April 20, 2018 is a day that is permanently etched into the electronic dance music timeline. Today, that date now represents a full two years since the passing of Avicii. Two years of prolonged grieving and reflection for not only his family and friends, but for the millions of fans directly impacted by Tim Bergling’s body of work. On the two-year anniversary of the news break that drew one of those unforgettable “where were you?” moments, we’re paying homage to Avicii by revisiting his final time on stage at Ushuaïa Ibiza’s summer closing party in August of 2016.
Almost immediately following what would wind up being his final Ultra Music Festival performance, Avicii posted an abrupt, yet not entirely unforeseen, statement that his upcoming summer dates would be his last. In the Avicii: True Stories documentary that would air in the year later, the underlying physical and mental health issues that plagued Bergling throughout his career were further pushed into the limelight.
While most would suggest that a grand blowout would be the only sufficient finale to Avicii’s time on stage, Ushuaïa Ibiza served as a perfect fit when considering his DJ retirement stemmed in part from legitimate stage fright. In the two hours behind the decks, Avicii left nothing unsaid. Bouncing around from the then-unreleased “Without You” to “Waiting For Love” to his magnum opus, “Levels” to testing out even more material (some of which is still locked in his archives), it was purely Avicii at his finest. As the lights dimmed in the very last time he would ever be seen on stage, he was more than appreciative in his goodbye:
“Thank you so much for tonight. I couldn’t have asked for a better last show. Thank you so much for coming, you were awesome.”
While many of us are still, even two years later, processing the loss of EDM’s brightest shining star, this single performance seemed only fitting as we pay homage to the life of Tim Bergling.
Photo credit: Rukes
