After their Mumbai concert was cancelled in November, 'Swedish House Mafia', comprising Axwell, Steve Angello and Sebastian Ingrosso, popular EDM (Electronic Dance Music) trio faced another rescheduling, at Bangalore. They came the next day and performed.
It turned out to be the best Monday night that music lovers have had in a long, long time.
Getting a chance to watch them live was a dream come true for thousands of fans from Bangalore and nearby cities especially since this show was quite literally a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Being a part of their 'One Last Tour', this farewell concert was the first and last time they played in Bangalore as the members are to disband this March and go their own ways.
In keeping with that fact, they played the best set their fans could ask for — starting from their early songs like 'One (Your Name)' and 'Miami 2 Ibiza' to the more recent 'Greyhound' and 'Save the World' and the much anticipated finale, 'Don't You Worry Child', which had the crowd going crazy.
"It was brilliant! They killed it with an awesome set and the crowd was on point too. They really knew how to party. Tonight is going down in the history of legendary nights for me," says Akshay, who came from Chennai for the concert.
"It was totally worth bunking college for this," he adds.
But while the situation may have been salvaged by really good music, all was not fine in terms of organisation — drinking water was overpriced and hard to find, jammed networks made it impossible to get in touch with anyone, the ticket counter queues were never-ending and there was zero traffic management in and around the venue, Bhartiya City.
Amidst the clouds of dust, the usual drunk behaviour of youngsters was seen — girls pulling up ill-fitting clothes or throwing up and boys removing their tee shirts and jumping around. After the concert ended, the party did not stop — it only shifted to the parking lot, where loud music was played in cars and people were dancing while waiting for the traffic to clear up.
"I don't think the performance was ever going to be in question. As far as that's concerned, I was pleased to get my money's worth and it's good to see EDM get some much needed attention. But I was disappointed with the venue's location and the lack of sensitivity on the part of organisers when it came to distributing the wristbands. On arriving there after being stuck in traffic for three hours, I was told to stand in an extended queue to collect it," shares Kirsten, who attended the concert. "But once I was inside, it was all about
the music."
Hopelessly mismanaged!
'Swedish House Mafia' may have got the youth of Bangalore swaying to their popular number 'Don't You Worry Child' but at the venue, there was definitely a lot of things to worry about. Metrolife watched in amazement some of the gross happenings at the venue, Bhartiya City.
* A big concern was the traffic. The stretch from Thannisandra Road all the way up to Bhartiya City was chock-a-block. The traffic policemen were doing their best to manage the chaos but they turned a blind eye to people driving on the wrong side of the road, drinking openly while driving their cars and bikes. The event got over at 10.30 pm but due to mismanaged traffic, people were stranded on Thannisandra Main Road till 1 am.
* The organisers had asked people to bring a whole lot of documents to prove one's identity while collecting the tickets. But they didn't bother to give directions to exit and entry points. The place being huge, ticket holders were seen walking in wrong directions due to lack of maps and indicators pointing to the concert area. A small map at the back of the ticket would have made a huge difference to the traffic.
* Security check was an eyewash. While people were asked to leave their water bottles and perfume bottles outside the concert area, they could easily take in liquor bottles and cigarettes (which were 'carefully' hidden inside their jackets and shoes). People were seen doing drugs openly but nothing was done about it.
* Hospitality was zero. There was chaos at the counters. The food and liquor were expensive and so was water. A small paper cup of water was priced at Rs 15.
* Safety was another major concern. Yes, there was an ambulance at the bay, but only the main road leading to the venue was well lit. There were many bylanes where people had parked but there were no streetlights there. The phone lines were jammed and it was impossible to make a call in case of an emergency.
* Most of the young women who had come there were in high spirits even before the concert started. Scantily clad, with their boyfriends in tow, who could hardly handle themselves (being high on drinks and drugs), let alone a girl! Their drunken antics at the venue were sheer entertainment for the labourers working there.
It turned out to be the best Monday night that music lovers have had in a long, long time.
Getting a chance to watch them live was a dream come true for thousands of fans from Bangalore and nearby cities especially since this show was quite literally a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Being a part of their 'One Last Tour', this farewell concert was the first and last time they played in Bangalore as the members are to disband this March and go their own ways.
In keeping with that fact, they played the best set their fans could ask for — starting from their early songs like 'One (Your Name)' and 'Miami 2 Ibiza' to the more recent 'Greyhound' and 'Save the World' and the much anticipated finale, 'Don't You Worry Child', which had the crowd going crazy.
"It was brilliant! They killed it with an awesome set and the crowd was on point too. They really knew how to party. Tonight is going down in the history of legendary nights for me," says Akshay, who came from Chennai for the concert.
"It was totally worth bunking college for this," he adds.
But while the situation may have been salvaged by really good music, all was not fine in terms of organisation — drinking water was overpriced and hard to find, jammed networks made it impossible to get in touch with anyone, the ticket counter queues were never-ending and there was zero traffic management in and around the venue, Bhartiya City.
Amidst the clouds of dust, the usual drunk behaviour of youngsters was seen — girls pulling up ill-fitting clothes or throwing up and boys removing their tee shirts and jumping around. After the concert ended, the party did not stop — it only shifted to the parking lot, where loud music was played in cars and people were dancing while waiting for the traffic to clear up.
"I don't think the performance was ever going to be in question. As far as that's concerned, I was pleased to get my money's worth and it's good to see EDM get some much needed attention. But I was disappointed with the venue's location and the lack of sensitivity on the part of organisers when it came to distributing the wristbands. On arriving there after being stuck in traffic for three hours, I was told to stand in an extended queue to collect it," shares Kirsten, who attended the concert. "But once I was inside, it was all about
the music."
Hopelessly mismanaged!
'Swedish House Mafia' may have got the youth of Bangalore swaying to their popular number 'Don't You Worry Child' but at the venue, there was definitely a lot of things to worry about. Metrolife watched in amazement some of the gross happenings at the venue, Bhartiya City.
* A big concern was the traffic. The stretch from Thannisandra Road all the way up to Bhartiya City was chock-a-block. The traffic policemen were doing their best to manage the chaos but they turned a blind eye to people driving on the wrong side of the road, drinking openly while driving their cars and bikes. The event got over at 10.30 pm but due to mismanaged traffic, people were stranded on Thannisandra Main Road till 1 am.
* The organisers had asked people to bring a whole lot of documents to prove one's identity while collecting the tickets. But they didn't bother to give directions to exit and entry points. The place being huge, ticket holders were seen walking in wrong directions due to lack of maps and indicators pointing to the concert area. A small map at the back of the ticket would have made a huge difference to the traffic.
* Security check was an eyewash. While people were asked to leave their water bottles and perfume bottles outside the concert area, they could easily take in liquor bottles and cigarettes (which were 'carefully' hidden inside their jackets and shoes). People were seen doing drugs openly but nothing was done about it.
* Hospitality was zero. There was chaos at the counters. The food and liquor were expensive and so was water. A small paper cup of water was priced at Rs 15.
* Safety was another major concern. Yes, there was an ambulance at the bay, but only the main road leading to the venue was well lit. There were many bylanes where people had parked but there were no streetlights there. The phone lines were jammed and it was impossible to make a call in case of an emergency.
* Most of the young women who had come there were in high spirits even before the concert started. Scantily clad, with their boyfriends in tow, who could hardly handle themselves (being high on drinks and drugs), let alone a girl! Their drunken antics at the venue were sheer entertainment for the labourers working there.