W&W India Tour: Mumbai

“To all the people, men on earth, there’s message that we would like to tell you; Lift Off.”

If at all you hear these words out of any kind of speakers, earphones or headphones; at any place and at any time, you’re definitely not going to be able to keep still after what follows. In fact, most of you are going to probably lose yourselves dancing to it. For those of you dance music fanatics that know exactly what I’m talking about, I’m sure you have a silly smile across your faces right about now.

This infamous vocal bridge is an essential part to Willem van Hanegem’s and Wardt van der Harst’s, a.k.a. W&W’s smasher track ‘Lift Off‘, and it is this very production that probably summarizes the kind of energy and insanity that ensues every W&W gig till date.

Not much different could be said about their India tour as well.

It all started way back in March when the excitement of Armin Van Buuren’s The Expedition and Tiesto’s India tour were fresh in the air. Then some of us got wind of the Dutch Powerhouse duo’s decision to tour this magnificent country of ours.From then up until the actual day of the concert, EDM fanatics from all over the country were absolutely rifled with anticipation.

On the 18^thof April at Club Royalty in Bandra, Mumbai the tour began. Even before Rishabh Joshi from Lost Stories could take to the decks to open for the duo, the place was just bursting at the seams.

Lost Stories’ Rishabh always puts forth his all. His energy is as vital as his track selection. The much awaited gig this month certainly had a spectacular opening DJ. Opening for some of the biggest DJs in the world, this young and talented Indian DJ has been paving his path very meticulously. An absolute wizard on the mixers, he started off the night with a little tech slowly switching up the tempo to build up the excitement for W&W at a very comfortable pace. His timing was spot on, and his transitions were organic enough for one to not notice when tech gave way to trance. Some of the tracks dropped were Believe Me (Botnek Remix) by AC Slater & Xaphoon Jones, Myb by Oliver and Justified by Prok & Fitch & Filthy Rich.

Rishabh pumped the crowd up till about 11:45 pm, till the Dutch duo walked in. That’s exactly when the crowd started chanting “W,W” as in a manner of reverence for the masters of Arena Trance, till they took up their stations behind the console.

The moment they pushed play on their deck, the intense pick up to ‘Lift Off‘ could be heard. A battle call, of sorts, as notice to everyone to be prepared for what’s in store and from then on there was just no turning back. Dropping smasher after smasher, from Trance to Electro to Stomp to Big Room,  their set was literally oozing with so much bounce, I don’t think I saw a single person at the club standing still.

One look around and everybody was thoroughly enjoying themselves, especially when they dropped hits like “The Code”, “D#FAT”, “Trigger” and Fisherman and Hawkin’s “Apache”  to satisfy their longstanding fans, feeding them with hardstyle and orthodox Trance, W&W’s parent genre.  They treated us to their freshly remixed versions of Armin Van Buuren’s “This is What it Feels Like”, Zedd’s “Clarity”   Dash Berlin’s “Waiting” (these two had every couple raging unanimously), and really cheeky mash-ups of Above and Beyond’s “A Thing Called Love” with Hardwell’s “Spaceman”, and Ashley Wallbridge/Rafael Frost vs.GTA, Henrix/Digital Lab vs.Hard Rock Sofa – Zorro Hit Rasputin.

What really nicked the crowd was when they managed to squeeze in Leon Boiler’s “Disco Davai” with their very own “Ak47“, forcing everyone to shed every last bit of anything that was holding them back from losing control. What’s more, they had mentioned on twitter that they’d be road-testing a few of their ID’s. And if crowd reaction was anything to go by, I’m sure they were absolutely ecstatic with the response they received.

From start to finish, they kept pushing the limits of the crowd’s energy. Just when we thought we couldn’t rage any harder, the beats got harder and the bass-line, more intense.  All the while, they had a bright smile on each of their faces, frequently raising their hands as the drops came about.  They had this fresh enthusiastic vibe about them. One could tell that they were really enjoying themselves as they kept pushing the crowd beyond their threshold. They were resonating with the very energy dished out by the tracks that they played and they fed off the crowd’s energy as well, simultaneously.

It truly is wonderful when people are united at an event such as this, with one objective: to enjoy wonderful music, dance the night away and most of all, to watch your favorite artist perform. Even though there was a lack of space or ‘excessive’ heat, as some would say, it didn’t really matter as everyone present had come to fulfill that very objective, and by the end of it all, we were all left with much more than we could’ve even imagined.  By the end of it all, we had our shirts wet, our feet throbbing and a mix of a satisfied yet awestruck expressions on our faces. Their absence from the State Of Trance 600′s Mumbai leg was more than made up for.

Not many artists have the same vibrancy in their sets as they do in their productions. W&W definitely are amongst those that do. After a night in concert with them, it has become more than obvious how rapidly these two have risen to fame and why Trance’s foremost authority, Armin Van Buuren, regards them as “the best up-and-coming production duo out there.” In 2010, Armin had this to say,“W&W are truly the rising stars of trance. If I have to put my money on somebody, I put it on W&W.”

And now, 3 years on, that still holds true.  Big Ups to Submerge and Royalty for an insane night.

W&W India Tour: Kolkata

“This is one of the most unusual nights I’ve ever seen!”, said Nikhil Chinappa to remind people what they were there for. Much like the Hailey’s Comet, an event of this nature in Kolkatais rare, and in this case, a first time. The city is no stranger to dance music; there has been a massive underground scene that has been thriving way before EDM became a commercial affair.

