Swedish Invasion

On Saturday I finally got to see Swedish House Mafia in concert - and probably for the last time. They are doing a tour called "One Last Tour," where they are traveling the entire world to share their music one final time with their devoted fans. I honestly cannot even begin to stress how important and amazing this night was.

I've been a big fan of Swedish House Mafia for a while now, and their track "Don't You Worry, Child" is a really important song for me. Every time I hear it I instantly become overjoyed and cannot help but smile. The song is so inspirational, as I'm sure many of you already know, and really helps motivate me to keep strong when I'm feeling my weakest.

My friend Gen and I traveled to Toronto to spend the day. We were emotionally and physically preparing ourselves for the insanity that was surely going to ensue - we would be raging all night long. All we could think about was how amazing this show was going to be. We kept reliving moments from VELD last August, where we were blown away by artists like Kill the Noise, Nicky Romero, Bassnectar, Deadmau5, and our personal favourite of the weekend, Avicii. We had nothing but high hopes for Swedish House Mafia's show at the Rogers Centre.

Finally the time came when we had to race to the Rogers Centre to beat the 2 hour line up, just to get inside the venue, that the previous night apparently had. Luckily, we got inside in less than 10 minutes. We immediately bought t-shirts like we do at every show we attend, and decided to get some drinks. We had floor tickets, so while Otto Knows was playing we walked around talking to people about our homemade shirts and Grizzly hoods (so cool).

Gen and I had been anticipating this day for months on end. Otto Knows finished performing, and we forced our way through the tightening crowd so we could get a better view of the stage. We made it to about a quarter away from the stage - our usual distance at such big venues.

And then it began: the lights beamed and the music blared as the crowd roared with excitement. The energy from the crowd was so overpowering! Being that deep and consumed in the crowd is infectious - all I can say is you need to experience that for yourself. The light show that occurs at EDM shows is something amazing in itself. It adds a magnitude to the performance that most concerts lack. We had made friends with a few guys around us, Kevin and Aaron, and having never been on someone's shoulders before, I decided tonight was the night I had to try it out. I thought being in the crowd was an amazing experience, but being above the crowd where you can see everything so perfectly puts you in such a state of euphoria. I asked Kevin if I could go up again when "Don't You Worry, Child" came on and I received an immediate "Yes."

Being so close to so many people really makes you sweat, especially when you're dancing and raging to your favourite tracks. I feel like when you're at an EDM show, the excitement and energy is increased dramatically because the purpose of these tracks are to make your entire body and soul vibrate with joyous movement. Everyone was stripped down to their skin as the heat climbed with the beat of the music. I was so lost in the drops and bass, the lights and lasers, the intimacy of the crowd.


I almost cried when "Don't You Worry, Child" began to play. I couldn't get up on those shoulders fast enough! I've never had a more genuine, elated, or euphoric smile on my face than I did in this moment. I video taped as I was dancing in the air, high above the crowd, so content with life.  Everyone was singing along, belting their hearts out. Being so high for this song moved within me so many emotions - I was in such a state of peace.

I went to the show with high expectations, and left with every expectation entirely fulfilled. Swedish House Mafia really blew me away, and seeing them perform is a night I will never likely forget.