Not everyone is excited about the rise in production value at EDM shows over the past few years. Former Swedish House Mafia member Steve Angello is putting his foot down and speaking out against festivals, in favor of playing smaller and more intimate club shows.
As of November 22, Angello has begun his ‘Reflections‘ residency at LiFE Nightclub in Las Vegas – and in an interview with Mixmag, Angello emphasizes his disdain for the “festival-driven” culture and reveals his attempts to bring back the appreciation for club environments, saying the following with regards to new artists on his SIZE label: 
“I’m trying to push the artists on my label to become more club-orientated. Some of them think I’m evil! We have an artist right now that’s getting really big and is being offered lots of festivals and I said ‘Listen, your next tour is a club tour’ and he was like ‘Fuck that I don’t want to do a club tour’ and I was like ‘You’ve got to. We’ll do it small. 150 people, great soundsystem, no LEDs, just back to basics.’ Now he’s actually getting more excited about because it’s something different!”
The house legend’s strong opinion about the current state of dance music isn’t without reason, of course; with festivals like EDC and Ultra pouring literally millions of dollars into production alone, most would question how much focus is being given to the main attraction (the music).
What do you think? Is Steve Angello justified in wanting to bring dance music back to its humble roots?
H/T Mixmag | Photo by BBC
150 people? Come on, that’s not even a club and I feel really sorry for that guy’s career and talent being wasted
If angello was worried about getting back to the basics then he wouldnt charge $40k a night to Dj. The average night clubs cant afford anywhere close to that.
Along with getting into the clubs, maybe it should also be considered to delve into secondary markets. You can make easy money all day in Chicago, Vegas, etc, but to drive dance music to be an undeniable force, you have to go everywhere.
This isn’t hypocritical at all. He plays festivals all the time. Swedish House Mafia was basically a mini-festival show every time they played.
cheers.
I see his point, but I think its dumb that he’s not letting the guy do festivals. Let him do what he wants to do! If he’s that good then SIZE should support him on whatever he wants to do, not force him to do 150 person shows. And come on 150 x $30 = $4500 before alcohol sales, sadly I don’t know that many larger acts that you can get for even close to that price…
It’s called do both lol…. People sometimes complain about clubs because they don’t fit enough people or you are too crowded inside for big Djs. I think there are some festivals that try to take advantage and add multiple days for no reason (OMFG LED NYE SD).. but I don’t think anyone should leave behind festivals for only club performances but that’s their prerogative.
So instead of doing like 20 festivals a year he will only be doing 18.
Festivals are fuckin awesome tho! I think the massive number of people adds a lot to the experience of listening to live edm.
Superb marketing by Steve. Who this ” upcoming artist” is, nobody knows – but now we want to 😉
Seen steve at his best in clubs like lush….clubs are where it’s at, fuck America and their big productions
Yay… we all have to pack into a small sweaty club to see him.. now that’s what I call progress
That idea is retarded… millions are being made at festivals
This is awesome
I agree!
I am totally agree with steve. I playing in a small club with 150 People every Weekend and its the best feeling to have the crowd right next to you. High Fives, Pictures and everything is possible with the fans.