Last saturday night marked the first time the Dutch DJ dynamo, Robertt Hardwell, performed at our nation's capital and his debut did not disappoint. He had the crowd in his clutches before he manned the decks. Chants of 'Hardwell' could be heard throughout Roberto Gonzalez's opening set. The crowd was hyped and ready to lose their minds to the smashing vibes of Tiesto's protege. Finally, about 30 minutes after the start of the new day, Hardwell took center stage to a deafening roar from the young excited crowd. Everyone was in accordance, the next two hours would be memorable.
He opened with relatively unknown bangers which had his fans jumping, fist pumping, and generally flirting with insanity. He waited to play most of his own tracks until towards the end of his set with the exception of the fairly early 'Encoded' drop. Relatively unknown electro smashers dominated the first 45 minutes of the set. I am still in the process of attempting to find some of these tracks because, frankly, I loved them. A key ingredient to any live DJ set is the crowds intensity and it carried throughout, despite the relatively short length of his performance it felt as though Hardwell could have gone for another hour. He later transitioned to some unbelievable bootlegs and the songs which have shaken up the EDM community over the last twelve months. After teasing his 'Move It 2 The Drum' collaboration with fellow Dutchman, Chuckie, he surprised the crowd with a remix of 'Save The World'. Expecting to hear the drop of Max Vangelli and AN21 or Zedd, I couldn't believe my ears when the bassline dropped. Luckily with some help from Hardwell himself, we found that it was Marco V's remix.
Swedish House Mafia Save the world (Marco V turn the crowd up treatment)
Bassjackers Mush, Mush (Original Mix)
Hardwell Encoded - Original Mix
It was at around this time where he dropped his claim to fame, 'Zero 76' and finally allowed us to enjoy 'Move It 2 The Drum'. Not surprisingly the vocals of 'Leave the World Behind' and 'We Are Your Friends' were included in his various bootlegs. Just when you thought the performance couldn't get any better, he dropped a flurry of game changers. I absolutely wasn't expecting the still unreleased Dada Life, 'Happy Violence' to be my favorite track of the night but it indubitably was. I was also captivated by the brand new release from Size Records, 'Sending My Love'. The crowd reaction to both tracks was unsurprisingly overwhelmingly positive. All the while he sprinkled in smash hits like 'Bangduck', 'Levels', Laidback Luke's 'Dirty Talk', 'Awooga', and 'Warp 1977' simply to cause bedlam. Finally, he made a transition to dubstep to close out the evening leaving everyone in the building praying for an encore. Skrillex's 'First of the Year' and his remix of 'Cinema' have seemingly become a staple in many DJ's set recently. I've heard it receive plays from the likes of Martin Solveig, Calvin Harris, and now Hardwell. I must say, I do wish we heard a little bit more Dutch house but Robertt Hardwell brought D.C. to its feet and we at Electric Squeeze will patiently await his return.
Chuckie & Hardwell feat. Ambush Move It 2 The Drum (Original Mix)
R3hab & Swanky Tunes ft. Max C Sending My Love (Original Mix)
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