It’s clear that Indian audiences are looking beyond Bollywood. And it’s not just a motley gathering of black-tee-shirted college youths headbanging to a upcoming band in a dingy little club in the suburbs that shows this. It’s happening across the internet, where bands are providing music for free and racking up fan counts, across mainstream media, in the form of shows like Coke Studio and The Dewarists, and importantly, at music fests.
Music fests are risky affairs. What if no one shows up? What if there’s a technical glitch? What if the bands get drunk and create havoc (among other things that could incite cops who want nothing more than pulling the power plug at 10 PM?)? Where do we get the money for putting up the stage et al? What if the crowd revolts (Metallica Gurgaon!)?
Despite these challenges, many Indian organizers have put together memorable fests and built brands around them. Here’s a look at some of India’s most important music fests.
1) THE NH7 WEEKENDER, PUNE
NH7 – along with partners Only Much Louder, Babelfish Productions and Indiecision – have for long been the flagbearers of the country’s ‘Indie’ scene with reviews, downloads, streaming music and commentary. Hosting a fest consisting of rock, fusion and electronica was only a natural extension. Two years young, the fest has been a tremendous success, with close to 50 bands (talk about value at INR 750-2000!) playing over 3 days at multiple stages in Pune. Many musicians and seasoned fans say it is on-par with international festivals. The increase of scale in terms of area and attendance in just one year is ominous – surely NH7 2012 will be even more massive, or as the website prefers, #kvlt.
2) SUNBURN FESTIVAL, CANDOLIM
Electronica is on a rise in a country increasingly comfortable with clubbing and partying. It is no surprise, then, that the biggest three-day party area of the country – Goa – hosts the genre’s biggest fest, during the most festive week (the last one!) of the year.
A property of Percept media in partnership with VJ Nikhil Chinappa, it started off in 2007 and has gone from 36 to 90 artists, while attendance grew from 10000 to 60000! Importantly, a sizeable chunk of visitors are non-Goans and international, showing the event’s reach and popularity. The tickets ain’t cheap, but we expect there are enough fans of legends like Paul van Dyk and Armin van Buuren willing to shell out 3000 a night.
3) SULAFEST, NASHIK
Easily among the classier of India’s music fests – with its immaculately manicured lawns, foot spas, Bournville lounges, grape stomping (its classier than it sounds, apparently) wine tasting… Oh, and music, too. Hosted in the Sula Vineyards in Nashik, the 4-year old February event draws a sizeable crowd from the Pune-Nashik belt. Medival Punditz and Pentagram headlined in 2011 to a crowd of around 2000. While the numbers are low, the founders would want to keep it that way. It is, after all, an ‘elite’ fest of sorts.
4) INDEPENDENCE ROCK, MUMBAI
Without a doubt, India’s most important rock festival. Apart from the fact that all the greats (Parikrama, Indus Creed, Zero among others) built reputations here, there’s also the legacy and stories. 26 years ago, St. Xavier’s student, Farhad Wadia, was banned from playing rock music at the college’s Malhar fest because it was called ‘Devil’s Music’. An enterprising young man offered them the Rang Bhavan right next door but jettisoned on the big day. Wadia and co decided to charge 15 bucks entry and see what came of things. The result? 4000 people showed up. 26 years later, IRock is going strong, innovating (rock talent hunts, broadcasting live gigs simultaneously across 5 cities, etc) and is a flagbearer of the scene. True, a certain amount of cheesiness might have crept in, the event being postponed every year has become a running joke, and importantly, the iconic Rang Bhavan has been banned from playing live music (something which Wadia spent 8 lakhs of his own money trying to reverse). But that doesn’t keep the Indie faithful from coming back every year to a fest where AR Rahman once slept onstage before the show (the rest of the crew ditched him) as the keyboardist of Down Sterling.
5) MADRAS MUSIC SEASON, CHENNAI
From the moshpits of I-Rock, we go to the other end of the spectrum. The Madras Music Season is a Carnatic music fest that’s been around since, wait for it, 1927. Carnatic aficionados are known not to rush things, and it’s obvious – the event spans five weeks, and there are well over a 1000 performances (vocal, instrumental and recently, dance and drama) by over 500 artists over a number of halls in Sabhas across the city. A truly spectacular event which shows that the traditional arts are alive and kicking.
6) ROCK IN INDIA (MULTIPLE CITIES)
An attempt by DNA Networks to bring down big international acts to the country, the good initial efforts – getting legends Machine Head, Megadeth (2008) and Iron Maiden (2009) – was undone by their bizarre decision to get the Backstreet Boys and Richard Marx in 2010. It would have taken no one less than Metallica to satiate rock fans, which DNA did in 2011. But thanks to some issue or the other (not making tickets available outside Bangalore in 2009, the absolute fiasco in Gurgaon 2011), DNA has a pretty bad reputation in the scene. Still, fans hope they don’t screw things up and wait with bated breath for their next announcement.
There are plenty of other fests which we couldn’t fit in here. College fests like Strawberry Fields (NASLAR, Bangalore) have become a haven for upcoming bands. The IITs have been responsible for churning out great engineers, but also for bringing bands like Porcupine Tree, Skid Row, Karnivool and giants Opeth to our shores. The north-east, a hub of rock music, has the Hornbill and Bihu festivals. Jazz lovers look forward to Mumbai’s Jazz Utsav and Kolkata’s Congo Square Fest, while Mahindra has got down blues legend Buddy Guy for their Blues Fest in Mumbai. Rajasthan is home to the annual folk music fest, RIFF at the gorgeous Mehrangarh Fort, while neighbor Jodhpur serves up a band or two during the famous annual LitFest. Recently, the Fireflies fest in Bangalore has achieved a cult status, while the Eristoff Invasion fest played host to legends Prodigy.
Well, there’s no shortage of non-Bollywood music here, as you can see. I recommend you visit sites such as nh7.in or indianrockmp3.com to see what the alternative fare is. If you need a few reccos, refer a previous edition of TYX where our cover story on rock music spoke about Indian bands. \m/