After massive shows at Belsonic and Tennents’ Vital in 2016 and 2017, Dutch DJ Tiesto will return to the city to close Belsonic 2019 with his headline performance on Friday 28th June.
The 50-year-old was voted the ‘Greatest DJ of All Time’ in a poll by Mix magazine and Number One in the DJ Mag Top 100 for three consecutive years between 2002-2004. He is seen by many as the pioneering DJ of the modern EDM scene, who has inspired a whole host of other DJs, most notably Martin Garrix, Mike Williams and Oliver Heldens who have all cited the Breda born producer as a role model.
He paved the way for DJs performing live to huge audiences, as he was the first DJ to hold a solo concert in a stadium when he played to 25,000 in Arnhem’s GelreDome. He continued to break records, becoming the first DJ to play live on stage at the Olympics with his set at the opening ceremony of the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens.
Whilst he gained fame early in his career as a trance DJ with ‘Adagio for Strings’ arguably his most famous song of that genre, along with hits such as ‘Lethal Industry’ and his remix of Delerium’s ‘Silence’, he has more recently moved into a more house and mainstream style of dance music. This was evident with his 2014 album ‘A Town Called Paradise’ which featured the singles ‘Red Lights’ and ‘Wasted’ and both had a distinctly more pop feel to them and ended up being certified gold in the US. He later won a Grammy Award for his remix of John Legend’s ‘All of Me’ in 2015.
Tiesto released his debut EP ‘I Like it Loud’ in 2018 which featured four songs and collaborations with DJs such as John Christian, Mesto, MOTi and Matisse and Sadko whilst his big room track ‘Split (Only U)’ a collaboration with The Chainsmokers was played before every game at the 2018 FIFA World Cup. In July of last year, he released one of the hits of the summer ‘Jackie Chan’ along with Dzeko, Preme and Post Malone.
His second EP ‘Together’ was released this year and includes various collaborations on eight different club tracks. His recent single ‘Rituals’, released in May of this year with Jonas Blue and Rita Ora is very much a mainstream pop song that has already amassed over 1 million views on Youtube and will no doubt be a dance floor filler across the world. Expect a set with a bit of everything from Tiesto, who enjoys playing a variety of genres in his live shows.
Tiesto is supported by DJ duo Loud Luxury who shot to fame with their remix of Martin Garrix’s record ‘Scared to Be Lonely. The Canadians gained international attention last summer with their hit single ‘Body’ which won ‘Dance Recording of the Year’ at the 2019 Juno Awards. They are sure to warm up the crowd with their mix of deep and future house dance music in their sets.
It promises to be a great end to the festival and tickets are still on sale from Ticketmaster for £30 plus booking fee.