The Chainsmokers give Mumbai a night to remember; strong performances by Slushii, Sam Feldt

So don’t let me, don’t let me, don’t let me, down. And that, is the promise that The Chainsmokers kept last night at the Road to Ultra concert that took place in Mahalaxmi Race Course, Mumbai, where the renowned musical duo of Andrew Taggart and Alex Pall took to the stage to give the audience a night to remember. [caption id=“attachment_4021437” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  The Chainsmokers in Mumbai. Image from Twitter.[/caption] Dressed in ensembles by Indian designer Neeta Lulla , the Grammy winning DJ’s kicked off their headlining act for the night with a rendition of their popular song ‘The One’ and fans were immediately left hooked from the get go. Colourful confetti and bursts of theatrical smoke accompanied the performance, increasing excitement levels by tenfold. Playing a set of approximately one and a half hours, The Chainsmokers performed most of their hits, leaving the crowd enthralled. From ‘Paris’, to their chart topping Coldplay collaboration ‘Something Just Like This’, covering ‘Young’, ‘All We Know’ and ‘Let You Go’ in between, Pall and Taggart managed to successfully cover the trajectory of their careers during last night’s gig. They even threw in songs like ‘Last Resort’ by Papa Roach, ‘Yellow’ by Coldplay and ‘We Will Rock You’ by Queen which caught the audience by surprise but only added to the already soaring energy levels of the night. [caption id=“attachment_4021439” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  The Chainsmokers in Mumbai. Image from Twitter.[/caption] Some of the highlights of the night for me were when everyone took out their cell phones as (what can be considered The Chainsmokers most popular track) ‘Closer’ played, leaving the entire arena lit up. Another goosebump inducing moment was during the Chainsmokers’ reprisal of Coldplay’s ‘Yellow’, with the stage set up taking on a yellow sheen, along with yellow beams of light reflecting off multiple surfaces giving the stadium an ethereal glow. Papa Roach’s ‘Last Resort’ also caught me unaware and left me screaming at the top of my lungs as I danced along to what had to be, according to me, one of the best interactive performances by an artist in India yet. ‘Honest’ from their latest album Memories…Do Not Open was the penultimate song for the night by the musical duo finishing off with their chart buster ‘Don’t Let Me Down’ which was the last straw before the crowd (and me) went bat sh*t crazy, dancing to their beats. [caption id=“attachment_4021441” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  The Chainsmokers in Mumbai. Image from Twitter.[/caption] Pall took to the stage during ‘Don’t Let Me Down’ (a change from Taggart’s attractive bouncing frame that was seen on top of the DJ console for most of the night), and we saw the DJ wave an Indian flag as the straining chords of the songs could be heard and an eventful gig came to its end. The Chainsmokers ended the night with a traditional Namaste, and that sealed the deal for me (after having heard of how the Justin Bieber gig was a huge let down for the Mumbai crowds). What came as a really big surprise to me though, was how strong the supporting acts of the show were in comparison to what we usually see. Having been to my fair share of concerts in India — I’ve come to expect lukewarm acts by artists before the headliner usually takes the stage, almost always giving the feel that these artists are just filling in so that there is no silence in the arena. With the exception of a few musicians that started off as supporting acts and eventually made their mark in the world of music (Dualist Enquiry, Nucleya to name a few), most opening sequences by artists other than the main acts of the night usually feel like background music at a lively lounge. [caption id=“attachment_4021445” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  The Chainsmokers in Mumbai. Image from Twitter.[/caption] In this case, The Chainsmokers were preceded by renowned international artists such as Slushii, Getter, Sam Feldt, Lost Stories and Rezz amongst others, and to me it seemed like each and every one of these musicians brought their A-game to the stage. Playing hits from across the world, these artistes knew exactly which songs to tap into in order to drive the crowds wild and take the concert-going atmosphere to an all time high. The supporting acts were also given a generous amount of stage theatrics, with bursts of stage fog in abundance, along with fireworks and a heady lights display which was a welcome change from the usual (barring a few exceptions) lacklustre performances that I have become used to seeing by supporting acts. Mumbai was the first destination that kicked off the Asian leg of the Chainsmokers’ Road to Ultra festival, and it was definitely a night that left the fans feeling ‘Closer’ to the dynamic duo.