David Guetta, Brixton Academy, London
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On an altar-like raised platform, a French DJ is making the walls of Brixton Academy physically move. David Guetta leaps onto the decks, standing with his hands stretched towards the ceiling, so all that is seen is a silhouette of a man against glowing lava-red light as a powerful baseline makes the audience yelp with delight.
The extravagant colour and expensive set up of the lighting design contains a flawless combination of fireworks and flames, which dramatically changes with every track performed.
Guetta's mixing is brilliantly executed; throughout the set he samples a variety of artists, from Adele to P Diddy and The Prodigy. The award-winning DJ could have simply played the entire contents of his latest album, One Love, which boasts a remarkable amount of hits and collaborations with artists such as Will.i.am and Kelly Roland; but instead he chooses to exercise his talent on the decks by bringing something new to each song, twisting and mixing beats relentlessly for the three-hour set.
Currently one of the most sought-after producers in the world, Guetta's eagerly awaited fifth album is due for release later this year, but there's nothing quite like hearing dance music live; it has a vibrancy that headphones just can't match. The audience do not take their eyes off Guetta, who doesn't even pause to take a sip of water until 2am.
"When Love Takes Over", "I Gotta Feeling" and "Memories" are among the countless hits that have brought Guetta and house music to the forefront of the international music charts.
"How are we feeling my party people?" Guetta asks. "Are we feeling hot and sweaty?"
A word of warning would be that it takes a true lover of all things dance-related to cope with the Amazon Jungle-style atmosphere that this man's music creates; the heat from the hundreds upon hundreds enslaved to the beat rises to the point where you're breathing in hot air – and clothes are peeled off until, by the last hour, the venue resembles a pool-party. However, the crowd never misses a beat, nor a lyric, the atmosphere being nothing short of extraordinary as Guetta calls out:
"Who's gonna save the world tonight?"
There can only be one answer, for in Brixton Academy, Guetta is God.
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