Summer Stage Gets Electric With Steve Angello at Central Park

There was just a single box of empty bleacher seats at Central Park’s Summer Stage on Saturday, Sept 22nd—the one for season-long tickets owners. Hamlet’s Jr.’s father, Hamlet the King was replaced tonight by the Swedish Dynasty DJ, Steve Angello, along with his mates Sunnery James & Ryan Marciano, as well AN21 & (Angello’s younger brother) Max Vangeli. The regular Shakespearian adept crowd must have lost their glow sticks tonight.

As hoards of rain-drenched ravers-of-the-new-age flocked to the after-party at Pacha NYC (also promoters of the event itself) for Steve Angello's late night show number two from Central Park’s first-of-its-kind event, “SIZE MATTERS,” Swedish House Mafia’s Angello, along with a handful of crafty club promotional teams and brand marketing strategists danced their way to the banks with wallets much larger in SIZE.

Once an illegal, underground party, filled with people behaving badly, “the rave” is now controlled, a money making machine, becoming more and more well oiled by the day. Incredulously, joining the party is now accepted. If your parents don’t let you go to a “concert” in the park that ends around 10pm than they are uptight, right?

The show was undeniably a spectacular display of visual art. Light projectors beamed colorful shapes and rainbows with digitized clouds lighting up the trees of the park. The 30X30 foot projection screen flashing the words “STEVE ANGELLO” was like an omnipotent embed code to our brains that he’s EDM’s Kanye West. The spectacle was admittedly freeing, fun and something this generation yearns for, and spends good money on, to escape their humdrum routines. If only they’d put down their iPhone 5’s (yup, I saw a few!) for a moment to stop Tweeting party pics and actually join it, they’d really give way the to full escapist model. But there’s less capital in that.

As much as we New Yorkers can, The Big Apple did its best and escaped tonight. Steve Angello rolled out the smash hits like a Beatport Top Ten playlist and affirmed to American’s young’uns that he’s his own entity, not just a part of the SHM. it should be understood that DJ are not all the same as a band. There’s no guitarist, nor drummer or bassist. Three guys that do the same thing (albeit with their own signature sonic styles) are meant to roll solo. Angello’s Swedish House Mafia breakout performance in Central Park reminds us of that the almost-30 year old is a standalone superstar.

The barely-clothed smorgasbord of partygoers has never seen the former turtablist at a pub back in Stockholm, working the decks where there was no bottle service section (tonight’s Summer Stage VIP was red-roped courtesy of Provacateur) or light show. And if they ever knew the Steve Angello back from those days, their neon light-up sunglasses would short circuit.

So what’s better? The fully produced organized party or the outlawed warehouse pandemonium? What’s safer for the music’s integrity versus the safety of youthful fans? The verdict on that one remains in debate.

Experience music, have a good time, and it’s all gravy. #SIZEMATTERS