A memorable, musical weekend

Credits to the peppy rendition of A R Rahman’s unconventional hit, Dhakka Laga Bukka that was doing rounds on the YouTube as a preview to Bacardi NH7 Weekender in the capital, people headed with lot of expectations and enthusiasm to the recently concluded festival. And it did pay off well!

It indeed was a different weekend as all roads were leading to Dwarka. Families, children, youngsters, friends and even corporates, with a yearning in their eyes to watch music maestro A R Rahman, along with an eclectic array of indie bands and singers performed at the ‘happiest music festival’.

The first day of the festival saw performances from Reggae Rajahs, Pakistani band Noori, The Raghu Dixit Project, Vir Das’ Alien Chutney, Mark Ronson and Rahman.

The crowd swayed to Dixit’s popular tracks like Mysore se aayi and Lokada kalaji and everyone around was foot-tapping and jumping high with their hands up, just as Dixit requested them to do.

Das and his band performed next and the stand up comedian ensured the audience had a hearty laugh as he sang a comeback song on Maggi noodles. He then asked the audience, “Are you all happy?”... and a buzz of replies came “Yes!”. He then asked, “Who are the people who are not happy,” which was then followed by a large people raising their hands up as a positive response to the question. Das then presented the audience with a playful song envying all the ‘happy’ people and it was received with a hearty laughter by all. 

Meanwhile, a bunch of people were seen heading towards the food bazaar in the middle of the performances. After all, everyone needed the energy to cheer for Rahman.

And when he came, it was maddening as anticipated. With a minor instrumental gig in the beginning, he came forward and addressed the audience saying, “There’s something unique about this night. At a concert like this, you need to have a rockstar...” And then he went to perform Dil Se.

He then gave space to singer Sashwat Singh who performed Wat Wat Wat from film Tamasha. For quite some time, Rahman was playing the piano and the crowd was patiently waiting for him to take on the mike and sing his popular tracks from the film Rockstar.

And Rahman didn’t disappoint his fans. The last 20 minutes of his gig were memorable, as he sang Jo bhi main, Saada Haq and Nadaan Parindey from Ranbir Kapoor starrer. “It’s great that we are giving space to the indie music scene in India,” said Rahman just before leaving the stage.

The day two of the festival saw performances from Scottish post-rock favourites Mogwai, maverick producer Flying Lotus, Mexican acoustic guitar-playing duo Rodrigo y Gabriela, British electro-pop artist SBTRKT along with more Indian favourites like Advaita, Rehan Dalal, Parikrama, Soulmate, and Hriday Gattani. But the highlight of the day was Vishal Dadlani’s tribute to Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.

The weekend ended on a musical note, but what was really impressive was the way organisers had ensured that music aficionados don’t have to waste time in parking space, as parking arrangements were sorted and security was effectively in place.

“The advantage of doing it Dwarka was that we had ample of space for the event. The Delhi Police had given us a list of rules and we complied by that,” said Vijay Nair, director of Only Much Louder, the organiser of the festival.

For next year, Nair is looking for space somewhere in Delhi which is reachable. “We are planning to have the festival next year within Delhi for sure, and preferably south Delhi. But we will still try having it in the outskirts, somewhere near ITO, so that we don’t create a nuisance for residents.”