Why Oliver Heldens’ Bus Tour Is The Perfect Pre-Festival Season Warm-Up

Posted by Tay on February 18, 2016

While many industries learn from its past or repeat themselves year after year, the music industry, specifically dance music, typically functions cyclically. Every year, the beginning of the new year marks a time for new releases, as both superstar artists and up-and-comers unveil the tracks, EPs, and albums that they’ve been working on for the last couple of months. This wave of new releases in January usually paves the way for artists to embark on a quick, month-long tour in February, before festival season really gets going in March with the kick-off of Ultra Music Festival. Summer marks the second season of the year for releases, as artists that were on the road and playing festivals get their first opportunity to hit the studio before setting off on tour again until the close of festival season in November.

These February tours are special because they mark an unique opportunity to catch your favorite artist in an intimate, club setting, where they are more willing to push the creative boundaries of their set and try their hand with tracks that they’ve been working on in the studio, before they are thrown into the monotony of playing festival sets month after month. This year, some of dance music’s biggest artists, like Hardwell, deadmau5, and Oliver Heldens, are all setting off on tours that culminate with shows in Miami during the Winter Music Conference, and these smaller shows, like the ones on Oliver Heldens’ bus tour, are the perfect festival season warm-up to get the year off on the right foot.

Heldens’ bus tour, in particular, is the perfect pre-festival season warm-up because it will bring the Dutch wunderkind’s signature groove across the US and Canada to a number of major cities for his most intimate tour yet. The future house flag-bearer has made tremendous strides since he exploded onto the scene with tracks like “Gecko (Overdrive)” and “Last All Night (Koala),” establishing himself as a superstar in his own right with stand-out releases, like “Melody” and “Shades of Grey,” and collaborations with the likes of Zeds Dead, Throttle, and Tiesto.

In addition to his strong production ability that has resulted in a slew of quality releases, Heldens has built up his reputation as a respected tastemaker with the launch of his own record label, Heldeep Records. Heldens’ imprint has allowed the Netherlands-based producer to refine his musical taste on the way to developing his own protégés, like Aaron Jackson, Niko the Kid, and Jonas Aden. On top of functioning as a breeding ground for up-and-coming talent, Heldeep Records is also the home of Oliver Heldens’ bass house side project, HI-LO, with the release of “Renegade Mastah.”

Oliver Heldens’ bus tour is the perfect segue into festival season because it gives fans the opportunity to catch the superstar for the first time since he debuted his HI-LO project and Heldeep Records. These intimate club shows gives Heldens the chance to experiment with his style ahead of his festival performances, perhaps even playing a HI-LO set or two. You can get tickets to Oliver Heldens’ bus tour here, and check out the full tour dates below.

Tags: club, Oliver Heldens, perfect, sets, shows, the road, the studio, Winter Music Conference