July 28, 2012

Recap: Hardwell At Lavo NYC

On July 19, Hardwell made his highly anticipated stop in New York while on his summer tour. The Dutch sensation threw down a heavy set of “big room house” at the lavish NYC hotspot LAVO and didn’t leave any disappointments.

Since 2012 has been such a monumental year for Hardwell it was expected to have madness at the doors. As expected, there were masses of people stretched down the block trying desperately to get down into the club to see the boss man do his thing. After getting down into the club after a little after midnight I was instantly met by the sounds of local house spin master, Steve Powers. He definitely kept hammering away at the crowd with his hard-hitting mix of house music as more and more people began to pack out the venue. By the time his opening set was up the crowd was warmed up enough to get down and dirty for the one and only Hardwell.

The vibes in the club were right where you’d want them to be by the time Hardwell took over the shindig. With the club at capacity, Hardwell got down to business a little after 1 a.m. and jumpstarted his way on his 2-hr set of that signature “big room house” sound. With bangers like Axwell’s “In My Mind”, Avicii’s “Bromance”, mashups of Wolfgang Gartner’s “Illmerica”, DMX’s “Party Up (Lose My Mind)”, and his popular remix of “N**gas in Paris”, Hardwell under his complete and total control. He set the bar high for the night with his solid mix of tracks and had the foundation of LAVO shaking as he delivered punch after punch of bangers. The fans ate up every bit of his performance, which was full of fog, the thunderous air horn, and the classic LAVO glow sticks. Hardwell got off around 3 a.m after a beastly show and Steve Powers jumped back on to the tables to close out the party.

It was without a doubt one of the craziest Thursday nights I have been a part of in long time. Although, I guess that’s what has got to be expected from a 10-year veteran who is ranked among DJ Mag’s Top 100 list. Hardwell sold me on why he is considered a true world-renowned producer and DJ within the EDM community. The experience was more than I expected and the anticipation is already running high for Hardwell’s return to the big apple, which will be held over Labor Day weekend at Electric Zoo!