When Hardwell clapped, the crowd at the F-Shed at the Market clapped. When he threw his hands up, the crowd threw their hands up.

And when the megastar DJ jumped, everybody went wild.

On his second visit to Syracuse, Hardwell had complete command of his audience. His Friday night show sold out, packing 3,000 ravers into the venue for a night of dancing, singing and fist pumping. In an interview with The Daily Orange before his set, Hardwell said selling out a show is not important to him.

“It’s about the fans who are here and want to party,” he said. “It’s about me being with them and having the best time of our life.”

Syracuse fans certainly came ready to party. Although there was not as much kandi and neon as a usual rave, the crowd still anxiously awaited Hardwell’s set.

Kill the Buzz started the show with the building about a quarter full, although it filled up considerably by the time he and Thomas Newson started sharing the table about an hour and a half later.

After Kill the Buzz left the stage, Newson led the way with a remix of “Hotline Bling” and quickly engaged the crowd, but by the end of his set they were ready for the main event.

Then, with the bass cranked up so high the floor was vibrating, Hardwell took to the stage and led the crowd in a countdown that led to his hit track, “Survivors.”

While Hardwell is not known for having many recordings on the radio, he said that tours like this help keep him relevant to fans.

“Probably 95 percent of these kids couldn’t afford to fly down to Miami and pay a ticket to Ultra Music Festival,” he said. “So, why not come to them and play parties for them?”

He said there is a difference between Ultra — where he will once again close the main stage in two weeks — and the bus tour that brought him to Syracuse, but one is not better than the other.

They chose to do a bus tour in order to come back to their roots, Hardwell said.

“It’s where it all started. You’re more connected with your fans and that’s really important,” he said.

Hardwell tried to stay connected to the fans throughout his set, too. Alternating between focusing on his equipment and engaging the crowd, he kept a smile on his face the entire time. It showed that he loved every minute of it, which is why he could never give up making dance music, he said.

The crowd was ecstatic the entire time. Hardwell transitioned seamlessly between mixes of chart-toppers, including Tove Lo’s “Habits (Stay High)” and The Weeknd’s “Can’t Feel My Face,” and originals, including his latest single, “Run Wild.”

Although Hardwell went from song to song without pause, the night — at least for people in front of the stage — was continuously disrupted by security personnel shining flashlights in the eyes of concertgoers riding on shoulders. While most got down immediately, it would only be a few minutes before another person tried again.

Despite this, the thumping bass and commanding tempo brought the audience back under its spell every time. The crowd was sweating and breathing so much that condensation formed on the ceiling and walls of the venue, which then shook from the jumping and rained down on concertgoers.

The young audience kept the energy up throughout the set, even chanting his name and asking for another song when the lights went up at about 11 p.m. When asked why dance music is primarily a youth movement, Hardwell said that it is the only universal language on Earth.

“You can play underground records without vocals, but everybody can understand the feeling, the energy, the 4×4 beat,” he said. “It’s easy to dance to and everybody can relate to that.”

After the crowd’s impassioned chanting, Hardwell made his way to the barrier in front of the stage and greeted the audience members who had stuck around. As king of his very loyal fans, he wore a crown he had been handed somewhere between leaving the stage and getting to the end of the front row.

The smile on his face, though, seemed to show he loved the experience just as much as any fan.

Published on March 5, 2016 at 3:18 pm

Contact Delaney: dovanwey@syr.edu