Eric Prydz, Henrik B, Style Of Eye, Johan Wedel, Franz Novotny in Sweden

If the Scandinavian’s choice to celebrate Christmas a day earlier than the rest of the world had never held much in the way of benefits before 2011, then this year truly rewrote the rulebooks. Boasting an already comfortable year for the reputation and influx of fine Swedish House music, a stellar cast of its home grown talent descended on Gothenburg to not only nod to one of the globes most outdated traditions to date, but tip their hats to a year that truly put the country’s thriving musical legacy back on the map.

Reaping in the essential support of Tiësto and his rising hometown peer Hardwell for latest banger ‘Crunch’, fresh-faced Gothenburgian homeboy Franz Novotny took on the task of opening the night’s festive outing of Swedish talent following a promising year for the relatively unknown newcomer. Despite being severely delayed, Novotny’s second live outing highlighted the true potential of the 18-year-old, dealing the early crowds an energetic outing of unreserved House music despite the unfortunate hiccup.

Linus Eklöw, the man behind the rising European House moniker Style Of Eye, was sure to be in true festive spirit the subsequent year of positively frenzied antics. As a self professed radical against all imaginable genre constraints and guidelines, the Stockholm based producer has gradually deviated from outright Techno to multifaceted dance floor dissipation, attracting the likes of Claude Von Stroke’s Dirty Bird and German imprint Pickadoll along the way to establish himself as something of a leader of Sweden’s new school House movement. In an energetic display of popular dance floor fillers, Eklow’s technical approach to his live set added a dimension of appeal to his already sterling reputation for live House music, using current favourites from Dada Life, Avicii and Swedish House Mafia to keep the crowds large and loud throughout his triumphant return to Sweden.

Making an unforgettable mark on James Blunt’s ‘Dangerous’ back in August alongside Deniz Koyu, Johan Wedel’s fearless approach to owing offerings has sealed him an unwritten seal as one of Sweden’s youngest budding heroes amid the scenes uncharted territories. Boasting a sharp hand for intense outings of unassuming Progressive House cuts, last night’s highly anticipated Christmas showdown marked an incredibly suitable arena for the 21year-old beat smith to strut his stuff after a long withstanding residency in Cannes. Donning an incredibly loud jacket to the night’s festive proceedings, Wedel’s enthusiastic sing-alongs and diverse range of material seemed to hit all the right notes for those in attendance at this long awaited hometown return for the promising Swede hopeful. Despite his set suffering the wrath of earlier delays, Wedel dealt a direct and energetic blow of an own re-edit alongside a host of well-received leaps from emotive builds and powerful drops, proving exactly why he deserves the attention mustered throughout 2011.

Warily balancing the realms of mainstream club mongering and earnest dissident dance floor contributions whilst keeping a weary distance from the global press, the public eye has seldom been stolen from the iconic Swede powerhouse behind some of global Dance music’s most beloved offerings. Rumoured to be an original affiliate of the country’s illustrious House mafiosa, Eric Prydz has kept his discography ticking with a hit-after-hit under the well-endowed stronghold of his musical empire, consisting of monikers Pryda and Cirez D aswell as imprints Pryda and Mouseville. Of all the Swedish stars that could have come for Christmas, there was never a doubt that the return of Sweden’s modestly spoken House appendage. In an outing of well-received original cuts from his own well-stocked discography, there were few unmoved by the original Swedish master at last night’s proceedings. Still flawless in his transitions and greeted with a wave of fist pumping homeland followers, there was little indication of Prydz’s dynamic live appeal going anywhere fast in the nights festive proceedings. Drawing on favoured classics from Daft Punk an Faithless in the process, some special cuts from the night suggest that as one hell of a year for the globally acclaimed producer ends, the one approaching promises to be nothing short of magic for this well preserved legend of European Dance music.

As another of Sweden’s young leaders that once basked in the country’s misconstrued Techno scene, Henrik B is a different breed in European Dance music’s à la mode forces. Strongly tipped by Axwell and boasting support from the likes of Tiësto and Mr. Prydz himself, his well-pitched offensive of the globes supreme outlets of Electronic music has gained him a reputation as one of Swedish Dance music’s most hotly tipped producers to date. Unhindered by the slightly thinning crowds, it was the crowds glowing reactions to renowned singalong moments of ‘Levels’ and Adrian Lux’s ‘Teenage Crime’ that truly hit home the sheer dynamics of Henrik Berntsson’s mass appeal on the global clubbing circuit. Finishing proceedings with an actively charged outing of modern bangers, Berntsson preserved the crowds into the earlier hours of the morning with little effort and a whole surge of enthusiasm. Singing off an incredibly positive night of home grown Electronic music, this highly enthusiastic final set could not have better encapsulated the warm glow of pride and excitement that surrounds Swedish House music as its players prepare to bring even more positive noise for 2012.

