Both of the Thivaios brothers made their first forays into DJ sets and making their own music in their teenage years, playing small clubs in and around their hometown of Willebroek. However, it wasn’t until after they’d both made a name for themselves in their own rights that they actually began to collaborate frequently enough to make a joint moniker necessary. Dmitri travelled across Europe through the noughties, becoming a resident DJ at Ibiza club Space in 2003 and eventually settling in Zante, Greece, where he frequently played top clubs including Resident and The End. Michael, meanwhile, had been making waves in his native Belgium. Their first collaborative project saw Dmitiri produce Michael’s remix of ‘Work That Body’, bringing them to the attention of DJ Axwell, who commissioned a further remix for his label.
They quickly rose to become hosts, for the first time, of the Tomorrowland Festival in 2010. The event, in Belgium, is the biggest electronic music festival in the world. Unsurprisingly, the attention that afforded them has seen them go from strength to strength since, working with the likes of Afrojack and Nervo and closing the festival again, in 2014, with help from Diplo and Steve Aoki.
While both brothers were always close growing up, and began Djing at clubs before they were old enough to even enter them as punters, they didn't think to truly make music together until well into their late teens. Dimitri was more into club and dance music while Michael was a devoted hip-hop head, but after taking a trip around Europe together, they found themselves down in Ibiza for an extended period of time. While they were there they both fell for club culture and found themselves inspired by the sheer amount of great DJ's they heard while down there. It wasn't long before the siblings decided to start making their own music together, moving back to their native Belgium as Dimitri Vegas and Like Mike.
While jetting all over Europe to play residencies in some of the most prestigious clubs on the continent, the duo released their first white label single “Cocaine/Eivissa” in 2007. The duo went from strength to strength from the moment that they debuted as producers, with Axwell of Swedish House Mafia personally reaching out to them to remix one of his label's singles a single year after their first single. Ever since then, the duo have impressed everyone they've come into contact with, getting a stamp of approval from the likes of Faithless and Snoop Dogg himself. By 2012, the band had become a commercial force to be reckoned with, scoring their first top ten single in the form of that “Momentum”.
To this day, the duo remain one of the most respected names in electro house, thanks massively to Dimitri's thunderous beats complimenting his brothers vocals. The world is at their feet, and their best days are far ahead of them, and for that, they come highly recommended.
While list made by music magazines probably shouldn’t be taken quite as seriously as the creators might like them to be, they do stand for a lot. So when DJ Magazine put Dimitri Vegas and Like Mike at 6th place on their 100 Greatest DJ’s in the world list in 2013, that means that the Belgian/Greek duo are at or very near the top of their game. When their game consists of playing EDM music, quite possibly the most relevant form of popular music in the world right now, that’s even more impressive but the best part is that even to someone with very little interest in that genre, they can still put on an absolutely insane live show. One need only look at the duo’s set at this year’s Tomorrowland Festival, where the show they put on to just under two hundred thousand raving Belgians was of a scale to put the likes of Muse to shame with ease. This is the norm to Vegas and Mike. There’s no crowd in the world too discerning or reserved for them, one could rock up thinking that there wasn’t a dancing bone in their body but the sheer force of their propulsive beats and synth hooks to die for could start a party in a morgue. So buy a ticket, check your inhibitions by the door, and don’t bother collecting them at the end of the night cos it’ll only be a matter of time until you’ll want to experience it all over again!
Although Belgian DJ and producer Dimitri Thivaios is often affiliated with his bandmate Like Mike, he does occasionally tour and perform solo. Without the music maker, Dimitri still holds the crowd like a complete professional as he now has over fifteen years of experience on the circuit. He greets the roaring masses with a huge grin as it clear to see that he is totally prepared for the challenge of not only engaging but injected a suitable dose of euphoria into the venue tonight.
With a discography of his own releases and remixes along with the paired efforts with Like Mike he has no issues in filling a setlist with killer dance material. The electro house aficionado is enjoying further chart success recently so the crowds seem to be a lot more familiar with tracks including 'Find Tomorrow' and the Martin Garrix collaboration 'Tremor' as they roar in excitement at the introduction. Vegas knows just how to capitalise on an influx of energy and follows it up with remix of 'Eat, Sleep, Rave, Repeat' by Fatboy Slim to really bring it home as the screens explode in light and visual behind him.
Like Mike is such a charismatic electronic dance music producer who performs this evening alongside Dimitri Vegas. As artists in their own right, they’re both fantastic with Dimitri Vegas being a little bit more about the music, and supplying the soundtrack to some of the biggest EDM audiences in the world, where as Like Mike is the guy who keeps them interested in a hype man sort of way, roiling up everyone to dance throughout their set. Together they collaborate in this fantastic headline festival set this evening, which turns into a rollercoaster ride that 20,000 people are happily sat upon, the way that they climb up to those heights and then drop into some of the biggest all out drum and bass/house music sections is just so clever, and explosive. Some of the biggest songs this evening are songs such as “ Wakanda” and “Find Tomorrow”, making absolutely everyone in this vicinity dance as hard as they can, singing along to every hook and jumping along to every beat.