Gig review: Calvin Harris & Tiesto, Glasgow

Forget tinsel and turkey – for an idea of the archetypal 2013 Christmas night out, look no further than the superstar DJ tag team of Calvin Harris and Tiesto, numbers one and two respectively on the Forbes DJ Rich List, adding to their ample coffers with this Greater Than son et lumière extravaganza which had everyone in the Hydro seats on their feet from the moment Harris took to his fancy pants podium.

Calvin Harris & Tiesto - Glasgow Hydro

* * *

Though effectively a DJ gig, his set was heavy with his record-breaking nine hit singles from his current album 18 Months.

The crowd didn’t seem to care that guest vocalists Example and Rihanna were not present to deliver their turns in person, providing their own bellowed renditions of We’ll Be Coming Back and We Found Love.

Harris could hardly lose on his home turf, helming a two-pronged sonic attack of pile-driving beats and singalong vocal hooklines, beefing up the beige numbers with quaking bass drops and even a spot of heady hi-energy, all supplemented by an impressive barrage of arena-strafing lasers, pyrotechnics and streamer showers.

Dutch DJ Tiesto was plain ruthless in comparison, offering less to appeal to the feet and the ear and only sweetening his pugnacious techno assault with some rather glamorous footage of Glasgow by night.

In the main, this was closer to a hardcore club set with some commercial rave concessions but fewer of the arena-friendly frills which made Harris’s show such a celebratory occasion.