When over 5,000 music lovers come together, a good experience is guaranteed. And ‘Bacardi NH7 Weekender’ provided exactly that for every single attendee, who ran from stage to stage at Embassy International Riding School to watch their favourite bands live in action.
Though 60 acts in two days sounds too good to be true, it was actually pulled off by ‘Only Much Louder’, who gave Bangalore its first edition of the ‘happiest music festival’. Going by a tried and tested formula, based on previous editions in other cities, the six-stage set up gave listeners of every genre of music something to look forward to. The stages included the electronica ‘Wolves’ Den’, Indie/folksy ‘Fully Fantastic Stage’, world music ‘Dewarists Stage’ and the reggae-loving and wobbly ‘Dubstation’.
On the international front, ‘Fink’, ‘Testament’, ‘Bauchklang’, ‘Foreign Beggars’, ‘The Staves’ and every other headlining act performed to the delighted audiences, who seemed genuinely pleased to witness them live. For the fans of independent music by Indian bands, there was a bit of the old and the new with familiar names like Swarathma, ‘Tough on Tobacco’, ‘Reggae Rajahs’ and Midival Punditz sharing the stage with newer acts like ‘The Shakey Rays’, ‘Skrat’ and ‘BLaNK’ among others.
“It was awesome. It’s the first music festival I’ve been to and I’m pleasantly surprised that they offered such a wide array of music — from dubstep to semi-classical! Plus, it’s a great place to meet like-minded people,” shares Polash Mukherjee, a first-timer at the festival. He adds, “‘Delhi Sultanate’ was my favourite act because they had a groove that resonated somewhere within.”
There were also the regulars, who flew down to Bangalore from various parts of the country just for the weekend. Pasham Alwani from Mumbai was one such person. She says, “I liked Bauchklang and Nischay Parekh the most as performers. Other than the music, I liked the fact that everything was pretty, small and intimate.” Outsiders apart, when lazy Bangaloreans can travel 40 km to go listen to music, it’s hard not to take notice.