“I Am Hardwell” at Governor’s Island NYC 5/26 Reviewed
On the Sunday of Memorial Day Weekend, the “I Am Hardwell” tour hit the sandy beach of Governor's Island for their inaugural summer concert. Hosting everyone from Avicii to Thomas Gold to Pretty Lights, this small island has defined the New York music scene for several seasons - each year better than one before.
Waiting in line for the ferry, neon clothed ravers and Hardwell enthusiasts chatted about the previous week's episode of "On Air" and the cool few in-the-know discussed Dyro's "Daftastic Radio.” Every time the horn blew, a low roar of screams sounded from amped up partiers – their not-so-subtle way of saying “Dude, we’re ready. Let’s Go!”
Stepping off the boat, sun still overhead, The Beach at Governors Island was packed with teens and 20-somethings, who’ve already been fist pumping for hours. Made Events never produces concerts for the weak and weary - by the time we'd arrived Hendrix, Audien, and Alex English had already dropped their sets for the day.
Dyro’s set had just begun. His remix of Laidback Luke & Angger Dimas “Night Like This” blared from the speakers. The dutch banger felt like the perfect way to gear the crowd up for unforgettable night of fist pumping and twerk-friendly beats. Dyro is a DJ who runs marathons, not sprints.
As the sun slowly went down and the venue filled to the brim, the mix master moved through an energetic set of progressive house. Hardwell’s protégé spun all of his original tunes including his collaboration with Bassjackers “Grid,” “Leprechauns and Unicorns,” and of course the Daftastic Radio anthem “On Top of The World.” Transitioning from his remix of Loopers “Day Breakers” to Dimitri Vegas’s familiar tune “Mammoth” into the hardstyle of Showtek’s “Crunk,” there’s no doubt this Dutch DJ can string together hard-hitting beats. In between the heavy drops, he gave the crowd a breather with Cosmic Gate “Over The Rainbow” and the W&W remix of Dash Berlin’s “Waiting”.
Dyro is certainly more than just an opening act. He’s a smart performer, who knows how to read a crowd. From studio to stage – this DJ has big things ahead of him.
Just as the sun started setting around 9PM, the crowd started gearing up for the night's headliner and DJ Mag's #6 DJ, Hardwell. With a perfect view of the NYC skyline, everyone was ecstatic about the season's first EDM show.
The set began with his usual slow rendition of Spaceman (which already doomed the set to sound as if it's something we've all once heard before) and then immediately revved up into the usual Hardwell favorites, as well as new hits that have started to pop up on the EDM scene. He got the crowd going with Alesso's remix of OneRepublic's "If I Lose Myself," as well as some of his known mash-ups such as Flashbang” vs. “Antidote” vs. “Every Day” vs. “Here We Go and "Promises" vs. "Clash." Hardwell also delighted trance fans with a little taste of Dash Berlin's "Waiting" which came as a nice surprise in between some of the more harsh beats such as "Lrad" and "Bonfire," both by Knife Party, and "Vago" by Nari & Milani & Maurizio Gubellini. What was disappointing is that he barely touched one of his most popular songs today, "Apollo," giving fans a brief minute teaser before leading into his next mash-up.
Hardwell was able to get the crowd singing at points, playing his new remix of "Alive" as well as Daddy's Groove's "Stellar" And he was sure to even bring back old favorites from last summer, including "Epic," "No Beef" and "Lose My Mind."
It's been no secret that Hardwell has been promoting Dyro hard as the next best DJ on the scene, bringing him on tour and collaborating with him on their newest song “Never Say Goodbye”. He brought Dyro out on stage (twice) to talk him up and then premiere their song together for New York.
Hardwell closed his 3 hour set out with Kid Cudi's "Pursuit of Happiness," giving screaming fans an encore of "Thing Called Spaceman" and "Never Say Goodbye" (again.) If this was your first time seeing Hardwell, you were treated to a real show. New York is anxiously awaiting his return.
By: Tanya Elm & Lisa Gonzalez-Turner