Lighting up the night
The Chainsmokers rock Rishon Lezion’s Live Park
Rishon Lezion Live Park doubled as a club Thursday night (August 3) as DJ duo The Chainsmokers lit up the park with a electrifying, ground-shaking dance party that lasted into the morning.
“We’ve wanted to come to Israel for so freaking long,” one of the DJs said.
The concert, part of the Chainsmokers’ Memories... Do Not Open tour, marks the pop EDM (electronic dance music) duo’s debut in Israel. It features tracks from their own albums as well as covers of songs by other artists.
Taking the stage at a respectable 11:45 p.m., DJs Alex Pall and Drew Taggart opened with a remix of their smash hit “Don’t Let Me Down.” The crowd waved their red and blue glow sticks to a friendly “what’s up, Israel” and screamed as bursts of streamers and smoke shot into the air.
The crowd was already plenty rowdy before the Chainsmokers got onstage. Perhaps it was the late hour or the energy of the opening act, Israeli pop singer Anita Bukstein and her dancing DJ. Regardless, the bouts of fist pumping, cheering and uncontrollable flailing from a select few which preceded the Chainsmokers’ exciting opening number turned into a full-blown dance party as they started DJing.
The excitement and frantic glow-stick waving only increased as the concert continued. The DJs danced along to the beat of their own music, prompting the concertgoers to do the same. Fist bumping, staggered knee bending and slow dancing could all be seen among the crowd.
The music was accompanied by colorful animation in the background, ranging from a snowflake to song lyrics to cartoons. The animation often appeared random and unrelated to the music, yet perhaps that is what made it so wildly beautiful. A devil urged the crowd to jump, while doughnuts asked the audience to make some noise. Other times, an animated cartoon scene would match the mood of the music, followed by abstract shapes once the few words in the songs gave way to a chorus of overlapping beats.
The performance also contained pyrotechnics with bursts of fire timed to the beat, as well as dozens of multicolored strobe lights.
With concertgoers pressed against each other in one mosh pit in front of the stage and another on the grass, the concert felt like a club. Drinks, extremely loud music, strobe lights and dancing all contributed to the wild sensation.
They brought a lot of flair and excitement to their first concert in the Holy Land, taking turns mixing beats and dancing on top of their DJ table. They performed a wide variety of songs, from unique mixes of The Lion King’s “Circle of Life” to Panic! At the Disco’s “I Write Sins Not Tragedies” to everything in between.
The DJs also performed the chart-toppers which made them famous, including “Roses,” “Something Just Like This” and “Paris.” Yet perhaps what shook the crowd (and ground) the most was “Closer,” the Chainsmokers’ first No. 1 hit on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart.
At the conclusion of the concert, the DJs told the crowd how much they loved being in Israel and performing for such a fun audience. They said that they are now looking forward to their next trip to the Holy Land.