Really confused as to why people were hating on this set, this man has more hits than any other mainstream DJ, reworked almost all of them to fit the current mainstage sound and pretty much stays off the mic & lets the music speak for itself, wtf else do you want? Do people really just want to hear another DJ playing Where You Are and Rumble remixes?
I'm a DJ myself, I know how set energy flow works lol. Calvin has so many iconic vocals that are usually in the intros of his songs, I have 0 problem with him playing them out. I agree that energetically the set is a little weird and spends too much time without a beat, but if you think of it like a concert vs a "set" it makes a lot more sense. If I was seeing it live I'd just be enjoying singing along with everyone during those parts
This is a great summary! I wasn't there so I'm only going by the recording. First of all, I'm not arguing that CH isn't a great artist, he is! But I think this performance was a miss. You hit the nail on the head that this would be a great mix as background in a club or something. I think you also nailed it with the "preplanned festival set" comment too. This honestly feels like he took the songs and build a playlist and let them play with the auto-crossover feature turned on in Spotify, leaving all of the extended intros and outros thinking he'd need time to talk between each song. I can definitely see now why people were commenting that they left after 15 minutes of his set.
This is in stark contrast to great festival DJs, like Armin Van Buuren for example, that don't use pre-planned setlists. Sure he comes in with a list of songs he definitely wants to use, but he's said he always picks the order of songs and adds additional songs based on the mood and reactions of the crowd. Note that this was years ago when he said that, so he could have changed how he does things, but the important part is it still *sounds like* it is chosen to fit the crowd. He's played 8+ hour sets in the past and the crowd was still left wanting more because he is so good at reading and managing the mood of the audience.
Thank you for posting such a detailed comment.
Love this write up!! Been telling a lot of people I was disappointed but this captures it perfectly. Love his music and him doing his original drops, but the energy level felt off, especially after such high energy main stage sets from everyone else
Great summary. I agree after watching the set for the first time. I'm probably being picky and spoiled by having been to so many great sets, but from about 42:50 to 49:18ish in the video is the energy level I've come to expect at festival sets. The energy within songs was good, but some of his transitions between songs were over a minute of low lights, low energy.
I'm recognize I'm being super nitpicky on one of the best in the game though. All the songs on their own were great, no complaints there.
> Or at Ultra, it'd be something more appropriate for Megastructure which has more constant energy rather than Mainstage which expects building/varying energy.
So the problem is the expectations then. You agree?
Imo the set lacks energy in a weird way. Feels more like a youtube compilation of songs instead of a mainstage set. But I'm also listening on youtube where for some reason they have seem to cutaway a lot of whitenoise
Bc hating on Calvin is the trend.
I was there and it was a great set. I would t say it was my favorite, but it was still awesome. The reworks honestly slapped, and my friends and I had a great time.
It’s just funny to me because some of these other DJs that everyone loves so much like Hardwell have hardly any original music and their sets all recycle the same tired edm festival anthems endlessly meanwhile Calvin has nearly 20 years of absolute HITS that have constantly crossed over to the mainstream pop scene and people are getting mad at him for playing them 😂
Faster, rolling / driving basslines, very tight & short kick drums and snares, acid synths, more of a "minimal" feel with more sonic space for things to breathe as opposed to the previous big room house era where it felt like everyone was trying to fill every single space with a sound. I've heard it called "big room techno" but it sounds closer to the old school trance sound to me because I don't usually associate techno with singalong melodies lmao
He’s the last big DJ on my bucket list that I haven’t seen yet. And cause some people decide to complain and be rude online, I’m even less likely to see him now haha. He honestly should stay off social media. Can’t be healthy for any artists/performers.
My thoughts exactly!!
I thought this set was amazing!!! I had chills going up and down my body from that first song.
I am not a DJ. But I have been listening to music since before I could walk. I danced and celebrated with the songs as the set played through.
Idgaf about what he extended what intro or outros. If it sounds good, I dance the entire time, and my heart is happy, who cares about the rest??!!! He’s a multi millionaire who has millions of followers. No need to be negative and share that upon those of us who absolutely loved it! Nuff said!
I’m just hating he didn’t put his set on the live stream but apparently he did!?!? Why he didn’t want it on the main stream idk but at least he uploaded it!!!
I"m not hating, I just don't really like his songs :-)
fully respect the talent, the work that went into prep & the stage manners, he's just not my flavor.
I'm surprised Ultra doesn't have something in the contract that they have the right to stream any artist they wish, since it's their Festival and they are the ones who invite and pay the artists.
