So there you have it. I’m in India. Who would have thunk it? And now, after settling into my surroundings, it was time to get the music on, and head to the second day of the NH7 Weekender Festival in Pune. The sun had well and truly drifted into darkness as I entered the beautiful venue – a brand new park set around a lake which featured the artwork of the “Rock Ness Monster”, pictured below, as its centerpiece. Having travelled the dirty, busy streets of Mumbai and Pune, it was fairly surprising to be greeted to a festival site which would rank among one of the most impressive I’ve ever seen.
In my mind I was picturing a dusty field, but what I got was green grass, fountains and beautiful surrounds of both natural and architectural beauty. My timing of entering the site proved rather perfect as the first Australian act to perform at the festival, Melbourne duo Big Scary, were just finishing up with “Purple” as I made my way over to their stage. The crowd was seated for the set, which somehow seemed appropriate despite the heavier nature of some of their music.
With “Purple” as a particular example, it’s fair to say that Jo is a boss on her drums, and this brought plenty of cheers from the crowd, especially from the women who looked a little dumb struck by not only the fact she was drumming, but by the intensity of it all. I daresay it’s not something you see in India every day! The Australian contingency was off to a roaring start, and another four acts would represent us well on the third and final day of the festival.
Often called the “percussion wizard”, and without a doubt a legend of his craft, Trilok Gurtu had a couple of our touring musicians’ tails wagging. I for one was not familiar with the instrumentalist, however the host of the stage introduced him as a man who was taking percussion “to a whole new level, not only in India, but in the whole world”. Accompanied by a guitarist who looked like he was straight out of Metalocalypse and a female vocalist, Trilok showed off his experimental take on traditional sounds which got the whole crowd moving. Those drummers amongst us looked on in awe as one of their heroes showed off what he’s all about.
If an artist like Trilok can gain notoriety around the world, then this certainly must give a lot of hope to the younger musicians in the Indian contemporary music scene. And in an age where the internet is king, the crowd at this festival is a part of the first generation in India to truly embrace international music and styles never before heard within Indian culture. At an event like this, you can literally feel the change taking place. But their instincts are much like our own, with Trilok requesting the sound guy to “…just make me as loud as you can”. As I would go on to discover, there is definitely a scene in India for loud music… but more on that later.
Taking a page out of festivals like Lollapalooza or New Orleans Jazz Festival, there were no chain restaurants here serving food. The organisers of the event told me that the “biggest foodie we know” was curating the food stalls at the event, and that there wouldn’t be a bad meal in sight. Indeed, we enjoyed quite a great cross-section of food, from local tikka to a standard (and delicious) hamburger. An impressive selection to say the least. The cost was low, too – a litre of water or a can of soft drink costing around 40 cents, with food ranging anywhere from $2 to $6. You’re not going to get that in Australia, that’s for sure. But then again, you can drink the water here without worrying about imminent death. So we all have our positives and negatives…
Portugese dance outfit Buraka Som Sistema was next, featuring the arse shaking MC Blaya, getting the crowd to put their “fuck finger” in the air and dance up a storm. The group, which was comprised of a DJ, an electronic percussionist and three vocalists showed that the people of Pune were very much up for a good dance, even inviting a group of girls on stage for the “full Buraka experience” – which basically meant they were shaking their arses along with MC Blaya. It’s a very entertaining show to say the least. Songs like the autotuned “Up All Night” were particularly popular.
The Bombay Metal Project (above) were next over on the main stage, which was dedicated to the harder side of music and known as the “Bacardi Black Rock Arena”. Here, a bunch of Mumbai based bands who played last year’s festival got together and performed covers of their favourite metal songs. Fear Factory was the band of choice on arrival, and before long the massive Arena crowd were enjoying tracks like “Epic” by Faith No More, “Love?” by Strapping Young Lad (with death circles and all) and an extra brutal version of NIN’s “Wish”. The crowd knew every word to every song, threw their shirts to the ground during “A Vulgar Picture” by The Black Dahlia Murder and showed themselves as some of the most enthusiastic metal fans I’d seen in years. This is the music they were literally screaming out for, and they were loving every minute of it. Though I kept my shirt on, I certainly couldn’t help but caught up in the excitement of it all.
Moving back over to the more diverse stages, I was told next to check out the Karsh Kale Collectiv, who in the word of one of the event organisers were an act “impossible to place in a genre”. With a cover of Nancy Sinatra’s “Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)” playing on arrival, before moving into more culturally relevant sort of music (with flute!), it was indeed clear early on that this was an apt description. The band closed with a guitar composition called “Ode To A Sunny Day” which was interlaced with a cover of “Hallelujah” on the piano. I’m told that like the Bombay Metal Project, this Collectiv is made up of a similarly varied group of musicians, including the drummer from a metal band called Zero. I’m told I should check them out.
Ending the night were The Manganiyar Seduction by Roysten Abel, who were a hit of Sydney Festival back in 2010. Inspired by the red light district in Amsterdam, the set up features a stack of lit up “windows” (which you can view in the header of this article), which featured musicians hidden behind red curtains. The set began with one curtain opening, a man singing, sitting cross legged, as though he was telling the prologue of a long story (he probably was). Gradually more and more musicians are added, all playing traditional Indian instruments, being carried along by a conductor, which in Indian culture is incredibly rare (in fact I’m told this is the ONLY Indian production to ever utilise a conductor). The conductor not only kept the flow and the gradual build up of the music going, but he was an instrumentalist himself and used a few hand techniques to get the crowd involved throughout proceedings.
In addition to sound, light was a big part of this show, with the windows lighting up as new instruments were added to the performance, moving your eyes from one section to another – and it wasn’t until some 50 minutes into the show (which was essentially one continual song) that all the performers were revealed. And it was in this that you find the unique quality of the performance that makes it so powerful and so unique: the anticipation. From the moment the show began you eagerly anticipated this moment, and it was definitely worth the wait when the climactic moment hit and all the windows were lit up, all the instruments on display and the beautiful barrage of noise fell on your ear drums. Each reveal got a bigger cheer from the huge crowd than the one before, and thankfully the instruments got louder too. Let’s just say that the big drums were saved for last.
There was such excitement in the air, from locals and Westerners alike, collectively feeling our jaws dropping as so much power was given to music which would so often be deemed as “much of the same”. If performances like this, and artists like the ones I’ve seen today are any indication, the Indian music culture is in an exciting state of change, and I for one am now paying a LOT of attention. Give it a few years and I have no doubt there’ll be plenty more around the world doing the same.
In Part Four of the OzFest India Diaries we’ll get to look at the other four Australian bands taking part in the NH7 Weekender on the festival’s final day, and we begin our journey to Mumbai…
READ THE OTHER NINE PARTS OF THIS SERIES HERE.
