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Trevor The Tourist
Michael Cully

Swedish House Mafia x The Weeknd live at Coachella [Show Recap]

For the final set of the weekend, Swedish House Mafia and The Weeknd did not disappoint. Getting started much later than expected, everyone was eager with excitement for what was about to happen. With a large ring hanging over the stage and one of the biggest crowds we’d seen thus far, Coachella was ready for one of the most epic sets of the festival.


The show started with the Swedish trio taking the stage. They held nothing back and kicked off what became a house set filled with bangers. The energy of their music was in a league of their own from the rest of the weekend. With a crowd of both EDM heads and casuals alike, they had everyone dancing. Their visuals were sleek with mostly black and white graphics to start. The animations had a new age technology feel to them. They were able to play a number of tracks off of their new album as well. Frankenstein featuring A$AP Rocky hit extra hard over the loud speakers of the main stage. Their portion of the set climaxed in a crossover between the songs: Save The World and Don’t You Worry Child. The energy for those songs was something truly special. It felt like everyone there was singing along with them filled with wonderful nostalgia. They transitioned over into a remix of Sacrifice and everyone knew it was time for The Weeknd to come out.


As Sacrifice was kicking off, The Weeknd’s harmonic interjections were met with the screams of the crowd. He began the performance on a lifted platform in the center of the ring above the stage. Though he began with two tracks off of DAWN FM, The Weeknd’s performance was anything but the new album. He quickly transitioned all the way back to sing Can’t Feel My Face. The rest of the performance was completely made up of all the biggest songs of his, regardless of the era. He even performed parts of collabs like Low Life, Or Nah, and Hurricane. If you are a fan of The Weeknd, this was basically a dream come true. It was amazing to be able to hear his hits from every moment in his career.


The Weeknd’s vocal performance was something incredible. The man has so much talent it’s not even funny. When people say he sounds like his performances are right off the album, they aren’t kidding. His vocals sound so crisp and clean, it’s hard to believe that he’s actually performing live. The way he harmonizes above the songs and pushes his vocal range will leave you absolutely speechless. He is truly one of the greatest performers of all time, and he should really be getting credit as such.


Between the incredible EDM of Swedish House Mafia and the talent of The Weeknd, this was by far my favorite set of the festival. The mix between the two artists was so fluid with each of them offering their talents to complement each other. The sounds they offer blend so well, so it was amazing to watch unfold. I hope this festival will not be the end of collaborations between them as I’m sure they have so much more incredible music and performances to bring to the world.


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