“This is not official yet… but he is coming, he is coming,” were the words of KAAZE (Mick Kastenholt) standing on a crowded Revealed stage next to his mentor Hardwell (Robbert van de Corput).
Considered by many to be one of the founding fathers of the festival EDM sound so prevalent throughout the 2010s, the 33 year old shocked the world when he announced his indefinite touring hiatus on 7 September 2018 to his almost-five million Instagram followers. Many have cited the untimely death of Avicii (Tim Bergling) in early 2018 as a stark turning point in the dance music scene, raising awareness for the extreme demands of touring life.
Still, speculation about his return has persisted since his last official show at the Ziggo Dome for Amsterdam Dance Event 2018 where he said in a closing speech, “I will be back.”
A visibly emotional Hardwell addressed the crowd during the closing Revealed ADE event stating, “I miss you guys so much,” giving us a strong indication that his return could be imminent and echoing the sentiments of so many artists hungry to return to stage after the catastrophic effects of the pandemic.
Despite his absence, Hardwell’s name and legacy have continued to grow through his label, Revealed Recordings, becoming highly influential over the last decade and signing names such as Tiësto, Showtek, W&W, DubVision, Dada Life, Blasterjaxx, Jeffrey Sutorius (formerly Dash Berlin), Kaaze, Sick Individuals and many more, whist also providing a platform for new talent and rising stars of electronic dance music.
As COVID restrictions progressively ease and the USA leads the worldwide return to live music, we can expect the hype for the return of one of the world’s biggest DJs only to grow.
See Hardwell’s full ADE performance below.