Calvin Harris Responds to Critics Of His Ultra Music Festival 2024 Set: ‘And You Wonder Why I Never Play EDM Festivals’

After headlining the Main Stage at Ultra Music Festival in Miami on the final night of the festival this past Sunday (March 24), Calvin Harris defended the performance to a gaggle of internet haters.

In the comments section of a post about the set on the Instagram account for dance music publication Dancing Astronaut, two commenters called the performance “underwhelming.”

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In response, Harris joined the conversation yesterday (March 27) to defend the massive success of his catalog, writing “You expect me to play none of my songs? … how deep is your love – billion streams, this is what u came for – billion streams, my way – billion streams, slide – billion streams, feels – billion streams, one kiss – billion streams, and the other 5 half a bil, and before 2014 another 20, and not cheesy s—, proper f—ing songs with real artists, and you’d rather I play “Fein” trap edits today,” referring to the 2023 Travis Scott and Playboi Carti song.

Harris’ set featured many of his aforementioned classics, including the 2016 Rihanna collab “This Is What You Came For,” his 2012 Ellie Goulding collab “I Need Your Love” and his era-defining 2011 anthem “Feel So Close.” Harris continued by noting that he “spent months making new versions of everything for this,” pointing to the new and unreleased edits of his music featured in the Ultra set.

“And you wonder why I never play edm festivals,” he wrote. “At least people I saw irl had a great time and I can be happy with that, but f— at this point whatever I do is gonna piss you off.”

Harris’ comment garnered a furry of support, with one commenter responding that “no need to cater to these trolls sir, you will always be one of the greatest producers of all time for many of us.”

This Ultra performance marked Harris’ first appearance at the Miami festival in 11 years. The Scottish producer’s summer tour schedule includes a handful of European festivals, dates at LIV Nightclub in Las Vegas and his residency at Ushuaïa in Ibiza.

Katie Bain

Billboard