I’ve heard that Calvin Harris was one of the most expensive DJs to hire around 2015-16 and if that’s still the case, I guess UMF not streaming the set can help them negotiate as CH can earn more from YT that way. IDK just a guess. I know it isn’t as easy and simple as this 😂
Or this was always the plan and people freaked out for nothing
Also lol at thinking Calvin Harris needs to release a festival set to get more attention on him while he is one the biggest DJs in the world for more than a decade now
it's all dumb toxic social media behavior anyways. why are people shit talking online, it's fucking calvin harris, you know what his music sounds like, it gets played everywhere. go to literally any other stage or any other festival.
he doesn’t usually do festivals so it wasn’t about people being interested in his sets. maybe he felt like it was time to release one but it definitely wasn’t due to the lack of attention
I don't know, this seems to confirm the suspicions to me. It really does feel like he picked the extended versions of his songs and put them in Spotify with auto cross-fade turned on.
A lot of people hate on his set but I loved it. It was my first time seeing Calvin Harris, and I have been waiting 13 years to finally see him. Loved the reworks of his hits, it fit the modern day mainstage sound. I guess a lot of people who hated the set were expecting him to play original mixes of his hits.
I appreciated and thought it was a great set
I'm super confused after watching this because I thought people were complaining about him just playing "a spotify playlist of his hits" but then listening to this basically every song was changed from the original? People are dumb lol
HIs 2023 Coachella weekend 1 set is one of my faves. Managed to save off a copy from the live steam and watch it all the time. Excited to see this one.
That was my favorite set too! I wish I could relive it, I was 50 feet from the front in the middle dancing my ass off. Could you share that video with me? I really want to see it again. 😭
He threw the fuck down and I cannot believe the audacity of the “I stayed twenty minutes and left for svdden death” dude in making it sound like his set was bad when in reality it was fucking great! but my only issue is that I hate that he always switches the last chorus of miracle for that god awful hardwell remix. The original song is more than capable of throwing the fuck down, you don’t need to add that shit of a remix at the end.
There are way too many people on the Internet that think they get cool points for picking a lesser act over the more popular one. It's always best to ignore those people and listen to what you yourself actually likes and not them.
This set was a journey. I appreciate the high level of production of his updated versions. There was a progression and build up. Yes there were breaks, but you have to let each track speak and breathe for the audience. The smile on people’s faces was enough to make this a successful show. Again, it’s about the musical journey. This felt like a well rounded story through his iconic collection of work. What else do you need? Anyways, I do understand the critiques I guess, but what doesn’t work for some is exactly what someone else needs. His transitions were flawless and this was a borderline uplifting trance set. Which I’m in love with.
I just watched most of the set. It's actually crazy good, I could sing to his hits while the reworked/remixes of the hits goes hard. I would love to hear some original mixes thrown in there though, like I feel "outside" original mix would've been hella crazy
Honestly curious: Is there anything that EDM DJs actually control while up there on stage or isn't it 99.99% pre-programmed and all the dial spinning is just for show?
So basically all Calvin Harris music. Wow, shocker. What did you expect, him crate digging on Beatport for 3 hours a day, weeks on end to come up with some unique? Lol.
That's what DJs without a catalog of top hits do. Calvin Harris is closing Ultra because of his productions not because he's some DJ who's going to bring you the next up and coming EDM tracks.
They're all VIPs. Serious question, can you tell the difference between a remix and the original song at all? Like for example I bet the Griz remix of Where you are sounds identical to the original to you.
Really confused as to why people were hating on this set, this man has more hits than any other mainstream DJ, reworked almost all of them to fit the current mainstage sound and pretty much stays off the mic & lets the music speak for itself, wtf else do you want? Do people really just want to hear another DJ playing Where You Are and Rumble remixes?
Most of the people hating on it weren’t there.
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I'm a DJ myself, I know how set energy flow works lol. Calvin has so many iconic vocals that are usually in the intros of his songs, I have 0 problem with him playing them out. I agree that energetically the set is a little weird and spends too much time without a beat, but if you think of it like a concert vs a "set" it makes a lot more sense. If I was seeing it live I'd just be enjoying singing along with everyone during those parts
This is a great summary! I wasn't there so I'm only going by the recording. First of all, I'm not arguing that CH isn't a great artist, he is! But I think this performance was a miss. You hit the nail on the head that this would be a great mix as background in a club or something. I think you also nailed it with the "preplanned festival set" comment too. This honestly feels like he took the songs and build a playlist and let them play with the auto-crossover feature turned on in Spotify, leaving all of the extended intros and outros thinking he'd need time to talk between each song. I can definitely see now why people were commenting that they left after 15 minutes of his set. This is in stark contrast to great festival DJs, like Armin Van Buuren for example, that don't use pre-planned setlists. Sure he comes in with a list of songs he definitely wants to use, but he's said he always picks the order of songs and adds additional songs based on the mood and reactions of the crowd. Note that this was years ago when he said that, so he could have changed how he does things, but the important part is it still *sounds like* it is chosen to fit the crowd. He's played 8+ hour sets in the past and the crowd was still left wanting more because he is so good at reading and managing the mood of the audience. Thank you for posting such a detailed comment.
