Swedish House Mafia Reunite at Ultra 2018
After years of speculation and a few months of heightened industry anxiety, Swedish House Mafia reunited on the Ultra Miami stage Sunday (March 25) to help celebrate the festival's 20th year.
The famous trio emerged from darkness after a 30-minute production break. When asked why they chose this moment to reunite, they simply said "it was time."
"I am Axwell, I am Sebastian Ingrosso, and I am Steve Angello," they said into the mics, "and Miami, tonight we go by Swedish House Mafia."
A lot has changed since SHM last dropped "Don't You Worry Child" on the "Ultranaughts" in 2013, its last set in five years. Its progressive sound has been replaced by rapid-fire breaks, its builds with trap-bass, but as soon as the icons gave fans megahits "Save The World," "Miami 2 Ibiza" and "Greyhound," the thousands-deep crowd roared with the chants of each electric melody.
The final peak came with an encore of "One." There was no giant Pharrell sighting, but there were tons of fireworks. For one last night, Miami lived one of its storied historical music experiences.
The festival also announced its 2019 event would take place March 29-31.
Swedish House Mafia reunited after a five-year hiatus this evening (Sunday 25th March) to close out Ultra Music Festival’s 20th anniversary celebrations in Miami.
The famous trio, consisting of Axwell, Sebastian Ingrosso and Steve Angello, played the final set on the main stage during Ultra’s third day, opening the set with their mega-hit ‘Miami 2 Ibiza’.
It’s been five years since the Swedish DJs played together as a group, with the trio playing the final performance of their ‘One Last Tour’ shows on Ultra’s main stage back in 2010.
Rumours that SHM would reunite at Ultra have been circulating for the past few months, despite several statements denying the reunion from the group’s manager Amy Thomson and SHM member Steve Angello.
Dutch EDM DJ Hardwell and Don Diablo also weighed in on the debate over the last seven days, while reddit users claimed to have cracked a secret code which revealed SHM as Sunday’s surprise act, plus supposed headline sets from Deadmau5 and French duo Daft Punk.
Earlier today, a reunion was all but confirmed by friends and collaborators of the group via Instagram, while new and simplified SHM logos have been popping up around Miami over the last 24 hours.
DJ Mag was on the ground at Ultra Music Festival in Miami as Swedish House Mafia took the stage tonight — check out Swedish House Mafia's set below.
Swedish House Mafia are set to reunite this evening (Sunday 25th March) to close out Ultra Music Festival’s main stage, according to close friends and collaborators of the trio.
Friend of the group Dave Grutman uploaded an image of a wall mural in Miami several hours ago, which displays a new and simplified Swedish House Mafia logo ahead of tonight’s alleged show.
Other Instagram accounts, including those of artist Herbert Galarza and designer Virgil Abloh, have also publically hinted at tonight’s reunion. Check out their posts below.
Rumours have been rife that Swedish House Mafia would reunite to celebrate Ultra’s two decades in operation in 2018, despite Steve Angello denying on Twitter that a reunion is on the cards.
A recent social media update on the SHM Facebook page also sent the internet into meltdown earlier this month, before manager Amy Thomson quashed hopes of a reunion claiming she was simply “cleaning their socials” by uploading new photos to the group's fan page.
Fans don't have to wait long now to find out if the reunion will happen — Ultra Music Festival's secret surprise guests will take over tonight (Sunday 25th March) at 10PM.
Ultra Music Festival fans can also check out our exclusive pictures from the festival's Friday and Saturday sessions, plus all the pictures from DJ Mag's epic MMW pool party at The Surfcomber earlier this week.
Listen back to sets from Ellen Allien, The Black Madonna, Claptone, Camelphat and more from DJ Mag's MMW pool party here.
A post shared by David Grutman (@davegrutman) on Mar 24, 2018 at 10:58am PDT
Swedish House Mafia’s grand return to perform Ultra Music Festival’s mainstage last night (25th March) might have just been the start of what could be a full scale reunion.
As their set ended in a eruption fireworks and dizzying lights – which you can see below – Axwell shouted into the microphone, “Ultra Miami, thank you for having us tonight. We’re Swedish House Mafia for life this time.”
This, of course, comes after weeks upon weeks of speculation as to whether such a reunion would happen or not. Over the course of a number of weeks, Reddit users went so far as to “crack the code” to prove the trio would reform while the group’s manager Amy Thomson and SHM member Steve Angello all vehemently denied the whole thing.
Hardwell and Don Diablo also weighed in on the debate, with the latter suggesting that new music was on the horizon from the EDM trio.
In the 24-hours leading up to their surprise set at the festival, friends and collaborators of the trio confirmed the initial rumours by posting images of simplified SHM logos spray painted around Miami on Instagram.
This, in addition to the fact that the streaming angle of their set was ominously distant, suggests that this was perhaps just the tip of the iceberg in what could end up being something much grander. DJ Mag will keep you updated as we learn more (if there is more...).
