Hardwell plays EDM classics set at Tomorrowland

Hardwell has played an EDM classics set at Tomorrowland, closing out the first day of the Belgium festival. 

The Dutch DJ took to Instagram in June to ask fans what sort of music they’d like to hear during his set, which took place on the Freedom Stage this evening. “Playing the Freedom Stage @tomorrowland on 19 July means the Freedom to do something different. What kinda set would you like me to play?!” he asked. 

Amongst suggestions of gabber, hip-hop — a reference to the sound Hardwell started out playing — and “guilty pleasure vinyl”, one fan replied, “Golden era of EDM 2012-2014”, garnering 600 likes, the most by far.

Beginning with his 2016 collaboration with W&W and Lil Jon, ‘Live the Night’, over the course of the next hour at Tomorrowland, Hardwell dropped landmark EDM tracks like the W&W remix of Avicii’s ‘Levels’ — paying tribute to the late, great producer on the mic — and Dada Life’s ‘Kickout The Epic Motherf**ker’. 

“It’s been a long time since I’ve performed a proper old-skool set so it felt good to get back on the decks and play all those classics and big jam anthems,” Hardwell told DJ Mag. 

“One of the fun things about the past few years is this journey of discovery I’ve taken myself down. Exploring all the old records that ignited my passion for dance music and reliving memories of my early days when I first started out, crate digging for new tracks, falling in love with all these different melodies, hooks, top lines and crazy bass lines. It’s been such an inspiring time for me and my DJing selections and making music in the studio.

“This was a chance to do something different. I wanted to give fans the chance to be a part of it, so I put it out to them to see what tracks they’d like me to include in the set. It was amazing to see so many happy faces, dancing and having a great time!”

Last month, Hardwell released ‘Move’, the opening track from his Ultra Miami festival set, and played a full hardstyle set to celebrate the league promotion of his hometown Breda’s football team.

DJ Mag is reporting live from Tomorrowland all weekend to celebrate 20 years of the World’s No. 1 festival. Follow #DJMagTomorrowland on Instagram for backstage interviews, photos and more.