The first Colours event of 2012 went out with a bang as Nicky Romero and Hardwell rocked the Arches with two electric and eclectic sets.
To me, Romero is the rising star of the Electronic Dance Music scene and after a big year in 2011, he carried on in terrific fashion with an exciting batch of mixes. Hardwell, on the other hand, has very much become a household name and at the age of 23, the same as Romero, this is a testament to his ability to put on a show.
On approach to the venue I was greeted by the unrivalled Arches vibe and on entry we were treated to an opening set from Barry Miller as Colours regulars were joined by House enthusiasts. With the opening of the main arch came a rush to gain a good spot as Jon Mancini built up the anticipation with a succession of funky tracks.
Romero appeared shortly after midnight and was given the customary Glasgow welcome of “Here we, here we..” you know the rest! From the moment he dropped his (and David Guetta’s) phenomenal mix of Wild Ones you knew the night was going to be exactly that.
The Dutchman followed this up with Calvin Harris’ much adulated Awooga integrated with vocals from the Justice classic We Are Your Friends which went down a treat with the boisterous crowd.
The next set of tunes brought the house down. One personal favourite followed another as Red Carpet - Alright blended in to arguably one of Romero’s biggest tracks to date 'F*** School', made in collaboration with Swedish superstar Avicii. Afrojack and Shermanology’s Can’t Stop me Now offered the crowd the opportunity to belt out vocals and they did so without a fuss, a huge sound which will no doubt frequent both the mainstream circuit and nightclub speakers over the coming months.
As well as these fine remixes Romero indulged in some of his self-made tracks such as Camorra and brand new Toulouse, which offers a cluster of synths followed by a deep drop and is by far my favourite track of 2012 to date.
With the arrival of Hardwell at the side of the stage, Romero’s set then reached a deafening crescendo with a number of high octane synths which the crowd addressed in typical Arches fashion.
The drop in Faithless floor-filler Insomnia mirrored that of a shotgun start which allowed the crowd, and Romero himself, to immerse in a final 15 minutes of bedlam. Alesso - Raise Your Head, Afrojack & Aoki - No Beef were adored before Romero allowed the crowd to Break a Sweat to Skrillex’s genius collaboration with The Doors. Crowd favourite Promises, by Nero, brought Romero’s energetic but elegant set to an end and it is clear that this man has the world at his fingertips.
As the reins were handed over to Hardwell, he grabbed them with both hands before thrusting out his and Romero‘s Beta, followed by Encoded and newly released Spaceman which has rocketed (sorry..) to number 2 in the Beatport charts.
Another 2011 personal favourite was unleashed in the shape of Alesso and Sebastian Ingrosso’s Calling before a unified chorus of We Found Love reverberated around the famous venue. Hardwell then upped the ante, integrating one Angello classic with another as the unmistakeable beats of Knas slowly appeared in the background of Show Me Love.
His diverse range of music was easy on the ears as Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit was quickly followed by a steady mix of Red Hot Chilli Peppers, which became the highlight of the night for two electric guitarists in my company! Adele was next on the menu as Hardwell dropped an exciting mix of Rolling in the Deep, if only all of her songs were like this….
As the clocked ticked towards 2:30am with energy levels low and sweat fluids lower, echoes of Save the World soon brought a rush of adrenalin as the crowd bounced in unison. In the next, and final, 20 minutes Hardwell brought the curtain down in style.
To the delight of the crowd, and me in particular, Knife Party’s incredible Internet Friends was followed up by Avicii’s big hitter Levels. Then as Bloody Beetroots’ and Steve Aoki’s show-stopping Warp boomed out, the connection between Hardwell and the crowd peaked when the Dutchman produced a stunning stage dive before returning to the decks and finishing up with Skrillex’s remix of Benny Benassi’s Cinema.
An incredible end to an incredible show, very much falling in line with an earlier Twitter hash tag - Go Hardwell or go home.
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