GALANTIS

“Fuji Rock are you ready to run away with us?” Swedish production duo Galantis shouted as they took the stage at the Red Marquee. Hinting at the refrain from their single “Runaway (U & I), they got the party started quickly with the sparkling production and glittery female pop vocals of their lead off track.

Galantis definitely have the pop chops to churn out some seriously catchy dance music. Christian Karlsson (of electro-pop group Miike Snow) and partner Linus Eklöw have co-production credits on a whole slew of smash hits from Katy Perry, Ke$ha, Icona Pop, and Madonna. Karlsson even earned a grammy for co-writing Britney Spears’ “Toxic”, undeniably one of the greatest pure pop hits of the 2000’s. So it’s no surprise Galantis’ own cuts are strong, sugary dancefloor fillers that keep people coming back for more.

Whipping the crowd through build up after build up, each time screaming “1 2 3, GO!”, the duo stuck pretty close to safe EDM territory for some of the set, playing well-known remixes and generic crowdpleasers by other artists. While the crowd never once came to a rest and the duo’s stage presence kept energy levels high, it felt lacking compared to their own high-gloss production material.

The moments when they had the most solid footing were without a doubt when they blasted out tracks from their own hit factory; “Louder Harder Better” and “Firebird” were two standouts, as well as what was probably the high point of their set, their thumping barnburner “Peanut Butter Jelly”.

Though perhaps not as strong as the reputation that preceded them, not for one moment did the crowd stop dancing. Credit to Galantis for keeping the party burning hot.