The Chainsmokers
24th October 2017
Spark Arena, Auckland, New Zealand.
Review by Sarah Kidd. Photography by David Watson.
They have been referred to as the Nickelback of the EDM world thanks to that infamous Billboard interview and a rather dubious performance at the VMA’s last year. However that was not going to stop a rather eclectic crowd from turning up on force last night to see The Chainsmokers finish off this leg of their tour here in Auckland, New Zealand. It is the first time that The Chainsmokers, an EDM duo hailing from New York, have touched down in New Zealand so it was rather nice that they decided to save us til last. There had been many promises of how this live show in support of their debut album Memories …Do Not Open released in April of this year would blow everyone away with its outstanding effects, so crowd anticipation was certainly high.
The audience was predominantly aged between 18-25yrs and dressed in their best weekend clubbing gear despite the fact that it was a Tuesday night; however there were also many older couples and quite a few Mums and Dads who were playing chaperone for the evening to those a little younger. The great thing about Spark Arena being that there is the seated option for the older/younger members who do not want to brave the boisterous general admission section.
Following a rather lengthy (but enjoyable) set from Australian DJ L D R U who finished off with some Kiwi flavour in the form of Scribe’s ‘Not Many’ which had the crowd singing that infamous chorus with gusto; the arena remained in darkness bathed in blue light while the stage was hurriedly prepared.
Bursting into life in a shower of CO² cannons, big screen visuals of dancing cereal bowls and a giant dancing yellow cartoon man lit up the faces of the fans. Standing in the middle of what had to be one the largest DJ booths in the world, the ‘frat boy’ duo of Andrew Taggert and Alex Pall could be seen waving their arms and working away on their endless supply of DJ equipment. Having only really been on the scene since their break through hit ‘#Selfie’ in 2014 – which made a brief appearance near the beginning of the set, Taggert encouraging everyone to raise a middle finger and scream “shut the fuck up” – The Chainsmokers have become the band that everyone involved in the EDM world either loves to hate or hates to admit they love. Yet despite this they have already collated several awards including a Grammy for their 2016 hit ‘Don’t Let Me Down’, snippets of which kicked off the whole set tonight.
Despite some of their dubious comments in the media about how much they like to party and collective penis size (yes they went there) The Chainsmokers remain popular across the world, often selling out their shows and playing just about every festival circuit currently going. And the fans certainly love them tonight, and frankly it would be hard not to as within the first 20mins of the show the duo drop some of the best trap that Spark Arena has ever had the pleasure of hearing. Combined with the big screen visuals, pyrotechnics and other assorted effects this slick production has everyone enthralled. Flexing their DJ muscle, The Chainsmokers throw in samples from Tove Lo ‘Habits (Stay High)’ through to some wicked grime in the form of RL Grimes ‘Core’, the more hardcore crowd down the front going completely nuts as the bass washed through them and that snake like sound effect wound its way through the speakers.
With the appearance of a live drummer (Australian Matt McGuire) on a rising platform that came up and out from behind the giant DJ Booth the crowd again went mad – Taggert at this point jumping up and down on top of the booth and screaming (rather hoarsely – must be that end of tour vocal cord stress) for everyone to “jump the fuck up”. And this is one of the key components of the show, the absolutely astounding energy that both Taggert and Pall have. They rarely stay in one place for long, Pall especially running back and forth across the stage for most of the night, stopping only to deliver one of their more radio-friendly pop tunes in full.
However this is also where the show becomes a little disjointed. When The Chainsmokers are doing the DJ thing, the place is pumping – the music is well put together, samples are cleverly inserted in all the right places and the mix is damn near perfect. But then it kinda awkwardly trips itself up as the visuals change from acid tripping little animated men doing cool squiggly dances to more reserved visuals of a bedroom as Pall sits on the edge of the booth and sings forlornly. Coupled with the fact that it seems like many of their hit pop songs such as ‘Closer’, ‘Roses’ and ‘Paris’ all tend to sound the same and the production just seemed to lose its momentum.
For the last night of the tour though the duo were certainly determined to have some fun, dropping everything from the Lion King intro where Taggert delighted in yelling “Welcome to the jungle bitch” a few times, through to Pall singing parts of ‘All Star’ from Smash Mouth and ‘Everybody’ by Backstreet Boys. Hell there was even a bit of Mc Hammer in there. Playing up to the crowd and even delivering a bit of comedy, Taggert taunted Matt the drummer by critiquing his flaming drumstick drum solo (yes his drumsticks were on fire and yes it was impressive!) awarding him a giant scorecard of only 4 and then roasting marshmallows in the onstage pyro flame to prove he could put fire to a better use. Even a cliché game of what side of the room can yell louder featured – but the fans certainly didn’t appear to complain.
For any patron expecting a run of the mill pop show there were certainly some pleasant surprises and for sheer production value (the ‘Thank You Auckland’ in lights across the big screen coupled with streamers, CO² cannons and confetti following the encore of ‘Last Day Alive’ a particularly nice touch) vs cost of ticket the show was outstanding. They may not be the darlings of the EDM world – but credit where credit’s due.
Were you there at Spark Arena for this sound and light extravaganza? Or have you seen The Chainsmokers perform live somewhere else before? Tell us about it in the comments below!
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