The highly anticipated Electronic Dance Music (EDM) heavyweight Swedish House Mafia’s (SHM) swan ‘One Last tour’ show in Mumbai cut short in the eleventh- hour by the death of Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray on 17 November last year.
The artists- house DJs and producers- Axwell, Steve Angello and Sebastian Ingrosso- went home leaving thousands of fans disappointed and organizer Percept’s Sunburn in the lurch.
However, a concert to satiate fans for the last time was arranged again this year. The trio performed for fans at Bangalore on 21 January and Mumbai on the 22 January. The concert in Mumbai was a resounding success with thousands of fans flocking to the Mahalaxmi Race Course and causing unprecedented traffic snarl at peak hour.
Radioandmusic.com caught up with Percept Limited joint managing director Shailendra Singh for a quick tete-a-tete on how the show was re-arranged in less than two months.
Excerpts:-
How difficult was it to re-arrange the Swedish House Mafia (SHM) after last-minute cancellation last year? Are there any financial safeguards when shows are cancelled at the last minute?
It was tough to reorganize the dates and convince SHM to come back to India, but SHM and its management went out of their way to accommodate our request. How could the SHM One Last tour end its India leg without Mumbai?
Was the DJs game for this time around?
Yes, the DJ’s are fantastic people and they were keen to come to Mumbai as we were to get them.
What were the reasons behind adding Bangalore as a venue?
Yes, Bangalore is a brilliant add on bonus.
Did fans expect the same level of preparation that was in place the last time around? Can you give us an idea about how much was invested for the two shows?
Yes, it was better than the last time. Mumbai showed the world why it is called the ‘Party Capital of India’. 70 per cent of Sunburn sponsor(s) have been part of every Sunburn event since the last three years.
Can fans expect more EDM acts in 2013?
India has the youngest population in the world. Electronic Dance Music has the language of energy- the youth responds too. In Percept’s opinion, this is just the beginning, Percept and Sunburn will ensure 2013 will be a historic year for India in Dance music.