Review: A Birthday Bash for the Ages, Alesso’s 21st

As the ferry approached the dock, the packed island overflowing with feelings of excitement started to overtake me as my friends and I prepared to embark on a journey that was to be this huge celebration. By the time the Pachaholic team finally arrived the sun had almost fallen beyond the horizon, but the party was just starting to heat up. The atmosphere at Governors Island was amazing from the moment we stepped on the island and the night was still very young. The other party goers were loving every second of the whole show. Otto Knows had just then hit the decks. What the night had in store was a birthday party unlike any other I had ever attended and by far the best I have ever been to.

When I last saw Otto Knows, he was opening at Roseland Ballroom for the head of Refune Records and Swedish House Mafia member Sebastian Ingrosso. He put on a very conservative set that had me wondering about him but any doubt I had was changed after hearing him throw down at Governors. He played a whole mess of progressive jams including his remix of “Kick out the Epic Motherf*cker.”  After hearing that live for the first time I instantly fell in love and from there he continued to rock the crowd all the way to the end of his set where he dropped his own edit of “Million Voices to Apologize,” the perfect way to finish a great opening set.

Million Voices to Apologize:

Million Atoms To Apologize (Hardwell vs Thomas Gold Edit)

Kick Out The Epic MotherFucker (Otto Knows Remix):

Dada Life – Kick Out The Epic Motherfucker (Otto Knows Remix) (BacauHouseMafia.Ro)

It was about 9’oclock when Arty hit the decks and took the reins of the party.  The second act of this three headed, monster lineup, the only I personally haven’t seen, did not disappoint.. Getting right into the swing of things he dropped his new single “Open Space” with the always awesome vocal, “We are your Friends.” From there he went on to play Sander Van Doorn’s “Chasing,” a live mashup of his own track “Trio” and the Red Hot CHilli Peppers anthem known as “Otherside.” As well as his own bootleg of Axwell’s “Heart is King,” “Losing My Relgion” and his own remix of Ferry Corsten’s “Punk.” Arty’s ability to control a crowd was undeniable, the intensity was always high and the anticipation for each drop was even higher. Towards the end of his set he began to change up his style going a bit harder than we’re used to from the young Russian. Dropping tracks like Hardwell and Showtek’s new tune “How We Do,” Tiesto’s “Maximal Crazy” and Arty’s own brand new remix to Zedd’s beatport topping single “Spectrum.” Arty’s set had the crowd moving and going crazy from start to finish and it was approximately 10’oclock when Arty started to wrap things up.

Maximal Crazy:

Maximal Crazy (Original Mix)

Heart Is King w/Losing My Religion w/ Punk:

Heart+Is+King+w_+Losing+My+Religion+w_+Punk+(Arty+Remix)

The crowd waited with much anticipation for the man they all came to see, the birthday boy, Alesso .As the Swedish prodigy stepped up to the booth the island erupted with jubilation. As the crowd went crazy Alesso wasted no time opening his set with one of his unreleased gems “Clash” with Goyte’s ever popular acappella of “Somebody that I Used to Know.”  The young Swede went onto play some bangers like Swanky Tune’s just released track “Here We Go,” Nari & Milan’s “Atom,” and Deniz Koyu’s new hit “Bong.” He also got quite creative dropping some interesting bootlegs and mashups. Alesso threw together his popular track “Raise Your Head” with Sandro Silva’s “Epic,” Daft Punk’s “Around the World” and The White Stripes “Seven Nation Army.” Another interesting combination of songs he used was PixelCheese’s “Id2” and Avicii’s always epic vocals from “Enough is Enough.”

Bong:

Bong (Original Mix)

Epic:

01 Epic The Way You Kissed Me (Hardwell MashUp)

ID2 (Pixel Cheese Remix):

Avicii+-+ID2+(Pixel+Cheese+Remake)

The Swedish mastermind was working the crowd perfectly as they were singing along to every Alesso jam played and let me tell you there were plenty of them. Playing summer anthems like his and Matthew Koma’s “Years,” aloTng with his Dirty South’s track “City of Dreams.” There was plenty of love to go around and to top that off he ended his set by consecutively playing his remix of “Titanium,” followed by his career starting single “Pressure” and to finish this birthday set with the song of the year that never seems to get old “Calling.” This was a birthday celebration of epic proportions and everyone who was there will tell you that. I personally wanted to thank Alesso for letting me and the Pachaholic team share such a special night. That will definitely go down as the best birthday party I have ever been to.

Titanium (Alesso Remix):

Titanium (Alesso Remix)

Years (Vocal Mix):

Years (Vocal Mix)