I'm so old I remember bitching about DJs because they didn't play instruments. That's right, kids, once upon a time DJ Keoki was a douche because he was douchey, not because he'd press play and walk away.

Digweed and Troxler have the right of it - if you aren't even interacting with the crowd, what's the fucking point? Shows become spectacles and the artistry ceases to be the name on the bill, it becomes the lighting guy and the pyro guy and the army of people whose names you not only don't know, but whose very existence you didn't realize until I just listed them.

"They don't know what we do before the shows," said Axwell, "A guy with a guitar might know how to play the guitar, but does he know how to produce a whole song?"

Uhm, yes. Not only that, he can do it in front of an audience without any do-overs you tedious little shits.

As Axwell and Ingrosso explain, their coveted 90 minutes on a main stage surrounded by a blur of fireworks, lasers, and LEDs is like a "victory lap" after years of grunt work in the studio.

If that's not a shameless admission of self-indulgence I don't know what is.

#offmylawn