India was recently treated to a special mix of bananas and champagne, by world renowned party-starters Stefan Engblom and Olle Corneér – collectively known as Dada Life. Our Artist of the Month for this month, the Swedish duo certainly kicked up quite a storm in the cities of Delhi & Bangalore and the buzz circling their show in Mumbai was evidently keeping us all at the edge of our seats. The show was hosted at the iconic Lalit Hotel in association with Kitty Su, WMS and Submerge, in their fantastic venue called The Pleasuredome. Known to have previously hosted Grammy nominee Steve Aoki & Grammy Winner Zedd at their prolific venue, 2014 sees them host the boldest exponents of Dance Music in the guise of Dada Life. The show was rocked with their stellar productions, fantastic energetic basslines, giant banana balloons, a pillow fight and plenty of hard-hitting breakdowns!
Despite having formed a formidable team since 2006, the duo skyrocketed to stardom in 2009 through their album ‘Just do the Dada‘ followed by the massive release of ‘Kick out the Epic Motherf**ker‘ and ‘Feed the Dada‘. Through their sets, they infuse tremendous energy and zeal, as they unleash their wizardry on beautiful faces with the promise of leaving them ugly, through their high-octane performances. Known world over for their fat sounds and greasy basslines, the ‘Dada life Sausage Fattener‘ inventors recently spoke to us in a heart-to-heart interview, where they shared their expectations from the crowds on their India tour. From the likes of it, it seems they weren’t too disappointed as hours after their show, they couldn’t resist but share their affection for their fans and audiences!
India was amazing! What was your favorite moment from our tour there?
— Dada Life (@dadalife) June 10, 2014
The venue gates were flooded with patrons as they waited for their friends, looking bright and cheerful as they geared up for a night of intense madness. Dressed up enthusiastically in colorful attire, we even spotted a couple of banana suits to add to the madness, as audiences came in, in their best mood to the party! The night kicked off early at around 5 pm, when Submerge’s very own Nawed Khan took to the decks to warm up the crowds. Starting things in his preferred way of deep, groovy and progressive sounds, he gradually lifted the tempo as we arrived closer to reaching DadaLand! With the magical combination of Sunnery James & Ryan Marciano ft. Miri Ben-Ari‘s ‘One Life‘ turning things euphoric, he turned the party into a karaoke contest as he mashed up Avicii’s ‘Fade into Darkness‘ with Omnia’s ‘The Fusion‘. The crowds meanwhile began to pour into the venue by now, as they settled into the flavor of the night. Grabbing their friends close and grooving to the music curated by Nawed Khan, audiences grooved to Michael Calfan’s remix of Calvin Harris & Florence Welsh‘s ‘Sweet Nothing‘ and the classic Arno Cost & Norman Doray‘s ‘Apocalypse (Tom Staar & Kryder Remix)‘.
With basslines settling in and riffs flying through the air courtesy of the very talented Nawed Khan, the night continued to build in energy and fervor, as he dropped Axwell ? Ingrosso smash hit ‘We Come, We Rave, We Love‘ followed by the chirpy Icona Pop‘s ‘Just Another Night (Marcus Schossow Remix)‘. The soundscape by now turned from smooth and groovy to sharp and raw, with the mildly intense basslines being revealed from Nawed Khan’s collection. A smashing mashup between Skylar Grey‘s ‘Coming Home’ and Merk & Kremont’s ‘Zunami’ induced a sense of creativity from the decks, as Mutiny UK & Steve Mac ft Nate James’s alluring ‘Feel The Pressure (Axwell & NEW_ID Remix)‘ made the night unfold its more aural delights. A double blast from the past with Dirty South & Deniz Koyu‘s ‘Halo‘ and Empire of the Sun‘s ‘Celebrate (Tommy Trash Club Mix)‘ before he dropped the magical breakdown from Audien‘s ‘Hindsight‘. The clock was ticking away and the time had arrived for the crowd to reach full capacity and our entry into the vortex of DadaLand. And before we knew it, there they stood – the chief instructors for our journey for the night – Stefan & Olle, Dada Life had arrived to PleasureDome, Mumbai!
