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Tomorrowland 2012: New Guetta; Swedish House Mafia done?

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Belgium’s Tomorrowland festival, touted as the world’s largest music festival, came to an end on Sunday night, but not before it had seen what is believed to be one of the last performances of EDM superstars Swedish House Mafia as a trio, debuted a new single from movement hero David Guetta and transformed Flanders’ De Schorre National Park for tens of thousands of fans.

The festival’s last two days saw a world-class lineup of headliners throwing out two-hour sets, including Afrojack, Grammy Award-winning producer Skrillex, Martin Solveig and Guetta. Currently the world’s No. 1 deejay according to DJ Magazine’s 2011 rankings, Guetta exclusively premiered his new single, “Falling to Pieces” from the main stage. The track, which features the angelic vocals of Australian singer/songwriter Sia Furler, comes on the heels of their 2011 collaboration, “Titanium.”

Steve Aoki, whose schedule has him traveling to seven countries in seven days, returned Sunday night to close out the festival on the 138-ton main stage -- after tearing up the Dim Mak tent on Friday -- capping off the weekend by playing a 2 1/2-hour set in front of a frenzied, sold-out crowd, tossing them a birthday cake and spraying bottles of champagne. These antics led up to an over-the-top fireworks finale that just might have put the Fourth of July out of business.

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Get a little glimpse of the weekend’s notable performers with the following video from Adam Cucurull, Eddie Velosa and Alessandro Stella:

The most memorable moment during the three-day fest, however, came on Saturday evening when the “Holy Trinity of House,” Swedish House Mafia producers Steve Angello, Axwell, and Sebastian Ingrosso, played what is considered to be one of their last European shows together as a trio.

Opening their set with the hit single “Greyhound,” the trio followed with a heartwarming rendition of their new bitter-farewell single, “Don’t You Worry Child,” which saw Axwell take to the mic to thank the overzealous 65,000-plus in attendance -- hoisting a rainbow of technicolored glowsticks -- for their support.

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“We are just three guys who like to make music, and we never thought that we would be standing here playing before a crowd like you guys here tonight. So we really want to take the opportunity to thank you for this amazing journey and this incredible experience,” he said. “Thank you. You are our legends. You are our heroes.”

As fans continued to cheer, sway and bounce beneath a cascade of shooting blue, red and green lasers, flames shot into a dark sky ahead of the rising vocals of John Martin, which signaled the dramatic opening to the tune “Save the World,” bringing many Tomorrowlanders, particularly Swedes, to tears, and some devoted fans to their knees.

Only the members of Swedish House Mafia themselves know, however, if it’s really over.

“I would say Swedish House Mafia is already separated because they already have their own solo careers. So this is not a brand new thing, for me,” said French deejay/producer and SHM pal Joachim Garraud, who, in an interview this weekend, told The Times that he helped come up with the name “Swedish House Mafia” while hosting the group at a party for his 37thbirthday in 2005.

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“They just maybe stopped touring together, but maybe they’re going to produce together. We don’t know exactly. They’re still good friends, and that’s the main thing,” Garraud said.

Additional reporting by Adam Cucurull and Alessandro Stella

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