90 mins of Bieber magic after heat & poor facilities

“TONIGHT’S TURNING out to be one of the best nights of my life,” Justin Bieber told fans who had packed the DY Patil Stadium on Wednesday evening.

The young and hip population of neighbourhoods such as Bandra and Versova had thinned significantly as the city’s Beliebers made their way to Nerul to catch the 23-year-old Canadian popstar’s debut concert in India. By the time, the baby-faced hitmaker took the stage at 8 pm, approximately 50,000 fans were in attendance, having braved heat and humidity, tame opening acts and poor public facilities.

To mark his first-ever India visit, the Tricolour was waved on stage,anddressedinhissignature white T-shirt and black shorts, Bieber began his 90-minute set with Mark My Words from his 2015albumpurpose,whichisalso the name of his world tour.

Several fans were tearful in the beginning, overcome by emotion, but as Bieber performed his other hits like the upbeat Baby, the electro-influenced What Do You Mean, which elicited a thunderous roar from the audience, the energy at the stadium became more charged.

Bieberwentthroughafewcostume changes, but never veering away from his monochrome aesthetic. About 25 back-up dancers matched their steps to songs like Where Are You Now and No Sense.

Bollywood came out in full force. Alia Bhatt, Malaika Arora Khan, Sridevi and her daughters Jhanviandkhushi,arjunrampal, Bipasha Basu, Jacqueline Fernandez were spotted in the audience.

Bieber changed the mood when he performed Love Yourself. The stripped-down song harked back to the kind of performance that got him noticed on the streets of Stratford, Canada, nearly seven years ago.

But for those fans who had not purchased tickets from the diamond (Rs 25,200), platinum (Rs 15,400), gold (Rs 10,800) and silver (Rs 7,700) categories, the concert wasn’t much fun.

The audience in the general category (Rs 4,000) had several complaints. “There were no speakers around our seats. We could only hear the music from a distance. Also, the stage is a little low so we could not see the other artistes. There were only two screens, and when the opening acts like Alan Walker were performing they were playing videos and not showing him on the screen,” said Purnett Moirangthem, a sound editor.

Other complaints included lack of dustbins, unclean washrooms and expensive food.

While water was provided at the counters inside the stadium, not many fans were aware, and as the heat beat down on those who had entered the grounds at 2 pm, many were forced to purchase overpriced water bottles.

Back on the stage, Bieber invited four children to dance with him and just when fans thought the show had come to an end, he reappeared to perform his monster hit, Sorry. “It was a great honour performing in India. I will definitely come back,” he said.