MUMBAI: David Guetta perhaps had no idea of his fan base in India before he took to the stage here. The Grammy Award-winning French disc jockey was in for a pleasant surprise when he got to spin music to a packed audience of over 6,000 people, cheering and dancing to his power-packed tunes.
"When I left for India, I didn’t know what to expect. Whether to expect a crowd of 600 or 6,000. It’s so wonderful to see that it’s a crowd of 6,000 plus," Guetta said in the midst of his show Friday night.
The DJ and house music producer put up a successful gig at the HUDA Grounds – the first ever since the cancelled concert of the gods of rock, Metallica, which was to take place in October last year.
Nevertheless, people came in hoards, all decked up to attend the show, which was held as part of the second edition of the Eristoff Invasion tour. "I thank you for coming down to my very first show in the country. I hope my friends are filming this because I want to remember this as one of my best memories this year. I want to remember Delhi forever, you are beautiful," said Guetta, followed by a loud applause.
The opening acts for the concert were done by two DJs — Dualist Inquiry and Nucleya, who set the mood for Guetta’s tracks. The audience had already started warming up, when Guetta took to the stage around 8.15 p.m., and surprised everyone by playing for over an hour. He played his chart-topping hits like "When love takes over", "Gettin over you", "Without you", "Sweat", "Where them girls at" and "Sexy bitch", before reaching a crescendo with "I got a feeling". Guetta also made his show a bit interactive. He reduced the volume of his tunes off and on in between the concert to check if the audience really knew his numbers. But as the audience sang in unison, the musician was sure that he was playing to people who loved his music. "I never knew people in India knew my music so well," said Guetta with a huge smile. It was an experience "totally worth every penny," said a fan at the gig.
The tickets for the general category was Rs.2,000 and for the VIP tickets was Rs.5,750. The crowd was an eclectic mix – the young, the old, the bhangra enthusiasts and the club-goers – but everyone moved and grooved to the music, which Guetta played from an elevated stage. He was given a grand ‘festival set’ akin to those he uses for his international gigs. The event is said to have had one of the biggest LED set-ups in India for a live concert so far. Guetta’s festival set also had an LED console and over 200 Intelligent lights as part of the stage decor. The graphics used for the backdrop were mesmerising to say the least. "I have only seen such graphics online! To see them live with David Guetta playing is such a delight," said a fan. Guetta is now set to enthrall fans in Pune, today – Saturday and in Bangalore on Sunday at the Eristoff Invasion 2012.
