The Weeknd & Swedish Home Mafia Each Delivered the Hits Throughout 2022 Coachella Co-Headlining Set

There was a good quantity of thriller heading into Sunday evening’s (April 17) co-headlining efficiency from The Weeknd and Swedish Home Mafia at Coachella 2022. Who would play first? Would the 2 acts play collectively? If that’s the case, what? How does a co-headlining set even work?

In the end the reply to all the things was slightly easy: Swedish Home Mafia occupied the primary 30 or so minutes of the slot, which started half-hour late at 10:50 p.m. slightly than its scheduled 10:20 p.m. begin time. The Weeknd then took over the stage — outfitted with an enormous ring solid from LED lights —  and fireplace hosed the huge crowd with a litany of his personal hits earlier than the 2 acts closed out the present with their collaborative observe “Moth To A Flame.” Simple? For positive. Efficient? Completely.

The easy nature of this format prolonged to the truth that the present didn’t embody any particular visitors, who by this level have just about turn out to be normal working process at Coachella, notably for a headlining set. (See: Friday’s headliner Harry Types bringing out Shania Twain and Saturday’s headliner Billie Eilish bringing out Damon Albarn.) As a substitute, each Swedish Home Mafia and The Weeknd simply dealt with issues on their very own, a very cheap transfer provided that neither act was performing a full present. (The pair changed Ye (previously generally known as Kanye West) as Sunday evening headliners after he dropped out of Coachella earlier this month.)

“Permit us to reintroduce ourselves,” Swedish Home Mafia’s Axwell requested as SHM’s set launched, nodding to the truth that the group has been largely absent from the reside area within the States since their 2013 farewell tour, after which they broke up earlier than reuniting final 12 months. This weekend marked two main milestones within the group’s comeback, between headlining Coachella and the discharge of their debut LP, Paradise Once more, which dropped on Friday (April 15.)

Whereas quite a bit has modified within the digital music panorama since Swedish Home Mafia first headlined Coachella in 2012, what was instantly clear amongst the packed crowd was that their traditional tracks operate as nicely now as they did after they dropped in the course of the EDM heyday of the early 2010s. This present didn’t embody the stage spectacle of confetti, pyro and lasers that SHM exhibits are beloved for, however there have been nonetheless tens of hundreds of individuals screaming alongside to “Save The World” and Don’t You Fear Baby” with the identical gusto as crowds did again within the day and for these jiffy it felt like a wonderful return to 2012 .

And naturally the present was additionally the primary time any of the brand new Swedish Home Mafia music was performed reside — a serious check for his or her new sound. Through the present the fellows — Steve Angello, Axwell and Sebastian Ingrosso — performed remixes of their large hits “Greyhound” and “Miami 2 Ibiza” early within the set, oscillating backwards and forwards between confirmed smashes and the brand new materials. Whereas many followers in all probability wished that they might have simply let the beloved clasiscs play out of their entirety, edited variations made extra space for brand new home and techno oriented songs like “It Will get Higher” and “Can U Really feel It.” The set later veered into some Justice-adjacent electro, the hip-hop leaning “Frankenstein,” and the Sting-sampling “Redlight,” a observe that went off notably onerous all through the huge subject and proved that their new stuff is extremely efficient and can seemingly turn out to be extra in order audiences get to understand it higher.

After which it was The Weeknd’s flip.

Showing in a black t-shirt, black army jacket and black gloves, the solo artist took over the huge stage with ease and charisma, launching his a part of the present with “Sacrifice,” most certainly as a result of it’s a observe on which Axwell has a writing credit score. The trio stayed onstage for this tune, then exited earlier than The Weeknd launched right into a sequence of hits together with “I Can’t Really feel My Face” and “Blinding Lights.” The latter observe proved massively efficient, with audiences thrilled to lastly hear it reside, provided that The Weeknd has had few alternatives to carry out it for an viewers after dropping it in the course of the pandemic.

The singer’s voice sounded incredible and he appeared relaxed and assured onstage, demonstrating the extent that he’s grown as a reside performer since headlining Coachella in 2018. He wound down his solo portion of the present with a truncated model of “Save Your Tears,” earlier than Swedish Home Mafia — nonetheless wearing all black leather-based — returned to the stage for the present (and competition) closing “Moth To a Flame.”

For some, this pairing could have been a bizarre one. On the floor, the 2 acts didn’t have an entire lot in widespread past the identical supervisor, Sal Slaiby, and their one collaborative observe. Forward of the present there was hypothesis about whether or not or not one act would draw extra followers to the mainstage, or if Swedish Home Mafia’s comeback may get a lift from this main crossover second with The Weeknd’s fanbase.

However an off-the-cuff ballot of followers leaving the present discovered the group break up pretty evenly, with some saying they had been into Swedish Home Mafia, some saying they had been feeling The Weeknd and lots of copping to loving each equally. Which, for a non-traditional shared set from two acts whose music doesn’t share a lot sonic DNA, finally felt like a greatest case state of affairs consequence.