Avicii Live in Cape Town

It was the last night of March 2012, and my spring break trip to Botswana and Zimbabwe would leave at 6:25 from Cape Town Airport. This was not the ideal time for a Avicii to come to Cape Town, but there was no way that I would miss the opportunity to see one of the most popular DJs and perhaps currently musical act in the world. Avicii is a Swedish DJ who came to international fame for a few hits, such as Levels, Seek Bromance, Blessed, My Feelings for You and others. His music is loud, fast, electronic and gets parties in colleges and clubs across the US, Europe and everywhere else going. Tonight, he was playing in a hangar at Cape Town International Airport.

Sold Out

The hangar, though it sounds strange, is actually the perfect place for a concert of this type. Avicii was Sold Out, and though his set did not begin until 00:30, there were 6 musical acts who preformed before him, including the South African band Goldfish, who I had logged to see. The concert began at 17:00 though I did not show up until 22:00, which was when Goldfish came onto the stage. It seemed like everyone who hadn't already left for spring break was at Avicii, the crowds were humongous. When Goldfish came on, people started to fill in the hangar, though before people were milling about outside by the bars, socializing waiting for the main performances.

Avicii opens with Le7els, much to the pleasure of the crowd

Goldfish was good, though Goldfish is a band playing instruments, with a much different usic style than Avicii. The crowd was ready and in a puff of smoke and pyrotechnics, the opening of the Avicii set was here and the well known bars of levels rang as loud as ever throughout Cape Town. For those of you who aren't familiar with Avicii, his worldwide #1 hit can be heard below. The energy and volume of his music is unparalleled and it is hard to envision a fan of Avicii much older than about 25.

The crowd's appetite was insatiable, and he rolled out hit after hit with the audience loving every second. Girls often convinced boys to allow them to sit on their shoulders for a better view of the concert and stage and the light show and pyrotechnics added to the club like ambience of the venue. It was a loud, wild and crazy night, enhanced by the bars that offered virtually any liquor you desired (something that would never exist in the US. This was 21st century teenage wasteland at its finest.

Avicii

A large group of UCT kids assembled in an area, making it more familiar and not unlike a big party or club night where you knew many of the people around you. This led to excessive amounts of drinking and socializing while dancing erratically to the music. By the time Avicii's set was ending there was already a mass exodus from the hangar towards the exit. He didn't leave the stage until 3:00, so it was quite late for everyone. Sarah, Alix and I found ourselves already at the airport with a flight leaving in 3 hours. It made no sense to go all the way back home, just to drive here. So we had given our luggage to friends earlier and planned to meet them at the airport around 4:30. 

Jarrett and I at Avicii

It was a crazy concert, tons of fun and a great send off from Cape Town into "the bush." By the time 6;25 came I was seated on the airplane and had fallen asleep before the stuartist could even try to make eye contact with me to guilt me into listening to the safety instructions.