Coachella 2013: Major Lazer Do The “Harlem Shake,” Are Really Good At This “Live” Thing (PHOTOS)

Erika Brooks Adickman | April 14, 2013 11:52 am

At this point, you know what you’re getting with a Major Lazer performance. But “I’ll have the usual” with the dancehall party boys means an omnipresent pair of twerkers, human hamster balls and commands for everyone to disrobe. So that’s why we keep coming back for more, and that’s why Major Lazer drew just as big of an overflow crowd at the Mojave tent as 2 Chainz did earlier Saturday afternoon (April 13).

Days ahead of the release of Free the Universe, Diplo, Jillionaire and Walshy Fire made me wonder if they really even need an album, because there’s no way they can recreate this spectacle on record. Look, it’s one thing to make the ground bounce at a club when everyone is jumping in unison. But when the thousands of sweaty fauxhemians jumped to “Pon de Floor,” I honestly think the ground outside (i.e. Earth) was actually throbbing. The prospect of us all collapsing into some raucous party sinkhole seemed plausible. I’ve never experienced anything quite like that.

Just how on-point were these guys? They out-Baauer’d Baauer. The “Harlem Shake” DJ played a few hours prior, but during the Major Lazer set, Diplo called for the audience to get the biggest “Harlem Shake” of the festival. Obviously, the (mostly shirtless) masses obliged.