The Chainsmokers trade nostalgia for ‘Kansas City energy’ at a Fan Fest concert
Ten years ago, I was in the guest bedroom of my childhood home. My sister and I shared a room, and I didn’t want her watching as I filmed Musical.ly videos for what I delusionally believed was a massive number of adoring followers.
The 2016 song “All We Know” by The Chainsmokers and Phoebe Ryan had recently come out, and while everyone was busy filming copy-cat lip-syncing videos of their bigger hit “Closer,” I thought I could stand out with a stab at creative phone-maneuvering choreography to a more “underground” song.
For those that weren’t on Musical.ly, the app that became TikTok, lip-syncing videos were their own form of art — and I had mastered it.
Of course, that song is not underground. In fact, I just heard it in concert at FIFA Fan Fest on Sunday night — EDM-pop duo The Chainsmokers took the stage and played as the sun went down over a Kansas City packed with nsoccer fans. But I do have to say that far fewer people knew the words to “All We Know” than “Closer,” and I made sure to sing every single syllable to flaunt my “underground” music taste.
The concert was about as far from underground as you can get — thousands of people filled the lawn in front of the National World War I Museum & Memorial, overflowing at the edges in a sea of one of the most diverse concert crowds I’ve ever witnessed. And from the lack of soccer jerseys, it was clear that the masses were there for The Chainsmokers.
“I do think that (The Chainsmokers are) a generational thing,” said Derek McDonald, who listened to the band in middle schoo. “Whether it be a baby dancing or your grandma, it’s something that everyone can listen to, and everyone can acknowledge and enjoy. It’s not just rap, it’s not just country, it’s just music for people of every genre, every race.”
The teasing back and forth between the band and the crowd made for an electric show that prompted one half of the band, Andrew Taggart, to say they should be playing in Kansas City every weekend.
I was happy to see that last week’s postponement of the concert to this weekend didn’t deter crowds — though some said they almost lost tickets.
“I did last-minute realize that I had to re-sign up after they cancelled the first Chainsmokers show,” said Audi Walbridge, an EDM veteran from Shawnee. “I went to open (the tickets) and they (said) expired.” She said, though, that registering again was painless.
And like Taggart said — “We’ve been waiting seven days for this … better late than never.”
The band attracted everyone from festival-dressed ravers to young families, international World Cup Travelers to 30-somethings that remember dancing to their music in college bars during the band’s peak. Some people had seen them before, but many hadn’t — not passing up the opportunity for a free high-profile concert.
“I think they just really suit the vibe of the World Cup,” Jeremy Ronquillo said before the show. He was in town from Toronto with his sister and girlfriend to support his home country of Ecuador. “As you can see, there’s a lot of unity and everything, but just the World Cup itself — bringing everyone together. I think their music is going to bring everyone together (and) raise everyone’s spirits.”
If you listened to the radio anytime from 2015 to 2018, you know the Chainsmokers. Hits like “Don’t Let Me Down” in 2016 and “Roses” in 2015 drew some of the crowd with pure nostalgia. Alex Pall and Taggart are DJs and producers, having partnered with various artists like Halsey and Coldplay over the years.
The two took stage in sleek black-and gray streetwear at 7:15 with a remixed intro of one of their biggest hits, “Something Just Like This” followed up with a newer 2025 song called “White Wine & Adderall.” In the true nature of the band’s blended pop and EDM, the show fluctuated back and forth from singing performance to DJ-ing house music.
The selection of samples catered to the massive diversity of attendees — 2000s anthem “Milkshake” by Kelis, alternative hit “Can’t Stop” by Red Hot Chili Peppers and up-and-coming “back to friends” by sombr were just a few. People from age 5 to 65 could have had at least one moment during the show where they knew the words to a song.
“No Broke Boys” by Disco Lines and Tinashe transitioned from “Don’t Let Me Down,” and it seemed to be the ignition that the crowd didn’t need but got. Just about every hand was up and bopping to the beat, establishing a tone I can only compare to a college house party that would ebb and flow with each crossfade.
Juxtapose that with the immediate next song, “Cheerleader,” by OMI, followed by “Roses” and a brief remix of 50 Cent and Kesha. Hence, another tone of nostalgia that the duo was sure to tug on throughout the concert.
Taggart made his way down-stage with the microphone to make one of many Kansas City callouts, saying “I love Kansas City, but we were staying in Paris” — a smooth transition into what I would say was the loudest singing for any original song all night.
The two weren’t shy onstage. Taggart could often be seen talking to people in the crowd off-mic when not singing. Alex manned the rig all night as the band’s primary DJ and instrumentalist, but was sure to command the crowd every few minutes.
He yelled “jump!” and they jumped. He announced “3, 2, 1,” and they jumped. He shouted “somebody scream,” and everyone screamed.
It’s no wonder that Taggart admiringly asked, “are you like this all the time?” to the Kansas City masses, saying “I had no idea this was gonna be this.”
The show’s momentum never ended, just shifted, with a lack of pauses besides a brief intro and one toward the end. Taggart called out who he deemed “dad of the year,” who made it to the front barricade of the premium lawn with his young daughter. Breaking the fourth wall, he called out that the dad probably thought that the show would be “safe” because he heard them on the car radio.
The back and forth with the crowd came to a climax at the end of this pause in a call and return to get the audience’s attention. Once all eyes were on him, the moment that the crowd was waiting for arrived — almost.
The first lines of “Closer” rang through Fan Fest’s towering speakers, only to be coyly cut off by Pall and his house music. Like the song was trying to break free, blips of its instrumentals cut the EDM until Pall gave in. Phones flew up to film.
Though Halsey didn’t make an appearance, the crowd easily filled her shoes. The music dropped out for the crowd’s voice to carry on alone, the volume yet another reminder of the vast crowd made partially possible by an outdoor venue.
Ronquillo’s girlfriend, Michelle Castillo, had seen The Chainsmokers once before, and was excited for what an open-air concert could offer.
“I always prefer outdoor venues, especially when (the performers) are DJs,” Castillo said. “I just think there’s more space, there’s more atmosphere, and it’s more freeing to be outside.”
After calling the crowd “unserious” just 30 minutes prior, the duo showed us just how unserious they can be, asking just how 2016 we can get. What followed was a shocking transition from “Turn Down for What” by DJ Snake and Lil Jon to “Dancing Queen” by ABBA.
Knowing they pulled something devious, Taggart asked Pall to reign it in. Instead, my full circle, decade in the making moment, was ushered in by hitting the Dougie. “All We Know” seamlessly faded in from “Teach Me How to Dougie” by Cali Swag District, and my inner 11-year-old shined.
As if they knew I was in-house, in the most shocking turn of events, “Iris” by the Goo Goo Dolls came over the speakers. My parents can advocate that I grew up on the Goo Goo Dolls, dancing to their 2004 Live in Buffalo DVD in our sunken living room. But I was not expecting to sing them, along with thousands of others, at a Chainsmokers concert.
Strangely, but unsurprisingly, the crowd was loudest when chanting the “Iris” chorus. It was almost reminiscent of that Live in Buffalo crowd’s rendition.
Returning where they began, The Chainsmokers went out playing “Something Just Like This” all the way through. Taggart asked the crowd to get low, and we did.
The crowd jumped back up, foreshadowing a bigger explosion as the song built in speed to reach a climax of fireworks erupting just behind the towering World War 1 Memorial in the scene behind one of the World Cup’s biggest stages.
