New Delhi: Chaos descended upon Karan Aujla’s Delhi concert on 28 February with several videos showing fights, crowd mismanagement, and vandalism at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in a repeat of his 2024 ‘It Was All A Dream’ tour in Gurugram. With people snatching tickets from a booth to physical altercations — mayhem was the keyword of Aujla’s debut concert of the ‘P-POP CULTURE’ India tour.
Things escalated even before fans could enter the venue, where more than 70,000 fans had turned up to watch Aujla perform.
From tickets being stolen from entry gate booths, crowd control to fistfights, the concert turned out to be a sour experience for many patrons, who paid premium prices.
One Instagram user shared that a ticket booth near gate number 17 was looted and bands were stolen, leaving those with online tickets stranded and unable to enter. The user added that the bands were resold outside the venue.
Purvi Kaushik, a software engineer from Gurgaon, told ThePrint that she decided to leave the moment she saw two men starting to yell in the VIP section.
“I am a huge Aujla fan, and I attended the 2024 concert, too. But this is Delhi, so this year I carried my pepper spray just in case, and my girlfriends left the moment we saw those two guys,” Kaushik recalled.
Another Instagram user, Deepika Vig, also shared a video saying, “The worst experience I have had during a concert. This is the most expensive ticket I have ever bought.”
Vig posted about the stolen wristband worth Rs 6,000, leaving her stranded outside the stadium.
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How chaos erupted
The altercations were not restricted to one area of the venue but spread from the general admission to the lounges.
Concert-goer Ansh Ronjia shared a video on Instagram showing two fans in a physical altercation before security steps in; while in the background, others continue to enjoy the event.
People also decided to opt for humour even as fistfights were taking over the concert experience.
A page named Delhi talks shared a clip where a man continues dancing while two others have a fistcuff in the background.
An Instagram account called Delhi shared a clip of a man dancing as two others engage in fisticuffs behind him.
“Honestly, why is anyone even surprised. I drove down to Delhi from Jaipur and decided to make a weekend out of it with my friends in the city. I saw the chaos outside the gate, but now the concert experience comes with this in Delhi,” said Ashim Srivastav, a chartered accountant.
While videos from the event have been circulating online, no official complaint has been filed with the police. The organisers, too, are yet to release a statement. District by Zomato has also not commented on the ticketing fiasco.
Similar instances occurred in 2024, when drunk men created a ruckus in the Gurugram leg of his tour.
Three inebriated doctors tried entering the concert venue through the exit gates and created a ruckus when stopped by the police, leading to a physical altercation.
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The concert
DJ Chetas started the night as the opening act before Aujla made his dramatic entry via a pop-up lift. The ‘Tauba Tauba’ singer later used a zip-line to traverse the stadium, bringing a 360-degree immersive experience to fans in every section of the arena.
The production featured a towering 50-foot main stage, an extended C-Stage, IMAX-style LED visuals, along with synchronised drones, fire props, giant sunflowers, flags, and flares.
Aujla’s setlist was a journey through his most beloved tracks and fan favourites, including ‘MF Gabhru’, ‘Boli’, ‘52 Bars’, ‘Take It Easy’, ‘I Really Do’, ‘P-POP CULTURE’, ‘Winning Speech’, ‘Softly’, and ‘Jee Ni Lagda’.
Tickets for the event were available exclusively on District, with prices ranging from Rs 999 to Rs 11,00,000, ranging from general admission, VIP, VVIP tables, Fanpit, and special lounge experience.
Aujla is set to perform in Pune and Mumbai on 3rd March. The India leg of the P-POP CULTURE tour will continue with 11 more shows across major cities, including Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Indore, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Jaipur, Lucknow and Ludhiana.
(Edited by Insha Jalil Waziri)