‘M83 – Midnight City (Eric Prydz Private Remix)’ played by Eric Prydz

Henrik B feat. Rudy – Leave A Light On (Forthcoming on Axtone Records)

Pryda – Intro ID

Avicii – Levels (Henrik B Remix)

Franz Novotny – 22:45

01. Promise Land feat. Sandy B – Never Be Lonely [Subliminal]
02. Franz Novotny – ID [White Label]
03. Zedd – Shave It [Owsla]
04. Franz Novotny – Big Bang [Vicious]
05. Sandro Silva & Quintino – Epic [Musical Freedom]
06. Bingo Players – Rattle [Hysteria] w/ Adele – Someone Like You (Thomas Gold & Mark Mendes Bootleg) [Beat My Day] (Wahlstedt Mash-Up)
07. Rebecca & Fiona – We Are Girls (Franz Novotny Remix) [Universal]
08. Avicii – Levels (Hardwell Bootleg) [White Label]

Style of Eye – 23:25

01. Marcus Price & Carli – Flaska & Bas [Universal]
02. Swedish House Mafia feat. John Martin – Save The World (Style of Eye & Carli Remix) [EMI] (Edit)
03. Crookers pres. Dr. Gonzo – Dr. Gonzo Anthem [Southern Fried]
04. David Guetta feat. Usher – Without You (ID Remix)
05. Prodigy – No Good (ID Remix)
06. Dada Life – Kick Out The Epic Motherfucker [So Much Dada]
07. Swedish House Mafia vs. Knife Party – Antidote [EMI]
08. Avicii – Levels (Clockwork Bootleg – Edit)
09. ID
10. Style Of Eye – We Are Boys [Refune]
11. Zedd – Shave It [Owsla]
12. ID
13. Miike Snow – Animal (Style Of Eye Remix)

Johan Wedel – 00:16

01. Niki & The Dove – Dj Ease My Mind [Moshi Moshi]
02. Congorock – Ivory (The Bloody Beetroots Remix) [Ultra]
03. Mumbai Science – Lotus (Johan Wedel Re-Edit)
04. Fake Blood – I Think I Like It [Cheap Trills]
05. Chris Lake – ID [White Label]
06. MyBack – Was I A Fool [Mutants]
07. Deniz Koyu feat. Jason Caesar – Lose Control (Johan Wedel Remix) [Scream & Shout]
08. Denzal Park – Nammos [Cr2]

Eric Prydz – 00:47

01. Intro ID
02. Jeremy Olander – Evade [Pryda Friends]
03. Pryda – Glimma [Pryda]
04. Pryda – Creamfields ID #01 2010
05. ID
06. Faithless – Not Going Home (Eric Prydz Remix) [PIAS] w/ Faithless – Insomnia [Sony]
07. Cirez D – The Tumble [Mouseville] w/ ID w/ Daft Punk – Aerodynamic [Virgin]
08. M83 – Midnight City (Eric Prydz Private Remix)
09. Pryda – Inox [Pryda]
10. Dukes Of Sluca vs. Apollo – Mighty Love (Eric Prydz Re-Edit)
11. Eric Prydz – 2Night [Pryda] w/ Underworld – Two Months Off (Acappella) [Underworldlive.com] w/ Pryda – Melo [Pryda]
12. Eric Prydz – Pjanoo (Private Edit) (Encore)

Henrik B – o2:08

01. Axwell & Sebastian Ingrosso feat. Michael Feiner – Together (The Attic Intro Edit) w/ Alesso – Nillionaire [Refune]
02. Adele – Set Fire To The Rain (Thomas Gold Remix) [XL]
03. Coldplay vs. Swedish House Mafia – Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall [Parlophone]
04. Dirty South & Those Usual Suspects feat. Erik Hecht – Walking Alone [Phazing]
05. Avicii – Levels (Henrik B Remix) [LE7ELS / Universal]
06. Adrian Lux – Teenage Crime (Axwell & Henrik B Remode) [Axtone]
07. Swedish House Mafia vs. Knife Party – Antidote (Vocal Mix) [EMI]
08. Henrik B feat. Rudy – Leave A Light On [Axtone]
09. David Guetta feat. Sia – Titanium (Arno Cost Remix) [F*** Me I'm Famous]
10. Benny Benassi feat. Gary Go – Cinema (Skrillex Remix) [Ultra]
11. The Killers – Mr. Brightside (Jacques Lu Cont’s ‘Thin White Duke’ Mix) [The Island Def Jam]

Photo credit: Nattstad

/Anton & Dan Carter