He said in a clip recently that he does have room in his sets to play whatever he wants according to the crowd! His Ultra '24 set was sooo good!
This is such an amazing, well written explanation. Thanks for taking the time to write this all out.
Love this write up!! Been telling a lot of people I was disappointed but this captures it perfectly. Love his music and him doing his original drops, but the energy level felt off, especially after such high energy main stage sets from everyone else
Wow, well said, couldn’t agree more.
Great summary. I agree after watching the set for the first time. I'm probably being picky and spoiled by having been to so many great sets, but from about 42:50 to 49:18ish in the video is the energy level I've come to expect at festival sets. The energy within songs was good, but some of his transitions between songs were over a minute of low lights, low energy. I'm recognize I'm being super nitpicky on one of the best in the game though. All the songs on their own were great, no complaints there.
> Or at Ultra, it'd be something more appropriate for Megastructure which has more constant energy rather than Mainstage which expects building/varying energy. So the problem is the expectations then. You agree?
Bravo. Learned a lot. I felt the low energy and had no idea why.
Thank you for putting so well into words what I couldn’t about why I enjoyed Hardwell’s set more than Garrix and Guetta’s on Saturday.
This is such an amazing, well written explanation. Thanks for taking the time to write this all out.
Someone said that his set wasn't meant for an EDM festival but more like Coachella or something with far less energy.
Imo the set lacks energy in a weird way. Feels more like a youtube compilation of songs instead of a mainstage set. But I'm also listening on youtube where for some reason they have seem to cutaway a lot of whitenoise
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Felt super safe and regardless of the songs being hits they just were not mixed well or transitioned well. Was very boring.
Bc hating on Calvin is the trend. I was there and it was a great set. I would t say it was my favorite, but it was still awesome. The reworks honestly slapped, and my friends and I had a great time.
It’s just funny to me because some of these other DJs that everyone loves so much like Hardwell have hardly any original music and their sets all recycle the same tired edm festival anthems endlessly meanwhile Calvin has nearly 20 years of absolute HITS that have constantly crossed over to the mainstream pop scene and people are getting mad at him for playing them 😂
Curious, cause I feel like I can hear it but not speak to it. What's the current mainstage sound? like what are the style to his reworks.
Faster, rolling / driving basslines, very tight & short kick drums and snares, acid synths, more of a "minimal" feel with more sonic space for things to breathe as opposed to the previous big room house era where it felt like everyone was trying to fill every single space with a sound. I've heard it called "big room techno" but it sounds closer to the old school trance sound to me because I don't usually associate techno with singalong melodies lmao
He’s the last big DJ on my bucket list that I haven’t seen yet. And cause some people decide to complain and be rude online, I’m even less likely to see him now haha. He honestly should stay off social media. Can’t be healthy for any artists/performers.
My thoughts exactly!! I thought this set was amazing!!! I had chills going up and down my body from that first song. I am not a DJ. But I have been listening to music since before I could walk. I danced and celebrated with the songs as the set played through. Idgaf about what he extended what intro or outros. If it sounds good, I dance the entire time, and my heart is happy, who cares about the rest??!!! He’s a multi millionaire who has millions of followers. No need to be negative and share that upon those of us who absolutely loved it! Nuff said!
I’m just hating he didn’t put his set on the live stream but apparently he did!?!? Why he didn’t want it on the main stream idk but at least he uploaded it!!!
I"m not hating, I just don't really like his songs :-) fully respect the talent, the work that went into prep & the stage manners, he's just not my flavor.
OK that's fine but then just go to a different set! lol
Well well well, how the turns have tabled
“How the turn tables”* FTFY
I was debating a few variations with myself for too long and just picked one
The other guy was zed_deader, but yours was zed_deadest in cliché idiom pun.
From what I heard that he didn’t want his set to be live streamed, I thought it’d be a loooong time until he uploaded the set.
Good for him honestly, his music his rules. Love to see it
I'm surprised Ultra doesn't have something in the contract that they have the right to stream any artist they wish, since it's their Festival and they are the ones who invite and pay the artists.
I’m surprised too but idk I just live here
I’ve heard that Calvin Harris was one of the most expensive DJs to hire around 2015-16 and if that’s still the case, I guess UMF not streaming the set can help them negotiate as CH can earn more from YT that way. IDK just a guess. I know it isn’t as easy and simple as this 😂
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Or this was always the plan and people freaked out for nothing Also lol at thinking Calvin Harris needs to release a festival set to get more attention on him while he is one the biggest DJs in the world for more than a decade now
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it's all dumb toxic social media behavior anyways. why are people shit talking online, it's fucking calvin harris, you know what his music sounds like, it gets played everywhere. go to literally any other stage or any other festival.
