Swedish House Mafia - Milton Keynes Bowl - 14th July 2012 (Live Review)
Tuesday, 17 July 2012
Written by Adam Holden
To put it simply, the Swedish House Mafia destroyed and ruined the Milton Keynes National Bowl in a way that had surely never been seen before.
With the gig being their last ever set in the UK, after announcing their split after four years together, the super group headlined the bowl in front of 60,000 dance aficionados.
With the weather dampening the occasion, wellies were being worn ubiquitously through the venue by most, although there was no evidence of the damp conditions dampening the mood, everyone seemed geared up for a momentous occasion. In addition, despite the occasional impassable areas inside the bowl, the bars were still packed and every available piece of grass was taken, as a sea of people littered the incredible venue.
With the likes of Michael Jackson, Eminem, Queen, AC/DC and Oasis headlining the venue over the years, this was the first time an electronic artist had been given the prestigious honour of topping the bill at the bowl. With tickets near enough sold out, the day was set to be memorable as fans flocked to the venue right.
After a recent Swedish House Mafia performance in Ireland ended with derogatory headlines, due to nine stabbings and one drug overdose, the security was tight but not enough, as sadly two more stabbings were reported to have taken place during the event. Thankfully though, they were isolated incidents and the other 59,997 people arrived with the right connotations.
No_ID opened the stage, before the only live music of the day followed in the form of Example. Despite pulling his Achilles, the rapper put on a great show to a surprising packed out stage at this early in the day.
18-year old electronic producer and disc jockey Madeon was next on stage, performing in what is surely his biggest gig to date. His largest tune 'Icarus' went down a treat.
Fellow Swedish DJ Alesso was up next, before handing over the headphones to Scotland’s Calvin Harris. Harris was on fine form after recently headlining at T in the Park, turning the crowd into chaos.
After being stranded on an airstrip in Ibiza, Pete Tong was a cause for concern as he might not make the set time to warm the crowd for the SHM. The Swedes were tweeting him ‘not to be late’ as they arrived via helicopter.
Then the moment had come, the stage disappeared into darkness as it was prepped for the biggest DJ’s in the world right now. They arrived on stage and dropped their current Radio 1 tipped track ‘Greyhound’, which received huge applause as the party truly began.
With ridiculous lighting and laser displays, theatre, CO2 canisters and fireworks, it was fair to say that Axwell, Sebastain Ingrosso and Steve Angello (SHM) had pulled out all the stops for this gig.
As the set continued, the party went from step to step, ascending into pure euphoria as they amalgamated hits from the Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Coldplay, Daft Punk, Gotye and many more.
At one point during the two hour set, the guys were standing atop of the stage waving flags and partying like they were amongst the crowd. They finished in style with ‘One’ and ‘Save the World’ leaving the fans wanting more; but sadly, it won’t be happening any time soon at least anyways.
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With the gig being their last ever set in the UK, after announcing their split after four years together, the super group headlined the bowl in front of 60,000 dance aficionados.