However, the mainstream embracement that has swept the world over hasn’t made that much of an impact in a city where music forms an essential part of life. But that does not mean people do not appreciate it- they appreciate, enjoy and dance to it like no ones watching; and that is exactly what happened at the Wipeout Music Festival.

As part of W&W’s India tour, Wipeout was a massive event for Kolkata. With artists such as Lost Stories, Pearl and Chinappa preceding trance bosses Willem and Wardt, it was a grand affair, for we were expecting a wide range of electronic; from the more commercial sets of the city’s own DJs to Pearl’s more underground sound, there was indeed a lot of variety. And to top all that up, even the weather played along and gave us just the right amount of rain to make things wilder!

Nocturne’s in house DJ played a mean set with easily recognisable tracks, powerful to the core and those that pull the crowd. But the crowd was only warming up at the time, with not too many people connecting with their wild side, but rather sitting, talking and generally socialising. It might’ve been empty but that didn’t stop Team Bangin’ from getting started!

A couple of crowd pleasers and everyone started getting their feet warm gradually. In came Girish, the in house DJ at Shisha. As the sun started it’s downward trajectory our emotions exploded to the sound of the music coming through the speakers. The venue was beautiful- lush green grass, excellent staff, organised counters and a general sense of order. Watching from a distance, it looked emotional – so many people getting together irrespective of nonsensical social norms, dancing to one tune, building up to the crescendo that would be W&W!

In came Rishabh Joshi of Lost Stories with some sick tunes that amped up the vibe already set in motion by Girish. You could sense the urgency in people, the urge to go nuts to that one mad drop and let out all that untapped energy. Chinappa took over the decks and things got a bit real. None of those commercial singalongs, but startling, unknown and deep tech.

The best part of it was that the crowd jumped right into it. The rain Gods decided to have a little fun and it started raining and things got even more wonderful. As brilliant as he is with his words, Nikhil Chinappa made sure that the people kept dancing, and they did even in the pouring rain (which he even tweeted about saying that the raindrops were the size of marbles)!

Track after track, the vibe was getting better. The rain unleashed a frenzy in some (us included) and for a minority it was a deterrent. Hey, if the DJ can go on with his music, we ought to show respect. People seemed to have realised that and came running backfa. There was a wave of wind along with the rain that made the music even more intense. All the lights and equipment were completely covered at the slightest hint of rain, but the time was such that no one was really bothered as to the visuals or lights; all that mattered was the music..

We were filled with a sudden rush when Chinappa gave way to Pearl, who’s assured to belt out some serious tracks. We were hearing her right after Sunburn Goa, so there was a lot of hope that she’d make us relive that set she played at Candolim. And out she went. During the course of Pearl’s stellar set, I recall Chinappa saying that he could spot some old timers among the crowd. Thats the thing about Kolkata – maybe not regularly at clubs, but you do an outdoor event and it pulls old and new alike. Patrons from when electronic music was a counter culture are bound to be there, and so are the new generation of Swedish House Mafiosos!

That said, time had become a non existent factor. Pearl had built up the anticipation to W&W to the point where time was but a dimension for people wearing a suit. Everyone was raging, in the zone or however else you might want to put it; but very simply put, everybody seemed to be in love.

Soon we had two giants walking up from behind Pearl into the light. Those two Dutchmen looked massive (probably reason why their tracks sound so powerful!) and they were just about to annihilate Kolkata. The crowd cheered, hooted, the girls got on top of their boy friends, and the rain poured soft and nice. Not that the Dutchmen cared, for they butchered the crowd as they started their set with ‘Lift Off!’ It was nuts!

It’s like people suddenly realised being civilised was going out of fashion. There was a uniform wave of frenzy and the energy went up to a new level altogether. As we moved about taking a few pictures, we felt the presence of a very positive vibe, fat free and real! And we weren’t alone in it; Willem & Wardt were at it even harder than us. Thats the kind of connection with the crowd that is hard to come by. Throwing cake and riding on a giant plastic inflatable boat is good too, but this was the kind that is felt from within.

I remember when they dropped ‘Moscow’, I felt like it was the last day on earth and I had to live it up as much as I could. It was ridiculous what that track did to the crowd. Everyone bounced, no pushing, no shoving, just plain, respectful, hard bouncing.  The wilder we went, the harder they decided to play. In came Shotgun, and indeed it WAS a shotgun. They played hit after hit and seemed very pleased with the vibe.

Thoroughly enjoying themselves, in came Impact. A surprise followed when they played the amazing ‘Thing Called Love’ from maestros Above & Beyond. It was the perfect fit for it was drizzling and the couples found their way into each others arms. Team Bangin’ had no such amorous activities in the agenda and therefore went about giving free hugs to every one (and got some amorous hugs in return!).

‘Invasion’ was thereafter dropped at some point and as usual, it invaded right through our minds. W&W had done their job, Submerge did their job, the crowd did their job and night came to an end. At precisely 0000 hours, the music was off and suddenly everything seemed empty and still. Some were barely able to get up, some had happy pains from dancing, but Team Bangin’ just stood there, comprehending what just went down.

It was a memorable night to say the least. What good came out of it? We’re hoping everyone opens up to the prospect of having the occasional outdoor scene in Kolkata. We’re sure W&W loved it and so did everyone present there. She’s not called the City of Joy for nothing right?! Sincere respect to Submerge and the crew of Wipeout Music Festival to have put up such a smooth show. Excellent food, great place, great music, great people and a greater vibe. Submerge says dance; Kolkata says bring us some more!

Reviewed by Shule Puri and Sheel Bhattacharjee, you can find Shule and Sheel on twitter.