Tommy Trash spins tunes that are as wild as his locks. Since his debut in 2007, he’s become an electronic music demigod; creating iconic remixes for names like Swedish House Mafia, Deadmau5, Steve Aoki and Zedd – which, dare we say, could be more popular than the originals. With his own creations that are worldwide chart toppers, the Grammy-nominated artist deserves the title bestowed on him by Rolling Stone as the upcoming ‘One to Watch’. Even as a performer he has a soaring, rocket-like energy, fueling the crowd with beats that drop with a hard-and-fast intensity. So it was no surprise when Tommy Trash conquered New Delhi nightclub Kitty Su on Friday night, with a two-hour long manic set.

Fist pumping and head banging, he ignited his set with an incredulous trash-up, Ladi Dadi Sunrise, pitting Steve Aoki and Wynter Gordon against The Aston Shuffle and his truly. Unleashing an arsenal of original tracks, he began with his banger, Cascade, and an insane collaboration with A-Trak, Tuna Melt; we’ve got to hand it to Tommy for his creative song titles. Next was a trash up of ecstasy-invoking Monkey See Monkey Do and, saluting him once again, the Steve Aoki remix of Kid Cudi’s rap anthem, Pursuit of Happiness. As the set began on its crescendo, we were treated to Dada Life’s notorious Kick Out the Epic Motherfucker, and Feenixpaul’s In My Mind. And what’s a raver night without Calvin Harris’ remix of Fat Boy Slim & Riva Starr’s Eat Sleep Rave Repeat? “I’m just dancing!”

Displaying his turntable dexterity, he played his track Future Folk, topped off with Prototype by nouveau talent Don Diablo & CID. He gave us some old school hits with Teasing Mr. Charlie by global favourite Steve Angello, which was effortlessly blended into another classic, Star 69 by Fatboy Slim. Then came a more recent hit, a soulful electronic melody reminiscent of the 80s, the Eric Prydz remix of Midnight City by M83. Trash kept jumping between the old and new, but each and every one of the tracks he played were definite hits. He took an actual trip back to the 80s with Sweet Dreams by Eurythmics and the crowd really went wild, young and old.

His freshly released remix of Celebrate by Empire of the Sun was a fluffy, light tribute to the song, but with his signature hard beats. We love anybody who pays tribute to Daft Punk, and he did it in spades, remixing both Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger and Around the World with easily one of the best tracks of the year, Toulouse by Nicky Romero. Then came an evergreen track, Meet Her at the Love Parade by Da Hool, which yet again proved Tommy Trash’s prowess at the console. The next song was made famous during Swedish House Mafia’s ‘One Last Tour’, with its unmistakable tune and vocals, greatly contributing to Trash’s popularity as well – Sunrise by The Aston Shuffle and Trash himself.

He continued to play club favourites by successively trashing up Booyah by Showtek & Zombie Nation, Hit it by GTA, Henrix & Digital Lab and Suckerfree by Jeff Doubleu. He certainly didn’t disappoint when he Reload-ed us with the famous track he made in collaboration with Sebastian Ingrosso, as he peaked about an hour into his set; much to the crowds enthused pleasure, who were shouting out John Martin’s familiar lyrics with their hands in the air. An emotionally poignant moment in his set was when he laid Chris Martin’s vocals of Clocks perfectly over the uplifting progressive house track, Zodiac by Arston. People were singing along to a modified version of one of their favourite Coldplay songs and the mood in the club was electric.

The spell was broken and it was back to the harder and faster beats with Let Me Hear You Scream by Hard Rock Sofa & Skidka, the crowd was pumping their fists in the air once again. “We don’t need no education!” The iconic line brought us back to Pink Floyd’s classic, Another Brick in the Wall, in a surprisingly cohesive trash up with Hells Bells by Albin Meyers. Tommy Trash’s eclectic set just goes to show that music truly has no barriers, and definitely no age limit. Once again he played a club classic with his bootleg of Empire of the Sun’s Walking on a Dream. He always knew when to take a break from the intense beats to give you something a little more melodic, and a little more sunny. Finally, what’s any set this year without a little Martin Garrix and Zedd? The distinct drop of Animals has made it a club and festival necessity for all the deejays around the world. And Clarity transcends the boundaries of electronic music, falling into pop with its catchy tune and lyrics.

With its fast beats and the amount of musical finesse required to make them, The End by Tommy Trash is a fitting title to the song that marks the pinnacle of his career and the crowd knew it! They showed their appreciation for the master blaster by throwing their hands up to the sky in throes of ecstasy. The penultimate section of his set was pure brilliance, transforming the otherwise ambient The Veldt by Deadmau5, featuring Chris James’ vocals, into a club thumper. He busted out some pop favourites like the song everybody’s gotta love, Temper Trap’s Sweet Disposition in its Axwell & Dirty South remix. One of the golden moments of his set was his private bootleg mix of both PNAU and MGMT hits, in the alchemy of Unite Kids. This was followed up with Deorro’s bouncy Yee, which is so pumped up, it should be called Yee! and the (almost) hardstyle track Boneless, by Steve Aoki, Chris Lake and Tujamo.

To finish off his set was Zedd’s popular summer track, Stay the Night, featuring Paramore’s Haley Williams vocals, and making the night even more memorable, Calvin Harris’ gem Feel So Close. Just when we thought that Moguai’s Champs was his grand finale (and grand, it was) for the night, Tommy Trash teased us some more, asking us on the mike if we wanted an encore.  The answer was obvious. As his cherry on top, he playing a mashup of Sandro Silva & Quintino’s Epic and House of Pain’s Jump Around, he made the crowd do exactly what the blended names suggest – epically jump around!

Submerge director Nikhil Chinapa took to the decks and closed the night, telling the crowd how it was Tommy’s set at Tomorrowland which triggered the thought to bring him to India. Another feather in the Submerge cap, it was a great call – Tommy Trash’s stagecraft was perfectly suited to New Delhi’s party-hard audience. It was truly an experience to watch him doing what he does best, not to mention have our minds blown by his music.

Special thanks to the Submerge team, and the folks at Kitty Su, Delhi, for ensuring that the city of New Delhi got completely Trashed that evening!

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Reviewed by: Mallika Pal & Vedika Berry

Edited by: Shule Puri