Swedish House Mafia celebrate ‘Paradise Again’ release with first set since 2019 at Spotify-hosted Coachella afterparty
For the first time since the end of 2019, Swedish House Mafia are finally back on the stage together. In celebration of their debut album Paradise Again—which was released earlier that same day—the Swedes performed live during Spotify‘s private Coachella after hours event in Indio, taking over the breathtaking Zenyara Luxury Villa that’s located just a couple blocks from the famous Empire Polo Club and helping to introduce Spotify Live with its first-ever livestream. The event came less than 48 hours before the trio shut down weekend one of Coachella with The Weeknd on April 17.
Swedish House Mafia showed yet again that they haven’t missed a beat after coming off a more than three-year performance hiatus, although all three have performed individually or in pairs in the past handful of months. The two-hour set included most of the tracks included on Paradise Again album as well as a slew of classics like Coldplay’s “Clocks,” “Greyhound,” and the trio’s very own 2022 reworks of “Leave The World Behind,” “Miami 2 Ibiza,” and “Save The World,” which will all hopefully see a release on the recently alluded to deluxe edition of Paradise Again.
During the set, Axwell shared some words on a couple of occasions, most notably to bring out an old friend in the crowd. None other than fellow Swedish house legend Alesso joined Axwell, Sebastian Ingrosso, and Steve Angello on stage, and Axwell followed it by saying, “hey Alesso, are you gonna be on tour with us or what? Otherwise I’m not gonna play this next song,” Of course, the party did not end there, with Swedish House Mafia going on to play “Calling On” while Alesso joined them behind the decks. While there’s no official confirmation as to whether or not Alesso will be included in the tour that kicks off in July—despite him already being locked in for a part of Bad Bunny’s tour—the track selection wasn’t so random, potentially being a not-so-subtle call back to “Calling (Lose My Mind).”
The audio for the set was streamed live on Spotify’s newly-minted Spotify Live feature that allows fans listen in to their favorite artists or content creators as they perform live. With the set, Swedish House Mafia made history as the first artist to ever perform live on Spotify. Sarah Patellos—head of Spotify’s Music Content Programs—said as soon as the supergroup announced their plan for a reunion that Spotify “wanted to get involved,” going on to add that “Swedish House Mafia are iconic DJs and unbelievably creative and forward-thinking artists, so it was important to us to partner together on a truly game-changing moment.” And what a moment it was.
The exclusive after hours party was intimate and joyous. It was a chance to celebrate the release of an album that was nearly two decades in the making, and one that will have a lasting impact for decades to come. Now, attention shifts focus from the intimacies of a private album release party to perhaps the biggest stage in all of music when Swedish House Mafia close out Coachella’s mainstage on Sunday alongside The Weeknd.
Relive Swedish House Mafia’s first live performance in over three years here and watch exclusive videos of the evening on Dancing Astronaut‘s Instagram below.
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Featured image: Dancing Astronaut