Swedish DJ duo, Olle Cornéer and Stefan Engblom, known as Dada Life, took Royale Boston by storm on June 12th, 2015. Following their Boat Cruise, Boston EDM & Sofa King Fridays really set it off, blessing Boston with two Dada Life performances in one night.
The sold out show was set up for success. Upon arriving to the event you would instantly notice three things. The first was a long line; second, you would aptly notice banana costumes, and lastly lots of smiles. All of which, were ready to pledge allegiance to Dada Life’s “Dada Land.”
”I will fill the world with happy violence, but most of all I will always kick out the epic motherfucker”
After waiting almost an hour in line, we were finally faced with the crowd of people packed in Royale. We slowly crawled our way through the crowd of people by the bar, and past the dancers sporting neon lingerie. People were ready to “Do the Dada” in the traditional Dada Life banana costumes, and girls in their EDM “festival-but-club” attire. Tons of people were sporting the Dada Life “One Smile”- masks handed out at the ticket booth, and were happy to have left their home and finally entered “The Nation of the Dada”
“This is Dada Land. Get ready to arrive beautiful and leave ugly. There are no rules but the rules of Dada. Don’t look back in the past. Always go forward. And whatever you do: don’t trust us”
The show aptly started with lights dimming and their epic introduction…
“Welcome to Dada Land. There are no rules but the rules of Dada. If you don’t think you can follow them, this is your last chance to change your mind. You are beautiful right now, but very soon it is time to get ugly.”
The crowd was ready to go bananas. They were ready for a celebration of all things positive, a.k.a happy violence. A massive “DADA LIFE” inflatable stage piece bunches of bananas lie in front of their decks. Mind-blowing, trippy, animated graphics projected behind them, with big, bold font encouraging the crowd to sing along.
“The International Dada Land Treaty Council recognizes the sovereignty of all Dada Land peoples and will stand in unity to support our national and international bananas and sisters in their respective and collective struggles concerning international treaties and agreements with other governments. We will continue to assert our human right to Arrive Beautiful and Leave Ugly.”
Dada life never play around, and they intended to make sure, we left ugly. Their high-energy set never let up. Launching large inflatable champagne bottles, and bananas into the audience to make sure “Tonight we’re kids again.” The Dada Life staple, reminding us where they derive there energy from; the lethal combination of bananas, and champagne. Dada continued to share it with the audience in their usual fashion; champagne showers. Yes, showers, plural.
This shit was bananas, and it never stopped. Dropping their remix to Gwen Stefani’s classic “Hollaback Girl” the crowd was ready to rage. The song displayed its familiar spelling of the big yellow fruit on the screen behind them, and the crowd chanting, the duo whipped out bunches of actual bananas. They passed them out, and with a banana raised high above their heads, (and audience members holding peeled bananas in the air) the song dropped, and it was raining bananas. I had never seen anything like it.
Finally the moment people look forward to the most, the epic pillow fight. During the middle of a breakdown, the duo stood atop the DJ stand and tossed tons of pillows in the audience. They instructed the crowd to wait to start the madness of the pillow fight until the drop of their famous “Happy Violence” track. Instantly pillows were shredded and thrown throughout Royale. Pieces of pillow were everywhere, in drinks, in my mouth, but who cares? You can’t go to a Dada Life concert without expecting some bizarre fun & feeling “So Young So High” never wanting to come down.
So swear allegiance to the banana and champagne kings and next time they come to Boston, make sure not to miss the madness. This is a night that will not be forgotten, Boston EDM & Sofa King Fridays continue to out do themselves. Don’t miss their next event Friday June 19th with BlasterJaxx.
— Zach Kelly
June 12th, 2015