Written By: Will Cramer
DJ Hardwell, famed Dutchman and currently the number two DJ in the world, announced on July 1st he would be hosting a record breaking concert. The event, aptly named ‘The World's Biggest Guest List' is set to take place on December 13, 2015 at the D.Y. Patil Stadium in Dubai, India. For those who missed the announcement, here is a quick recap of what is going down:
- It will be literally record breaking. He is vying to hold the Guinness Book of World Record’s record for the largest guest list ever.
- It is a FREE show. When you are Hardwell’s guest list, you don’t pay to get in.
- He made public his very own foundation, UNITED WE ARE.
- UNITED WE ARE is a “globally ambitious endeavour to educate young people in different communities around the world” as stated by Anna Agency’s CEO Anna Knaup. Knaup also acts as Hardwell’s manager.
- All of the proceeds from the event will be donated to the Magic Bus Programme, a Mumbai based Non-Profit Organization that steers children towards a better life and better opportunities in the journey from childhood to livelihood.
The 27-year-old let the world know about this epic event and his foundation via his YouTube channel stating that:
“Whenever I have performed in India, I have been overwhelmed by the amount of love by the Indian fans. Their passion, their energy, it makes me grateful that I am able to do what I love everything single day. So I thought it was time to give something back.”
When watching the trailer release for this event, you can see the pure joy that his music brings to his fans in India. Running through grass fields similar to the festivals held in the U.S. and around the world, you can immediately identify with the feelings that are being captured in the video: Excitement. The moment is here. Your best friends are beside you. New Friends await. Dance. United We Are.
Not only is Hardwell doing a free show, giving back to the children of the world, and making incredible memories for 100,000 people, he is setting the bar for what should be expected of the top DJ’s around the world. A staple value of electronic dance music is helping others. With the chaos involved with the business of touring and producing constantly surrounding him, the fact that Hardwell is able to pause and reflect on how his music and persona can be used for social good is fantastic.
Hardwell is using his status and influence to bring some of the core beliefs within the dance music culture to a global stage. While this may be just one event, it is a symbol that there is positivity in the world and people who have the power to do good are up to the challenge. While he is not directly aiming to counteract the negative connotations and media coverage associated with EDM, Hardwell is making a statement that there is good in this scene and it can out bully the bad. It is about time that the world takes notice. What better place to make this known that ninth most populous city in the world?
In today’s reality, headlining festival slots are going for over $100,000 on the low-end, Hardwell is breathing refreshing life into an increasingly monetized industry. It almost feels as if the first punch has been thrown in the hypothetical boxing ring between DJ heavyweights and their charitable actions. Could this be the domino that starts the chain reaction of other massive fundraising events? Perhaps this could be the beginning of a new unit of measurement for global DJs. Instead of measuring your worth against your DJ Mag ranking or festivals you have billed at a certain rate, we will start to look at how much you give back. After the ‘The World's Biggest Guest List', it would spectacular to see Hardwell provide a recap of the success of the ‘The World's Biggest Guest List' and hopefully light a fire under others in his realm to do more to give back and help future generations succeed. After all, UNITED WE ARE.
