Two days, 40-plus artistes, four stages and thousands of music lovers made the second edition of Lollapalooza India a mammoth success in Mumbai. Held at Mahalaxmi Race Course, the two-day event opened its gates in the afternoon on January 27 with a stellar line-up that had international biggies such as Lauv, Halsey and the Jonas Brothers besides a host of talented Indian artistes, like Dualist Inquiry, When Chai Met Toast and The Raghu Dixit Project on Day One while international and national artistes like Sting, OneRepublic, Anoushka Shankar, Keane, Eric Nam, Prabh Deep and Parvaz were there on Day Two.
The international music festival that started globally in 1991 as a farewell tour by Perry Farrell, singer of the group Jane’s Addiction, read the pulse of music lovers in Mumbai who flocked from all parts of the country. Snapshots from the sonic celebration.
All eyes were on every move Sting made on the final day of Lollapalooza as he took the Budweiser Stage at 8.25 pm. He made thousands of music fans join a wave of nostalgia for 1.5 hours. The 72-year-old musician proved that age is just a number as he performed some of his most-loved numbers, like Desert Rose, Englishman in New York, Shape of My Heart, Fields of Gold and Every Breath You Take with his characteristic energy and passion. Just when some thought the performance was over, “once more” chants filled the air. Sting obliged and he broke into Roxanne. “Thank you Mumbai, we had a beautiful audience tonight. Shukriya,” said the legendary singer, wearing a blue tee and white pants.
There’s no doubt that pop-rock band OneRepublic loves India and its food. Ahead of their concert on Day Two, the band offered glimpses of their food expedition in Mumbai on their social media space. “Two years ago we came back from underground, we started living again...started going on tour and when you tour for 17-18 years and you are playing your own songs all the time, you go: ‘What can we do differently this time, what can you do that no one else can do?’ 18 years with OneRepublic but for 20 years I have been writing songs for the biggest artistes in the world, a lot of these artistes and the songs you know them, just that you don’t know I had sh*t to do with it, which is fine, my ego is fine! I have been lucky enough to work with everybody, from Beyonce to Adele, Miley Cyrus to Ed Sheeran, lot of 1989 Taylor Swift... some of my best friends and collaborators are The Jonas Brothers (croons Sucker) and from everyone like Paul McCartney to The Killers... I just like writing songs, I do it every day... so for the next few minutes we are going to give you a concert within a concert within a festival,” said Ryan Benjamin Tedder, frontman of OneRepublic as he sang bits of Greedy, Maps, Rumour Has It and Halo, to name a few, leaving the crowd in awe as the packed venue sang and danced along.
For the rest of the time, OneRepublic did what they said: “We are just going to do hits for you guys” and all-time hits, like Counting Stars, I Ain’t Worried, Secrets, Apologize, Runaway and a medley of If I Lose Myself x Every Breath You Take. And when the final song came on, so did Ryan’s sign-off: “Mumbai, thank you so so so so much. We love you... now everybody go and watch Sting, the legend man!”
Nick Jonas, Bollywood's 'Jiju' was in the crowd to listen to OneRepublic
Day One of Lollapalooza was dominated by American singer-songwriter Halsey, who looked stunning in a dual-patterned mini skirt, an embroidered choli, boots and wild curls. The singer who sang some of her hits, like Colors, Bad At Love, Closer, Hurricane and ending with Without Me, showed what a powerhouse of a performer she is while she sang, danced and headbanged with ease. “I am from the United States, it’s where I do most of the tours, I do shows in the UK, South America... but I wanted you guys to know that I checked on something before I came here and India has my second highest listener base in the world. I owe you guys an apology that it took me so long to come here...and I hope next year there is more than one female headliner in the festival,” said Halsey.
Gallan goodiyaan from Bollywood movie Dil Dhadakne Do filled the air just before Jonas Brothers were supposed to take the stage as part of the final performance of the night on Day One. “OMG, will they sing the song?”, “Will Priyanka Chopra join them on the stage” were only some of the questions that floated around but none of that happened. What did happen was a super nostalgic trip for millennials who sang their hearts out to many Jonas Brothers tracks, like SOS, When You Look Me In The Eyes and Year 3000. “This is our first time performing in India together, and no, the sangeet performance doesn’t count,” said Nick Jonas, whom brother Kevin introduced as ‘Jiju’ to the crowd.
Cake by the Ocean, Close and Sucker were some of the other tracks of the night that the crowd sang along to. But the surprise was saved for later when KING joined them on stage. “You know we had to do something special tonight so for the first time, we will perform something very special,” said Nick as he went on to sing Maan meri jaan live with KING.
Ari Staprans Leff, popularly known as Lauv, had a number of young fans who sang along to his hits, like Love You Like That, I'm So Tired and I Like Me Better on Day One of Lollapalooza. "I love the energy Mumbai, thank you so much. And to many more f***ing amazing years of this festival, I love you guys," said the singer as he lay flat on the stage and continued singing I Like Me Better.
Armaan Malik surprised the crowd as he joined Lauv to sing a few lines of I Like Me Better — Lauv’s biggest hit. “I’m never tired of @lauvsongs! Thanks for having me on stage last night Ari,” AM later posted on Instagram.
Prabh Deep, Keane
Prabh Deep, Indian rapper, songwriter and composer, brought some Punjabi energy to the music festival with his tracks Chitta, Amar and Thappad! SlickFlip to Benny Dayal, who were in the audience, showered the rapper with praises on social media.
Before OneRepublic’s performance, Keane, English alternative rock band, enthralled the audience with hits like Nothing In My Way, Silenced By The Night, Bend & Break and Somewhere Only We Know. “You guys have such an incredible culture and identity. For us, a little band from southeast England to be asked to play here and to see so many of you is quite an honour,” said singer Tom Chaplin.
The crowd burst into cheers when he welcomed Anoushka Shankar on the stage who jammed to Everybody’s Changing. “Thanks @lollaindia and the fantastic @anoushkashankarofficial for the best possible start to 2024. We hope to be back to play more shows and see more of this wonderful country,” read a social media post on Instagram by Keane.
Dualist Inquiry mesmerised their fans with an audiovisual show with an eight-piece band. Sahej Bakshi performed from the upcoming album When We Get There. “Got a very special show planned for Lollapalooza Mumbai. Been working on this for months now with the most talented team of musicians and visual artists... ever put together a show quite at this scale, so we’ve been working extra hard but we’re ready and can’t wait,” read his message on social media before the event.
Nine-time Grammy-nominated sitarist, composer and producer, Anoushka Shankar seamlessly blended folk and classical melodies on the sitar. Her performance was accompanied by beautiful dancers who moved gracefully to the tunes of the sitar, creating an ambience of magic on the stage.
Spotted
Lollapalooza had quite a number of celebrities, like model Diipa Khosla (far left), actor Barkha Singh (right), musician Imaad Shah (centre), Indian chess grandmaster Viswanathan Anand, singer Benny Dayal and Bollywood’s rumoured couple Ananya Panday and Aditya Roy Kapur in attendance.
Binge feast: Juicy Boss Burgers, Japanese cuisine from Izumi, booze popsicles from Little Loco Pops to Bombay Food Trucks were some of the food brands that kept everyone’s tummy happy.
