & Alex Kenji’s “Pressure” and a finale that included House of Pain’s “Jump Around.” As the show wrapped up to loud cheers, Dirty DEK got on the mic to lead an Avicii chant. Overall the show lived up to the hype and I had myself a great time. I hope to be back at another OC Sundays event soon and cannot wait to see Avicii again at Identity Festival.
Avicii – Poppa Was a Rolling Stone (Live from EDC Las Vegas)
Thanks to the guys at MASSEDMC for the backstage vid
BONUS: In other news, I’ve been on a downloading frenzy. Here are a few of the songs running through my speakers – there should be something for everyone on here, including Moombahton, Dubstep, and Electro-House:
Robin S – Show Me Love (Morrison’s Moombahton Remix)
Skrillex – Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites (The Juggernaut Remix)