In what may have been a typical case of βtoo much too soonβ, Deadmau5βs debut India Tour which kicked-off in Mumbai, was received with mixed reviews by the audience. There were the ardent fans, the Sherp included, who couldn’t get enough of the Mau5headed master-craftsman, grooving to track after track constantly wanting more. On the other hand there were the usual βEDMβ fans who seemed disappointed with Joelβs set and wanted R3hab (who played quite a banger of an opening set himself) back on stage so that they could do some real intense βragingβ to one of his many βmainstreamishβ tracks.
Truth of the matter is majority of the Indian dance music audience is and wont be ready for Deadmau5βs unique genre of music any time soon and this gig proved just that. His performances require a certain level of musical maturity to be fully absorbed and appreciated and sadly most of the 8000 plus people who were at the Mahalaxmi Racecourse that day were not.
But thankfully having been in the scene for over two years, The Sherp has attained an almost God like musical maturity, okay that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but surely more than enough to accurately decipher the Mau5βs super performance and write a review that is truly deserving of this most epic event, so here goesβ¦
After an energy filled opening set from Dutch DJ R3hab, Joel Zimmerman a.k.a. Deadmau5 (pronounced βdead mouseβ and not dead-mau-five) took off into a brilliant 2 hour set that was loaded with some of his famous oldies including βStrobeβ, βGhosts and Stuffβ, Β His remix of Morgan Page’s βThe Longest Roadβ amongst others and a whole lot of new content (including some from his recent soundcloud track releasing spree) which really got the crowd (at least those who were in the mood for the Mau5) into an almost trance like coordinated dance routine. The hardcore βfansβ even hummed and sang along to almost every track that Joel was throwing at them without taking even a moment to relax. But the real highlight of the evening has to be the moment when he dropped his own remix (and a truly delicious one at that) of Daler Mehndiβs βTunak Tunak Tunβ track. The second Daler’s voice was heard, the crowd (Mau5fans and the others) went into a fit of madness having heard the Canadian play the track.
This review wouldn’t be complete without mentioning the amazing visuals that accompanied the great music. The hanging LED screens (or at least the ones that appeared like they were hanging) had some truly top quality images and animation that came on in perfect sync with the music and really helped take the Deadmau5 experience to the next level. Even though it wasn’t as βnext levelβ as the CUBE set-up that Joel has become so famous for, it has to be one of the best stage set-ups the Sherp has seen in India. Kudos to the team involved with putting it together.
On a closing note, we really hope Deadmau5 comes back real soon for another performance and brings the CUBE along with him. Hopefully by the time he returns, the Indian dance music audience would have evolved their musical tastes and we be ready to fully take-in and appreciate the Mau5βs signature sounds.