How Delhi glitched, tripped and flipped over 'Pretty Lights'

On a rather conspicuous Thursday evening in south Delhi's party citadel, it was business as usual. Pubs were bustling with loud music, alcohol was flowing like water and the traffic was an insufferable prick.

Summer House Cafe, a popular watering hole, was particularly happening. It usually is on Thursdays as it hosts a "ladies night" on the day. It usually is the one place that manages to avoid the traffic mess of Hauz Khas Village, as it sits on the cusp of the road that leads to the main village.

This time around, it could be argued that the place wasn't packed like sardines. On the face of it, some would say, this is strange considering the ladies night, but it was raining and the venue was host to a concept known as "The Big House Party".

Essentially, the DJ was going to play a custom playlist created out of requests sent on a Facebook group, so you weren't in for the usual shenanigans. But still the scene was booming and enjoyable as usual.

Alcohol too was cheaper that day as the pub was offering unlimited beer and vodka, in addition to the ladies night. So you can imagine - both the men and women were getting smashed alike.

Unfortunately, in typical village fashion, the cops played spoilt sport quite early in the party. A neighbour had complained multiple times so they barged in and took the DJ setup and his personal controller. As the crowd dissipated, things settled down and the party was back on, albeit in a mellow avatar.

You could argue that the cops and the incessant rain had killed the vibe of the scene, but there was something shrouding the entire party. The next day, a well known international musician (DJ) was going to be performing in the neighbourhood and the entire village scene, which thrives on a heavy dose of dub step, electronic and dance music, was basically preparing for the "big gig" the next day.

People were heard asking each other, "Are you going to iKandy tomorrow?" Some others said, "Yaar passes ka koi jugaad hai?"

The irony of the situation was quite hilarious as there was this one tall American in the crowd who the girls were thronging towards. The tall fellow was chilling like any other foreigner in the village, smoking like a chimney. One girl asked him, "So what do you do?" and he said, "I make music for a living". To this she said, "Oh, how cool!" Little did she know he was Derek Vincent Smith, popularly known as "Pretty Lights", the very same guy whose gig she had bought passes for.

Eventually, someone recognised him and a sea of crowd was hounding him for selfies, which he curtly agreed to be part of. He even had a few rounds with the patrons and taught them his signature move for the crowd.

Nonchalantly, he was in the same cavalier mood the next day while performing, shouting, "Delhi I want you to stomp." It pretty much summarised the scene at his first gig in India.

iKandy, the pool side night club in Gurgaon's plush Le Meridien hotel looked more like a venue worthy for a rock concert. The organisers had set up a massive stage that just added to the rock concert-like vibe of Smith's set.

True to his unique brand of glitch hop, electronic/psychedelic and funk music, the DJ fused various genres seamlessly and had the crowd in splits. His antics on the stage added to the energy of the crowd or, perhaps was, the main reason behind the ravenous response.

It could be said that at least half of the crowd had no clue what was being played, but they had to be there in typical "Dilliwala" style because it was the biggest gig in town. That changed when he played his smash hit "Finally Moving" to close his set. The crowd was in raptures.

However, there is no denying that he played a solid set. Fans who had seen him before claimed that he was off his game. Perhaps that was true, because if you'd compare the set to some of his famed videos on YouTube, then there was a visible difference in the energy.

Adding to the problems, many complained the sound was not right. As is the case in most gigs in Delhi, a big compromise is made on the sound, and "Pretty Lights" was no different.

For a live DJ set, the gig was over pretty quickly, by 10:30pm, but that was with good reason as there was this massive outdoors set up for the event. As rules would have it, the gig went on well beyond the legal limit, but that was okay as nobody was complaining this time around.

As his set drew to a close, the DJ announced an after-party for those who wished to linger on, which would happen indoors, inside the nightclub. However, by that time, Delhi, and more importantly India, had glitched, tripped and flipped on "Pretty Lights" for the first time. Albeit a muted affair, it was better than anything else going on in the city by the order of magnitude.