Five Favorite Moments from “Above & Beyond Acoustic”

With musicianship that’s always brought a soul to their songwriting, the trio of Jono Grant, Tony McGuinness, and Paavo Siljamäk—known to dance music fans as Above & Beyond—came out from behind the DJ booth to reinterpret their hits. At London’s Portchester Hall, they were joined by a 15-piece band, which isn’t something you see often in the dance music community. We imagine, like us, you couldn’t make it to London last summer, so the boys were kind enough to put the entire concert on YouTube. You can also snag the album version, complete with a 24-piece orchestra, on iTunes. Both the concert documentary and Above & Beyond Acoustic are stirringly beautiful, showing there’s more to creating good music than a few samples and plugins on a laptop. Our favorite moments?

1. The guy using a broom as a percussion instrument (12:00)
2. The Oceanlab offering “Satellite,” already an amazing song, was made even more beautiful with this interpretation. (18:30)
3. A captivating version of “Thing Called Love” (26:41)
4. Fans singing and dancing—albeit much slower than Above & Beyond fans are used to—on “Sun & Moon” (36:00)
5. Paavo cello solo! (52:50)

Watch the concert in its entirety below.