Some moments in your life bring absolute clarity. They are the singular point of time in your life when you lose all sense of time & space and simply give in to that moment. This moment completely redefines your outlook and approach to everything you do in life and sometimes this moment of certainty and calm transcends when you immerse yourself in music.
On one such divine Sunday in November, we at thebanginbeats.com got our own sense of immutable clarity as we made our way to Tulip Star in Juhu, Mumbai to witness one of the most highly anticipated performances this year, Sunburn Arena with Dutch superstar, Nicky Romero.
‘Sunburn Arena’ is one of the most fascinating & exciting concepts by leading dance music event organizer, Sunburn which has over due course, grown by leaps and bounds ever since its inception and has played an influential role in redefining the dance music scenario in India while playing host to a number of noteworthy acts in the pasts including Avicii, Swedish House Mafia, Tiesto and many more.
Upon reaching the grandiose venue to bear witness to one of the most proficient producer/DJ’s in the dance music industry, we could truly feel the air shifting patterns as it moved from sheer excitement to magnetically charging energy amongst fans. The city of Mumbai which had also played host to innumerable acts over the year, had been chosen as the one for Romero’s performance and from the look of it, it was more than ready to be enthralled by the Dutch maverick.
Moving into the folds of numerous fans gathered at the venue, we noticed that fans had already begun dancing away with great gusto to the tunes of the opening set by Whosane & Anastasia. They duo had great chemistry and their positivity just overflowed all over the venue. Lost Stories‘s Rishab Joshi & producer/DJ Anish Sood have now become quite the fan favourite within the country. They came on after Whosane & Anastasia and pumped up every single person at the venue. We last saw them perform at Sunburn B2B Mumbai 2013 and remembered the how wonderful that experience was.
Looking around, we saw many happy and animated faces who despite the heat in Mumbai, showed no signs of slowing down as they cheered on one of their favourite domestic acts. Switching effortlessly, and at lightning speed, the duo of Rishab & Anish churned out unique tracks including Green Velvet‘s ‘Lazer Beams’, Afrojack‘s mix of, ‘Lets Make Nasty (Bounce Little Kitty)’. The stand out moment of their set came when they dropped an unorthodox mix of Afrojack & Eminem’s dialogue, which came as surprising and humorous moment for all present.
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Then as the visuals changed and the opening act came to a close, the crowd slowly began to rise as one single wave. It was a monstrous surge of hundreds of fans standing on their toes waiting in anticipation for the man behind the white mask to take to stage. And as though on cue or just a sense of intuition Nicky Romero came onto to the stage opening with his track ‘Toulouse’ which is easily one his most noted releases ever to be unleashed.
The intensity and emotions that took over the crowd were indescribable as they all jumped united as one to the drop. It was a defining moment as Mumbai’s ravers chose to showcase an energy that only a prolific artist like Nicky could match. He had them in the palm of his hand, dancing to his tunes. Next Romero threw, Tommy Trash‘s mix of ‘Sunrise’ at the crowd which was met by a loud roar. The secret to a Nicky Romero performance remains in the build up. In the slow, sly way in which he cleverly challenges every single fan’s capacity to stand on two feet by making them dance non-stop and that is what exactly happened when he challenged to vanquish Mumbai’s energetic crowd at Tulip Star with his arsenal smash hits. Tracks which followed included Hardwell‘s smashing remix of Funkagenda & Mark Knight‘s take on the legendary, ‘Man with the Red Face’ and his collaboration with Sunnery James & Ryan Marciano, ‘Sound Of The Underground’.
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It is no secret that Nicky Romero & Calvin Harris make a deadly combo. Indeed that held true as Romero spun a flurry of Calvin Harris’ tracks to a transfixed audience. The visuals for each track which came one after another like a missile, were incredible.
Starting off the assault with the most recent Calvin Harris track, a mega collaboration with Swede, Alesso titled, ‘Under Control’, Nicky sent the insatiable crowd into a raging bounce. More Calvin Harris numbers soon followed like the ever popular ‘Thinking About You’.
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Words failed us and our jaws fell to the floor when he dropped ‘Legacy’ his remarkable collaboration with the rapidly rising trio Krewella. The crowd wept, sang along at the top of their voice and swayed as the words of the track appeared on the giant screen on the stage.
Not one to take things lying low, Romero smiled at the crowd who had their hands in the air as he dropped Sultan & Ned Shepard‘s power-packed remix of ‘Locked Out Of Heaven’ which transitioned stunningly into the anthemic ‘Leave The World Behind’.
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Kicking it old school, Nicky charmed the crowd and showed his unpredictability when he dropped a remix of ‘Sweet Dreams’ by Eurythmics. Another highlight of his performance was he constantly kept talking to the crowd, expressing his happiness to be in Mumbai, cheering them to dance on till the end of the night. With a charismatic stage presence and a fantastic control over the console, Nicky kept the energy at its peak with ‘Live For The Night’ by Krewella and also treated fans to his dazzling collaboration with Nervo, ‘Like Home’.
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As the crowd raged on, Nicky dropped Steve Aoki‘s remix of Kid Cudi‘s ‘Pursuit of Happiness’ made its way into his set followed by his very own recently released remix of Zedd‘s ‘Stay The Night’ and a mash-up of Alesso’s take on ‘If I Lose Myself’ with the magnificent, ‘Wake Me Up’ by Avicii. Krewella seem to be Romero’s favourites however as he played ‘Alive’ by them and also concluded his whirlwind performance with a hardstyle remix of ‘Legacy’.
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We had expected Nicky to play for an hour and make the crowd bounce, however much to our delight he brought his best to the console far a lot more than that and took the crowd on an unforgettable journey. To sum it all up, there was sensational magic ensued at the grounds of Tulip Star in Juhu, Mumbai and for dance music enthusiasts and revellers, it became a sacred land which hosted a phenomenal night which shall be etched in their minds and hearts forever.
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We thank Sunburn for such a fantastic night, we certainly had the time of our lives!
Reviewd By: Khushi Hegde
Edited By: Aditya Seth
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