Calvin Harris performing during the FanDuel Super Bowl party in Las Vegas in February 2024.Photo:David Becker/Getty
David Becker/Getty
Calvin Harrisis adamant that his live set will put fans in their “Feels.”
The EDM superstar, 40, performed a headlining set atUltra Music Festivalin Miami on Sunday, and after several festivalgoers took to social media to criticize his set, he clapped back in response.
Addressing a comment that described his set as “underwhelming,” Harris defended playing mostly his own songs and how much effort he put into the show.
Calvin Harris attends the BRIT Awards in London on March 2, 2024.JMEnternational/Getty
JMEnternational/Getty
“you expect me to play none of my songs?” he wrote, going on to refer to several of his classic tunes and their popularity. “3 songs since 2014 hmm how deep is your love – billion streams, this is what u came for – billion streams, my way – billion streams, slide – billion streams, feels – billion streams, one kiss – billion streams, and the other 5 half a bil and before 2014 another 20.”
Harris added that his aforementioned hits are “not cheesy s—,” but rather “proper f—ing songs with real artists.”
“you’d rather I play Fein trap edits today,” the Grammy winner continued, referring toTravis Scott’s 2023 song “FE!N” featuring Playboi Carti and how many other EDM stars play remixes of other tracks during their festival sets.
Harris also explained that he put a lot of work into curating his entire setlist, which Dance Astronauts reported featured 19 songs, including his smash hit withRihanna, “This Is What You Came For,” his belovedEllie Gouldingfeatures “I Need Your Love,” “Outside” and “Miracle,” his recentSam Smithcollaboration, “Desire,” “Feel So Close,” and more.
“spent months making new versions of everything for this and you wonder why I never play edm festivals,” he shared.
Calvin Harris attends the 66th Grammy Awards in Los Angeles in February 2024.Kayla Oaddams/WireImage
Kayla Oaddams/WireImage
Harris' comment concluded with him saying that he’s pleased with his Ultra set, despite the naysayers. “at least people I saw irl had a great time and I can be happy with that but f— at this point whatever I do is gonna piss you off,” the producer wrote.
Although a select few festival goers called the set “boring” or noted that it was the only set at Ultra that wasn’t live streamed, which may have been the cause of some fans' frustrations, many also voiced their support for the Scottish musician.
“set was epic! I’m not alone in thinking that,” one fan replied, while another said, “no need to cater to these trolls sir, you will always be one of the greatest producers of all time for many of us 🔥.”
One fan wrote that they had seen Harris live six times and always has “a great time.” “There’s way more of us that appreciate what you do than the losers who will lean negative on everything in life,” the comment continued. “Thank you for bringing the heat!”
Calvin Harris and his wife Vick Hope attend the GRAMMY Awards in Los Angeles in February 2024.Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic
Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic
The “Summer” artist isset to playa handful of other EDM and pop music festivals, as well as his own solo sets, across the globe throughout the spring and summer. In the coming months, he’ll headline Tecate Emblema in Mexico City, Pinkpop Festival in Holland, Garorock in Marmande, France, Glasgow, Scotland’s TRNSMT and several other major events.
In a February interview with the radio programCapital Dance, Harris revealed that he’sconsidering retiring from DJing in the next 10 years.
“I always said that once I get past 50, I can’t see me DJing, man,” he admitted.
The musician, who’s produced songs for artists likeDua Lipaexplained, “I think I’d prefer to be in the studio making tunes, like ghost producers.”
“I think that’s where the majority of my talent lies, is making songs sound good,” he continued. “So, I would like to make other people’s records sound good.”
source: people.com
