Live Review: Swedish House Mafia At Pier 80
Broken Dreams Club photographer Aaron Levy-Wolins attended the Swedish House Mafia’s New Year’s Eve show at Pier 80. Here is his review and photos from the EDM legends’ sold-out performance at the San Francisco Bay waterfront venue:
On chilly New Years Eve night, rain pounding the pavement outside, all 30-year-old me wanted to do was stay inside with a cup of tea and cuddle up in my warm bed. No part of me wanted to head out to a boisterous, packed concert headed by DJs emitting huge rhythms and beats from massive subwoofers. But after entering Pier 80's massive warehouse along with thousands of partiers donning zany oversized coats, sparkly headbands and light-up boots to groove and celebrate the remainder of a tumultuous year, I knew I made the right decision.
“Thank you for being here,” Skiis, the opening DJ, said to the crowd, which cheered in response.
German-Iraqi music producer Boys Noize followed his act, his skillful mixing taking the level of DJ skills up a major notch. Simultaneously, the volume picked at the same pace as fast as the beat, sending shockwaves of energy reverberating around the warehouse. One person waved a pair of blue butterfly wings as concertgoers jumped and danced to the pulsating music, crescendos of subwoofer vibrations rocking the floor.
A fast version of “Memories” by David Guetta featuring Kid Kudi informed the crowd of how close it was to partying to the group they came for.
I love Swedish House Mafia. Really love them. Specifically, I'm enthralled by the three-DJ supergroup’s–composed of Axwell, Steve Angelo and Sebastian Ingrosso–2012 compilation album “Until Now”, the EDM sound of my adolescence that has forever captivated my dreams. The album includes their 2011 earworm “Save the World,” my original introduction to the musical trio. When I hear that song, I'm fifteen years old, carefree during the warm summer months in the Santa Rosa mountains, the long days spent in the company of those I love at utter peace.
Despite my love for the masterful musical mixers, I had never heard them live.
The three entered the darkened arena and came to the DJ booth at center stage before being backlit by an intense light beneath them, giving them a gloriously ethereal look and visually cementing them as the EDM gods they are.
The stage was set and the crowd poised. A sea of hands gripping their phones recorded as Swedish House Mafia performed with electronic prowess.
And the party was on.
The DJ trio laid down layer upon layer of repeating drum beats, snare patterns and ambient sound, and the electricity on the floor became as palpable as the beat. Vapor from a fog machine accompanied vape smoke to make the air above as viscous as the crowd was thronged below. The humid haze soaked up bright blue and deep red lights as other lamps strobed white lasers intermittently.
They say you shouldn't enjoy the end, result but the journey to it (and yes, the friends you made along the way). The EDM legends all but ensured that, building layer upon layer of reverb and beats before shaking the floor to a climactic drop, over and over again. They mixed in songs old and new, including “Miami 2 Ibiza” and “Antidote” featuring Knife Party, from “Until Now.” “Greyhound,” one of my favorites, kept the feeling going with fast tempo.
Two minutes before midnight, the pace slowed and light blue lights illuminated the warehouse. The crowd counted down the last 10 seconds of 2025 and erupted in elation as massive black and white balloons fell from the rafters as the beats returned and the lasers blasted overhead.
But the captivating moment for me came as a tidal wave of cheering voices and dancing bodies sang my favorite song.
“Who's gonna save the world toniiiiiiiight? Who's gonna bring you back to life? We're gonna make it, you and I. We're gonna save the world tonight.”
The waves of reverb and nostalgia flooded me and the cold, rainy night with thousands of elated people dancing within inches of me disappeared, and all I could feel were the genial, cozy days of a time gone by.