Humanity Hallows Issue 5 Out Now
Pick up your copy on campus or read online
By Hannah Louise Phillips
The DJ duo The Chainsmokers, made up of Alex Pall and Andrew Taggart, are touring their long awaited debut album. Three of the songs from the album have dominated the charts for weeks on end.
After they achieved a breakthrough in 2014 with their self-proclaimed ‘joke’ single ‘#Selfie’, most of us probably believed that The Chainsmokers would produce nothing other than a one hit wonder. Three big hits and a No.1 single later, however, the dynamic duo are well on their way to becoming one of the biggest American electronic dance groups known, taking the music industry by storm.
The Digital Farm Animals kicked off the night, playing typical house remixes and building up the crowd in preparation for the stars of the show.
Then The Chainsmokers introduced themselves and began their performance with hit ‘Inside Out’, the word ‘friendzoned’ flashing on the screen above. The lighting was simple but effective; strobe lights, smoke machines and confetti exploded around us repeatedly while frontman and lead singer Alex made dramatic leaps from the DJ table. However, although the crowd ate it up the first couple of times, after the 6th or 7th time, the act did become slightly monotonous. Alex sang for just a few minutes while, for the majority of the concert, he relied on background tracks, although he didn’t attempt to make this obvious to the audience.
The duo went on to play a number of their well-known songs as well as remixes of classics such as ‘Rock and Roll all Nite’ by Kiss and ‘Mr Brightside’ by The Killers. They then showcased an arrangement of some Red Hot Chilli Peppers hits. The pace of the performance didn’t change and there was no variation in energy throughout the two-hour performance. Considering the show was less than two hours long, it still managed to become quite repetitive. A cycle of build-ups, bass drops, pop songs, and repeat, alongside table leaps and explosions of steam over and over. However, luckily for them, the crowd didn’t seem to tire.
The majority of the crowd were young but Drew didn’t refrain from telling them that they “go harder than anywhere else in the country” and to “put your middle finger in the air” as the hit ‘Closer’ bellowed around us. However, much to the dismay of the crowd, the song was cut short after the first chorus.
The pair also took a moment to personally interact with the crowd, recalling the previous night’s performance at the Brits and the journey through Storm Doris they had endured to make it to Manchester.
Following the criticism of their MTV performance, I didn’t have high hopes for this concert but The Chainsmokers took influence from other EDM artists such as David Guetta and Calvin Harris and produced a show that suited the whole audience.
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