Few shows that I’ve shot have been as ridiculous as the time I caught up with Major Lazer at the Squamish Music Festival; complete with head stands, stage acrobatics, crowd hugs, neon dancing girls and enough bass to cause a small earthquake. So, when I heard they were coming to the tiny Caribbean island of St. Maartin, I was at a loss at how to explain to my hotel mates why we absolutely had to go. Some had never heard of Diplo and
some weren’t fans of Dancehall and EDM. “Because”, I said”, it will be a party of EPIC proportions.” I didn’t know how, but I hoped that they’d prove me right.
Better than right, this time Major Lazer completely outdid themselves. The party was at a local favorite piss up called The Soggy Dollar, a pseudo outdoor pub with a marina side barge as the stage. After a good warm up set (and a lot of drinks served) they exploded on stage and unleashed the madness. Hitting us with massive bassy remixes, steam immediately began to drift off the dance floor and mix with the smoke machines. Before long, Diplo fired the first confetti cannon and Walshy Fire sprayed us down with champagne. Setting the locals ablaze with dancehall classics and peppering it with hot hip hop tracks and wild clubs jams, Diplo and Jillionaire swapped between the decks and dancing out front. Like a circus act, they climbed the 15 foot rafters to shout out the crowd and waive their enormous 10 foot St. Maarten flag in the air.
Around mid point, Diplo flexed his rockstar powers (or maybe his looks), and persuaded nearly half the female heavy crowd to take off their shirts and waive them around in the air for a few songs. Also around then, they announced the management was concerned the crowd was too crazy and the dance floor might collapse from their weight. In an attempt to re-distribute us, the boys suggested we Palance to the other side of the barge, repeating the song and Palancing through the crowd. Eventually they had to give up when we made it clear we were going down with this party ship…. Sorry boys, but you started it!
Aside from a steady sonic boom of island jams, the highlight of the night was Diplo bringing along a Zorb to crowd surf in. As soon as the giant hamster ball took flight, the chaos ramped up to yet another impossible level; at this point no booty wasn’t working it. Even our friend, the Cowboy, was forced to start busting arse.
Closing out with more confetti cannons and ear bleeding bass, the boys got encored back for another few classic reggae tracks and Bob Marley (encores happen at DJ shows?). They ended with another swift boom, leaving the Dollar a whole lot Soggier and blitzed smiling fans in the wake. Now my only question is… Major Lazer, when’s the next party?
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