During the blazing hot JACK U New Year’s Eve set Diplo got on the mic and said to crowd, “everybody wishes they were in New York City with you right now!”. After listening to the sets, now available for streaming, that would seem to be a pretty accurate statement. For those of you living under a rock, JACK U is probably the hottest act in the EDM world at the moment and they followed in the footsteps of artists such as Swedish House Mafia, Bassnectar, Hardwell, Eric Prydz, and Above & Beyond by taking over Madison Square Garden for a New Years Eve blowout.
Starting off the night were sets from A$AP Ferg, Rudimental, and Yellowclaw. Then, Diplo jumped on the decks for an energetic set that blended future house, trap, hip-hop, and big room tracks in a whirlwind 45 minutes. Next up was Skrillex to take over and he dropped many of the biggest bangers from himself, OWSLA artists, and hip-hop. Not too surprisingly, both Diplo and Skrillex refrained from dropping JACK U tracks in their individual sets.
As 11:55pm approached, an awe-inspiring intro montage was played as the timer counted down. The montage included the biggest happenings of the year for JACK U, including  fun scenes from Burning Man and the Mad Decent Boat Party. The montage then shifted to emotional looks at the Ebola crisis, Ferguson, and included  tributes to Robin Williams and Derek Jeter’s retirment. As the montage played, the livestream occasionally shifted to Skrillex and Diplo huddled together behind the decks taking in it all in. It was undoubtedly a poignant moment for all in attendance.
Finally, when the clock struck midnight Skrillex and Diplo took the decks as JACK U to usher in 2015 in the craziest way possible. Their set featured numerous cameos and the hottest JACK U records including their electric remix of Beyonce’s 7/11, Beat Steady Knocking, and of course Take U There. Unfortunately, the set did not include any of the exciting JACK U “ID” tracks from their Diplo & Friends Mix, but the crowd was going wild nonetheless. It’s a true testament to Skrillex & Diplo that they can hold back so many amazing tracks and still throw down a killer set. If you want to see what you missed at Madison Square Garden on New Year’s Eve, the full sets are available to stream below.