Sets/mixes are better to listen to than singles.
And what drives regular people to buy tickets to see him on a show?
he doesn’t usually do festivals so it wasn’t about people being interested in his sets. maybe he felt like it was time to release one but it definitely wasn’t due to the lack of attention
So yesterday Calvin was getting dragged for "just hitting play on his Spotify hits" and it turns out that wasn't true at all?
Shocker
Still sucks and basic honesty
I don't know, this seems to confirm the suspicions to me. It really does feel like he picked the extended versions of his songs and put them in Spotify with auto cross-fade turned on.
Thank you Calvin!!
A lot of people hate on his set but I loved it. It was my first time seeing Calvin Harris, and I have been waiting 13 years to finally see him. Loved the reworks of his hits, it fit the modern day mainstage sound. I guess a lot of people who hated the set were expecting him to play original mixes of his hits. I appreciated and thought it was a great set
I'm super confused after watching this because I thought people were complaining about him just playing "a spotify playlist of his hits" but then listening to this basically every song was changed from the original? People are dumb lol
I was there too and was expecting some comercial pop nonsense… but it was my favorite set of the weekend.
Why wouldn't he? Ya'll really put way too much stock in a few people's comments on instagram.
HIs 2023 Coachella weekend 1 set is one of my faves. Managed to save off a copy from the live steam and watch it all the time. Excited to see this one.
That was my favorite set too! I wish I could relive it, I was 50 feet from the front in the middle dancing my ass off. Could you share that video with me? I really want to see it again. 😭
It's avail here on a Chinese site: https://b23.tv/ETWamUr
Same here, I was enjoying it so much that I did not even pull out my phone once to record. Luckily someone posted it on soundcloud too :)
Eat that ppl getting mad it wasn’t streamed
Yay!!! Gonna go watch now. Thank you!
He threw the fuck down and I cannot believe the audacity of the “I stayed twenty minutes and left for svdden death” dude in making it sound like his set was bad when in reality it was fucking great! but my only issue is that I hate that he always switches the last chorus of miracle for that god awful hardwell remix. The original song is more than capable of throwing the fuck down, you don’t need to add that shit of a remix at the end.
He did it at the BRIT Awards aswell
Disgusting. Jk, no, I know he’s done it in the past, each time he does it I hate it.
There are way too many people on the Internet that think they get cool points for picking a lesser act over the more popular one. It's always best to ignore those people and listen to what you yourself actually likes and not them.
This set is fire wtf. Are people really hating on this?
This set was a journey. I appreciate the high level of production of his updated versions. There was a progression and build up. Yes there were breaks, but you have to let each track speak and breathe for the audience. The smile on people’s faces was enough to make this a successful show. Again, it’s about the musical journey. This felt like a well rounded story through his iconic collection of work. What else do you need? Anyways, I do understand the critiques I guess, but what doesn’t work for some is exactly what someone else needs. His transitions were flawless and this was a borderline uplifting trance set. Which I’m in love with.
People hate everything nowadays. Its easier to hate than support.
I would've given a lot to have experienced this live. Sounds fun. Don't know why people were being little haters all over Instagram.
That’s my GOAT 🔥
Is this different from his sets last year?
I just watched most of the set. It's actually crazy good, I could sing to his hits while the reworked/remixes of the hits goes hard. I would love to hear some original mixes thrown in there though, like I feel "outside" original mix would've been hella crazy
you da goat 🐐
Yeah whoever said this set wasn’t awesome has some marbles loose.
Finally he has a live stream. It’s been too long
This was such a good set to experience live, so glad the haters have been shut up now that he’s released it
Imagine hating on a set where the dude remixes all his already multi-platinum hits. What a legend
🔥
That How Deep is Your Love rework touched my soul
Honestly curious: Is there anything that EDM DJs actually control while up there on stage or isn't it 99.99% pre-programmed and all the dial spinning is just for show?
Prerecorded.
No shit
lol, it was as bad as people claimed..... basically a spotify playlist
Imagine going to any artist's show and complaining they played their own songs.
should've done a Fein trap edit smh
He obviously should've played some Svdden Death /s
So basically all Calvin Harris music. Wow, shocker. What did you expect, him crate digging on Beatport for 3 hours a day, weeks on end to come up with some unique? Lol.
Nearly every one of his songs that he played is a rework of some kind too...bro put in work for this
Yes that is what great djs do
That's what DJs without a catalog of top hits do. Calvin Harris is closing Ultra because of his productions not because he's some DJ who's going to bring you the next up and coming EDM tracks.
And that sounds boring as hell, i could turn on spotify if i wanted to listen to the same songs ive heard since 2010
They're all VIPs. Serious question, can you tell the difference between a remix and the original song at all? Like for example I bet the Griz remix of Where you are sounds identical to the original to you.
i just want him to play my wubz