Alesso played a DJ set on the open-air 86th-floor observation deck of New York’s Empire State Building on the evening of Thursday, October 15, the night before the release of “Fight For Love”, his new single with vocalist Kaitlin Aragon. The building logged the occasion on its official Tower Lights calendar, lighting the tower magenta “in celebration of Alesso’s new single and performance on the Empire State Building Observation Deck”.
The night was a brand-backed fan activation. In his own announcement, as quoted by EDMTunes, Alesso thanked Kiehl’s and Redken “for making this happen” and described an open-air show for his top fans, with entry on a first-come, first-served basis and gifts on offer. The commercial terms of the partnership have not been made public.
Alesso billed the performance as “the first time in 95 years”, a nod to the building’s age: it opened in 1931. That line is promotion, not a verified record. As EDM.com points out, Martin Garrix played an audience-free DJ set on the same deck in October 2022. EDM.com’s own reading is that Alesso’s set appears to be the first electronic music show staged for a crowd at the top of the building; BEZ has not been able to confirm that independently.
According to EDM.com, the set ran through his own “Heroes (We Could Be)” and “Calling (Lose My Mind)” and included Avicii’s “Without You”. It could also be seen from neighbouring apartment buildings, and residents posted clips of it on social media.
The record behind the rooftop
“Fight For Love” came out on Friday, October 16. EDMTunes hears it as a moodier, string-led record than the festival anthems Alesso built his name on, with Aragon’s vocal at its centre and his familiar production polish intact. EDM.com has also reviewed the single.
Landmarks as launch pads
The rooftop set fits a pattern that has become hard to miss: electronic artists staging one-off shows at landmark or extreme locations, often with a brand paying for them, to give a release a moment that travels well on social media. In the same week, Roni Size played a G-SHOCK-backed set deep inside a Welsh slate mine to launch a watch. For artists, these events deliver striking footage and press coverage. Whether they translate into lasting interest in the music is a harder question, and one the sponsors rarely answer publicly.
“Fight For Love” by Alesso and Kaitlin Aragon is out now on streaming platforms.