The duo were introduced by a small audio message that insisted that ‘people who came in beautiful today must return home ugly’, while welcoming us to the enchanting DadaLand. Kicking off to loud cheering and a sea of mobile phone capturing their entry on stage, fans climbed onto each others shoulders to catch a glimpse of the Swedish superstars as they dropped Major Lazer feat. Bruno Mars & Tyga & Mystic‘s ‘Bubble Butt (Dada Life Remix)‘. Immediately infusing wide smiles, they furthered their intent by dropping a high octane mashup of TJR‘s ‘Whast Up Suckaz‘ with their own ‘Cookies With a Smile‘, followed by a storming mashup between TST & Dani L. Mebius ‘No Regular‘ with the acapella from Swedish House Mafia classic ‘Antidote‘. One would imagine they’d step down the pace a little after the three hard hitting numbers, but after a delectable breakdown, yet another mashup was unleashed through Bassjackers ‘Crackin (Martin Garrix Edit)‘ with the acapella of Fukkk Offf‘s ‘Rave Is King‘! This night was already stirring up quite a storm!
One thing that any Dada Life event is sure to bring out are the bananas! And so, right after they dropped their epic anthem ‘Feed the Dada‘ they dropped giant banana balloons on the audience, encouraging them to bounce them around the venue! Once the balloons made their way around, another monster mashup through Calvin Harris vs. TJR & VINAI ‘Summer vs. Bounce Generation (Dada Life Mashup)‘ was dropped on the unsuspecting crowd. The anthems just kept on coming! From their own array of collections they dropped ‘Boing Clash Boom‘, ‘So Young So high‘ and ‘Kick out the epic motherf**ker‘ in many forms and edits before dropping the original a while later in the night! They also triggered a mass jump-athon when they dropped the massive ‘Big Bad Wolf (Dada Life remix)‘ by Duck Sauce followed by a intense mashup of DVBBS & Borgeous ‘Tsunami‘ with an acapella of Calvin Harris feat. Ellie Goulding‘s ‘I Need Your Love‘. Mash ups and hard hitting anthems for the treat of the night and the celebrated Swedish duo were living upto their name of helping the crowd “Go Bananas”!
A very special track and moment on the night had to be when Olle climbed onto the decks and began enthralling the audiences to letting themselves go as they dropped their massive edit to Josh Wink’s ‘Higher state of consciousness‘. A sure shot part topper, Wink‘s iconic synth break was given a new lease of life when Dada Life superimposed their Dada flavor on it! And just when you thought that the cross pollination of genres was done for, out came Armin Van Buuren‘s massive new single ‘Ping Pong‘ fused with the acapella from Beastie Boys ‘Fight For Your Right‘ – a truly creative mashup! The duo also dropped their single ‘One night‘ as Olle said, “tonight we allow no grumpiness…we are in Dada Land where we see only happy faces”. The audiences were in no mood to refute his claim as they smiled and cheered on the tested new single! Magic continued to unfold through a unique mashup between Deorro‘s ‘Dechorro (One Two Three Woow Acappella)‘ fused with the ever enchanting Eric Prydz‘s ‘Pjanoo‘! Afrojack’s brand new track ‘Ten Feet Tall (Quintino Remix)‘ also found a spot on the tracklist as Calvin Harris & Alesso ft Hurts ‘Under Control’ certainly added some more cheer into the night!
What followed next was certainly unexpected! The Swedish duo, who hold the Guinness World Record for the World’s biggest Pillow fight, tried to recreate the madness as they dropped their own single ‘Happy Violence‘ and counted down to the break, before making sure the first few rows ahead ensued themselves in a happy pillow fight! Pillows awaiting them, the audiences gleefully grabbed their pillows and unleashed havoc on each other while dancing to the hard hitting basslines! The duo then captured the true essence of the crowd for the night as they dropped their iconic anthem ‘This Shit Is Bananas‘ on the crowd, as they bounced off each others energy and caused total pandemonium in the venue!
The final track of the night had to be their latest single with Sebastian Bach‘s ‘Born to Rage‘, but following their trend of personalizing the track for whichever country they perform in, the track interspaced the vocals ‘INDIA..YOU WERE BORN TO RAGE…” into its song structure right before the intense breakdown! By the time the last beat dropped, the venue was engulfed with pillow feathers, banana balloons, banana suits, sweaty shirts and plenty of happy faces! Stefan & Olle, overwhelmed by the love they received then went on to say, “Thank you so much…thank you so so much….this has been f**king amazing!!” WE CERTAINLY AGREE!
Special thanks to The Lalit Hotel – Kitty Su, WMS and the Submerge team.
Gig Review by Hamed Khalidi
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