Don Diablo makes touching tribute to Avicii at Tomorrowland
Tomorrowland is in full swing. With sets from Hardwell, Above & Beyond, Axwell /\ Ingrosso, EDM fans are fed and full of PLUR right now.
During his set, Don Diablo played a production of all of his own songs, including a collaboration with Tiesto.
Don Diablo ended his set with a touching tribute to Avicii. With a range of song including ‘Wake Me Up’, ‘Fade Into Darkness’, and his own remix of ‘Levels’ vs Eric Prydz’s ‘Pjanoo’, the feels were the air at Tomorrowland.
It’s a moment that hit differently this year. Avicii, born Tim Bergling, passed away in April 2018, just three months before Tomorrowland Belgium’s first weekend, and the Boom festival grounds turned into one long, collective moment of remembrance for a producer who helped shape the sound so many artists on that lineup, Don Diablo included, grew up on. Don Diablo wasn’t the only one paying tribute that weekend, either — outlets like We Rave You and Billboard both reported that similar tributes popped up across multiple stages throughout Tomorrowland’s opening weekend, with artist after artist finding their own way to honor him.
Before easing into his own tribute, Don Diablo reportedly told the crowd, per Dancing Astronaut, “If you miss someone right now, put your hands up in the sky.” Then those opening notes hit, and Boom turned into one giant, hands-in-the-air singalong. It’s the kind of moment that’s hard to fully capture after the fact, but the clips that made it online say enough on their own — thousands of fans, arms raised, singing along to a catalog that soundtracked a huge chunk of the last decade of festival season.
Pairing ‘Wake Me Up’ and ‘Fade Into Darkness’ with his own remix of ‘Levels’ against Eric Prydz’s ‘Pjanoo’ was a nice touch too, blending Avicii’s biggest anthems with the kind of melodic, festival-ready production Don Diablo is known for himself. It felt less like a tacked-on tribute and more like Don Diablo speaking Avicii’s language for a few minutes in the middle of his own set.
Listen to Don Diablo’s Tomorrowland set here:
https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/474699828
What do you think of Don Diablo‘s set and tribute to Avicii?
