NH7 Weekender Diaries: Day 1
Getting up at six in the morning after a sleep deprived Day 0 was a bit of a pain but all the tiredness vanished as I entered the venue- Laxmi Lawns, the cold winds that blew across was partly responsible and they were the thing which made me blame myself for not carrying my cardigan (Which I had packed but later excluded thinking that Pune would be hot enough to rule out the possibility of needing a cardigan). The day was indeed filled with some buzz as I worked right from the morning uptil the afternoon at Bacardi Rock Arena (I love my stage!). Skindred had their sound check during that time frame and boy! the sound check sounded so awesome that made most of us speculate how epic their performance scheduled for the next day would be.
Later, as there wasn't any act or sound check pending on my stage, I was free from work and caught the bands and artists playing on the other stages. As only three stages out of six were active on Day 1, of which I was interested in two i.e. Dewarists' stage and MTS other stage, it wasn't much work shuttling between the two as they happened to be placed quite near to each other.
The ones to inaugurate NH7 Weekender '13, Pune were The Colour Compound, an alternative indie pop band from Mumbai. They took over the MTS Other stage and didn't fail to cast a spell onto the hordes of people that had gathered around. Next were Parvaaz; performing on the angelic Dewarists stage, their soothing tunes along with beautiful Urdu lyrics marked a lovely start of the pleasant evening.
Siddharth Basrur on the MTS other stage broke out in his compositions as soon as Parvaaz concluded their's. Honestly, his songs which revolves around some quirky themes were enjoyable and the lightness of his music was well balanced between the intense sets of Parvaaz and Shankar Tucker. Caught during his act was Siddharth Basrur accidently breaking his, uh...G-string (Guitar's, duh!). After this scandal which he tried covering up with his attempt at stand-up comedy, The Colour Compound's bassist Adil along with the drummer joint him on stage for a collaboration on a few songs.
The show-stoppers, for me, obviously were Shankar Tucker (and band), Blackstratblues with their amazing instrumentals and surprise performances by Karsh Kale and Tajdar Junaid, and the legendary Indian Ocean. Shankar Tucker's act was magical; the splendid late evening skies combined with his and his band's fusion-istic melodies ensure that everyone present were charmed enough to keep humming the tunes even after his act. Subsequently, Blackstratblues took upon the Dewarists' stage.
There was another act at the MTS other stage while Blackstratblues were setting up but my eagerness to watch Warren Mendonsa perform live made me stand religiously near the barricade in the front in order to see the stage properly (Yes, I'm a shortie. Happy now?). And frankly, what a show it was; a total delight, both visually and auditorily! Although I have been acquaint with Blackstratblues's music for quite a long time, it was a different experience altogether there.
Next I witnessed Indian Ocean but missed out on half of their performance due to work. I had heard a lot about Indian Ocean prior to Weekender but actually never got time to check them out, NH7 Weekender gave me an opportunity to listen and watch them perform live and honestly, they changed my outlook towards live shows with the way they engaged the audience in their songs. Make some time and do check out "Bandeh" and "Kandisa" by them, I bet that they'll blow your mind away.
This was the Day 1; a complete sweetie. Fancy seeing pictorial representations? Then keep scrolling, my folks...
P.S. There is an incident which is my fondest memory of Day 1: I was walking towards the reporting area after finishing the job assigned to me at the Bacardi Arena, I came across an old man who was strolling around and getting acquaint with the stages, all of sudden he said to me that he has been to several music festivals in the United States and after seeing things around he has got a feeling that Weekender would be that good. Then he thanked me and the volunteer alongside stating that all this is because of the hard work put in by the crew members. After listening to his words, honestly, the amount of work that was required to be done didn't seem much.
Later, as there wasn't any act or sound check pending on my stage, I was free from work and caught the bands and artists playing on the other stages. As only three stages out of six were active on Day 1, of which I was interested in two i.e. Dewarists' stage and MTS other stage, it wasn't much work shuttling between the two as they happened to be placed quite near to each other.
The ones to inaugurate NH7 Weekender '13, Pune were The Colour Compound, an alternative indie pop band from Mumbai. They took over the MTS Other stage and didn't fail to cast a spell onto the hordes of people that had gathered around. Next were Parvaaz; performing on the angelic Dewarists stage, their soothing tunes along with beautiful Urdu lyrics marked a lovely start of the pleasant evening.
Siddharth Basrur on the MTS other stage broke out in his compositions as soon as Parvaaz concluded their's. Honestly, his songs which revolves around some quirky themes were enjoyable and the lightness of his music was well balanced between the intense sets of Parvaaz and Shankar Tucker. Caught during his act was Siddharth Basrur accidently breaking his, uh...G-string (Guitar's, duh!). After this scandal which he tried covering up with his attempt at stand-up comedy, The Colour Compound's bassist Adil along with the drummer joint him on stage for a collaboration on a few songs.
The show-stoppers, for me, obviously were Shankar Tucker (and band), Blackstratblues with their amazing instrumentals and surprise performances by Karsh Kale and Tajdar Junaid, and the legendary Indian Ocean. Shankar Tucker's act was magical; the splendid late evening skies combined with his and his band's fusion-istic melodies ensure that everyone present were charmed enough to keep humming the tunes even after his act. Subsequently, Blackstratblues took upon the Dewarists' stage.
There was another act at the MTS other stage while Blackstratblues were setting up but my eagerness to watch Warren Mendonsa perform live made me stand religiously near the barricade in the front in order to see the stage properly (Yes, I'm a shortie. Happy now?). And frankly, what a show it was; a total delight, both visually and auditorily! Although I have been acquaint with Blackstratblues's music for quite a long time, it was a different experience altogether there.
Next I witnessed Indian Ocean but missed out on half of their performance due to work. I had heard a lot about Indian Ocean prior to Weekender but actually never got time to check them out, NH7 Weekender gave me an opportunity to listen and watch them perform live and honestly, they changed my outlook towards live shows with the way they engaged the audience in their songs. Make some time and do check out "Bandeh" and "Kandisa" by them, I bet that they'll blow your mind away.
This was the Day 1; a complete sweetie. Fancy seeing pictorial representations? Then keep scrolling, my folks...
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| Skindred during their sound check |
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| Skindred during their sound check |
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| The Colour Compound's bassist Adil |
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| The Color Compound |
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| Parvaaz's vocalist in action |
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| Parvaaz's guitarist during his solo |
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| Siddharth Basrur + The Colour Compound |
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| Shankar Tucker |
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| Warren Mendonsa during his act |
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| Karsh Kale with Blackstratblues |
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| Tajdar Junaid with Blackstratblues |
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| Indian Ocean's vocalist |
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| Indian Ocean during their performance |
P.S. There is an incident which is my fondest memory of Day 1: I was walking towards the reporting area after finishing the job assigned to me at the Bacardi Arena, I came across an old man who was strolling around and getting acquaint with the stages, all of sudden he said to me that he has been to several music festivals in the United States and after seeing things around he has got a feeling that Weekender would be that good. Then he thanked me and the volunteer alongside stating that all this is because of the hard work put in by the crew members. After listening to his words, honestly, the amount of work that was required to be done didn't seem much.
*****
Disclaimer: All the pictures used here are the copyrighted property of Aditi Pathak. Use of these pictures anywhere else for any purpose demands permission to be taken by Aditi Pathak. Failure to do so will involve a legal action against the defaulting party.
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