On July 23, 2011, Avicii played the Tomorrowland mainstage for the first time, and he came armed.
About 25 minutes into the performance, the producer played his then-unreleased song “Levels.” While the track had been gaining major traction across digital platforms, it was still three months away from its official release on Oct. 28, 2011.
In honor of the song’s 15-year anniversary Wednesday (Oct. 28), the Avicii Estate, Pophouse (which owns 75% of the late producer’s recording and publishing right) and Tomorrowland have released Avicii’s full Tomorrowland 2011 MainStage set for the first time. The roughly 90-minute show is available to watch in full below, on YouTube and on the Avicii Community site.
The performance is surely a time capsule from an earlier era of dance music, with the crowd looking extremely 2011 in their neon-framed sunglasses, indie sleaze-ish tank tops and hoodies, along with the general absence of phones. So too is the stage itself is significantly less ornate than modern Tomorrowland mainstages, while Avicii, playing a rainy afternoon slot, is far less famous than he would very soon become.
The set is thick with early Avicii bangers, including “Silhouettes” and “Seek Bromance,” with the artist closing the show with edits of Robyn’s “Hang With Me” and The Killers’ “Mr. Brightside.” Behind him onstage, you can intermittently spot Afrojack, the Nervo sisters, Avicii’s then-manager Ash Pournouri and Martin Solveig, who takes over the decks from Avicii.
“Levels” spent 20 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2011 and 2012, becoming a top five hit in 2012 and generally setting the EDM crossover template. Fifteen years after its release and seven years after Avicii’s death, the song remains essential, with Skrillex playing his remix of the song during his recent set at Head Trip and Calvin Harris closing his performance with the song during that same festival.
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