Pics: Bacardi NH7 Weekender Pre-party @ Blue Frog, Mumbai > NH7 | Discover new music from India and around the world

The second Bacardi NH7 Weekender (tickets on sale now!) pre-party took place on Friday, October 7 at Blue Frog, Mumbai. The first leg of the pre-parties kicked off in Pune with Mumbai alt-rock act Tough On Tobacco, playing at Arc Asia (photos here).

The proceedings of this night saw guitarist Dhruv play a spirited set with a backing band. Next up, Warren ‘Blackstratblues‘ Mendonsa took to the stage, playing with a host of guests. