Miguel Ramirez
In front of a sold-out crowd at Sydney’s Allphones Arena and a massive global audience online, Above & Beyond (a.k.a. Jono Grant, Tony McGuinness and Paavo Siljamäki) celebrated the 150th episode of their Group Therapy radio show in style, demonstrating again why they’re one of the most in-demand acts in electronic music.
Highlights from the night included the exclusive first play of a brand new OceanLab single, Above & Beyond’s much-loved side project with Justine Suissa, along with an announcement that Above & Beyond Acoustic will return to some of the world’s most iconic venues in 2016. Fans can sign up for more info about the upcoming ‘Acoustic’ album and tour here.
With tickets selling out months in advance and in record time, attendees travelled from all four corners of the globe for ABGT150 and lined up early to catch opening sets from Anjunadeep’s fastest rising star Lane 8 and Anjunabeats’ progressive favourite Grum, before staying late for an epic closing set from Anjunabeats’ hottest talent ilan Bluestone. The frenzy of online chatter from fans in the arena and from everyone watching at home ensured that #ABGT150 reached the number one trending topic on Twitter, just as #ABGT100 had done from New York’s Madison Square Garden in 2014.
Jono, Tony and Paavo also revealed a swathe of new material from their renowned Anjunabeats imprint’s heaviest hitters, including exclusives from Andrew Bayer, Jason Ross and Oliver Smith. Some of the music premiered at the show will appear on Above & Beyond’s forthcoming Anjunabeats Volume 12 compilation, due later this year. For Anjunabeats fans there was also news of the label’s biggest ever tour of North America early next year.
Finally there was the news that Above & Beyond’s hometown gig at London’s Wembley Arena is now sold out. With all proceeds going to the band’s ‘Little Something Charitable Fund’ in memory of Jono’s late sister Charlotte and in aid of maternal mental health, UK fans can look forward to a truly special evening on November 13th.
You can watch Above & Beyond’s set below. All the sets from the night will be released in the coming weeks.
Main photo: Nathan Doran Photography
[radium_embed_video title=”” link=”https://youtu.be/DDQWoe8AoUs” size=”” fullwidth=”no” lightbox=”no” thumbnail=””]
