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 Its progressive sound has been replaced by rapid-fire breaks, its builds with trap-bass, but as soon as the icons gave fans megahits "Save The World," "Miami 2 Ibiza" and "Greyhound," the thousands-deep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’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...).
Don't you worry, child....
Swedish House Mafia have confirmed their reunion by making a surprise performance at Miami’s Ultra Festival last night.
The EDM group, comprised of Axwell, Sebastian Ingrosso and Steve Angello, appeared onstage from darkness before confirming their return to the crowd.
“”I am Axwell, I am Sebastian Ingrosso, and I am Steve Angelo,” the group said.
“And Miami, tonight we go by Swedish House Mafia.”
They then proceeded to deliver a career-spanning set that included ‘Save The World’, ‘Miami 2 Ibiza’ and ‘Greyhound’, before closing the set with a firework packed rendition of ‘One’.
Fittingly, the festival also previously played host to the group’s last gig prior to their split in 2013.
When asked why the EDM trio had decided to reunite, the group replied: “It is time”.
The reunion follows months of fevered speculation about a potential reunion, with their logo being spotted on the streets of Miami in recent weeks.
🌑🌑🌑 A post shared by David Grutman (@davegrutman) on Mar 24, 2018 at 10:58am PDT
In 2016, Axwell also admitted that he was open to the idea of reuniting the group in the future.
“I think we’re all in our happy places right now. Having said that it would be stupid of me to say never [to a reunion]”, he admitted.
“Maybe one day something will happen inside of us that says ‘boom’. But it’s more [likely to be] coming from us than at a festival.”
