THE PREP

Don’t Let Me Down! Don’t Let Me Down Down

Yes, after a disappointing Justin Bieber Purpose World Tour Concert (thanks to all the lip-syncing!), these lyrics from The Chainsmokers played on loop in my head. There were just hours to go for the band’s much-awaited gig as part of Road to Ultra India on September 7 and I couldn’t contain my excitement. The American DJ duo — Alex Pall and Andrew Taggart — have been my fave ever since their 2015 hit #Selfie. As if sleepless nights caused by the rush of adrenaline was not enough, I woke up with a stomach bug on the day of the concert and to add to my woes, the Mumbai traffic in Lower Parel crawled slower than a snail. “Madam, if you walk it down, it may be faster, we are barely 15 minutes away,” suggested the driver. Heeding his advice, and equipped with water and medicines, I decided to walk down to Mahalaxmi Racecourse but only after activating GPS did I realise it was a 45-minute walk! Ouch. I was definitely not expecting Something Just Like This.

THE BUILD-UP

“Yay! I made it!” I thought, giving myself a well-deserved pat on the back. There was a crazy crowd hovering around the ticket counter. Some desperately tried calling their friends, but darn, the jammer had the last laugh here. Others, probably tired of waiting, plonked themselves on the floor. There was something about the energy of the place and the moment I set my foot inside, I was super pumped up. A VIP pass helped me get inside quicker and as the table co-ordinator directed me to the VIP table, Slushii (yes, the DJ who rocked green hair!) just started his set. He played tracks like Faded, Every Time We Touch, Side to Side, Propaganda, Booyah and Shape of You but the loudest roar from the crowd came when he surprised us with Daler Mehendi’s Tunak tunak tun!

THE SHOW

8.25pm

The regular stage lights went off and the giant flashlights began to blink rhythmically. The mood was set, the vibe was top notch and the crowd had their cellphones set to capture the get-set-go moment.

You know, I’m sorry
I won’t make it to your party
Got caught up in my own selfishness
It won’t let me be a part of this...
Down and down we go
We’ll torch this place we know
Before one of us takes a chance
And breaks this, I won’t be the one
No, I won’t be the one

As the notes and words of The One filled the venue, there stood Alex Pall and Andrew Taggart on the stage. BOOM! This was the moment and I was witnessing The Chainsmokers live in action with thousands of other fans. Woo hoo! The track was soon followed by Inside Out from their album Collage and the #Selfie song and did that make the crowd click selfies? Hell yeah! The first half of their set built up nice and slow with hits thrown in between to keep the tempo high.

8.50pm

“You guys have to make f***king noise right now!” came the request and the crowd responded with a roar as a mix of You Are Gone played. “Bombay, let me hear you sing, come on!” had the crowd singing along to Roses, one of the hits from The Chainsmoker’s latest album Memories… Do Not Open.

“Bombay, how are you feeling right now? Are you feeling good?” yelled Andrew as he climbed on top of the console to sing Young, a track that gets the duo “emotional”. And boy did Andrew look cute in the Neeta Lulla black dungaree! I had my eyes glued to every move he made during this song, and sang along with him to Break Up Every Night, All We Know and Closer.

9.10pm

A little after 9pm, the concert was turnt up! And I had my wow moment when they belted out Paris — the first song I tuned into when I landed in Paris earlier this year in an ecstatic state. Little did I know then that I was going to watch The Chainsmokers perform in my country and that I would be dancing and singing just metres away from them! By the end of the song, I felt goosebumps and yeah, I did miss Paris! This high was followed by another when the lads caught fans off guard with a mash-up of The Lion King theme song and Welcome To The Jungle.

The duo continued to enthrall with tracks like Last Resort and We Will Rock You. But their high-octane performance touched the roof when they went, “We need everyone to sing this song as loud as you can. Are you ready?” and then boomed Chris Martin’s famous voice from the song

I’ve been reading books of old
The legends and the myths
Achilles and his gold
Hercules and his gifts...

Yes! It was time for Something Just Like This that sent me and a 3,000-strong crowd into a tizzy as we synced our voices. Next up, the famous tunes of Martin Garrix’s Animals. Oh yeah.... It was turning out to be a lit night with the best playlist and suddenly I realised I was on top of the sofa dancing away with friends from Calcutta! Well, dancing on a couch in a public forum like no one’s watching was a first for me and no, I wasn’t complaining because I don’t see myself doing that in Calcutta! No, never!

9.40pm

The concert was nearing its end and I couldn’t help but keep looking at my watch. For once I wished to freeze the time and not let 10pm come. But before I could pay any more attention to the time, So Baby Pull Me Closer happened and thousands of flashlights gleamed making it a moment not to be missed. Honest. In the last 10 minutes I don’t know who did what, where my friends were... all I knew was that this was a moment that I had dreamt to live and I was making memories. “Bombay, thank you so much...”  No, no, they were going, it’s ending... they haven’t played my fave song yet! Shit! My mind was a whirlwind of thoughts. Hang on, they were still on the stage... a yellow light filled the venue almost like a halo! The crowd’s shrieking so much that you can barely hear anything but wait, I hear a familiar voice... it’s Chris Martin.... oh it’s Coldplay’s Yellow! OHHHHH MY GOD! *TEARS OF JOY*

Oh yeah your skin and bones, Turn into something beautiful, Do you know, You know I love you so....
“Bombay screaaaaaam”... bam! There’s my fave Don’t Let Me Down! OMG! Two of my all-time fave songs by my fave artistes are being played and I am on cloud nine! It’s 9.54pm now and I can see Alex waving the Indian flag on stage before signing off with “Bombay thank you sooo much. We are The Chainsmokers and you were amazing. Namaste!” Fireworks and confetti burst.

Lights out.

Text: Pramita Ghosh

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CALCUTTA CONNECT:

If The Chainsmokers hotties were dressed in Neeta Lulla creations, Calcutta jeweller Siddhartha Sawansukha took the fashion game a notch higher by making customised accessories for them, like a saxophone-shaped coat pin and cufflinks that looked like record labels encrusted with diamonds, gold, emerald and sapphire.

“Being a trendsetter is what I believe in. Why should a jeweller be restricted to only designing a piece for a bride? That’s such an old school thought. Thus, to break the stereotype, we got to create something astounding for The Chainsmokers. It is one of the most proud moments for Sawansukha Jewellers to be the brand exclusively associated with the DJ duo for the Mumbai gig,” said Siddhartha.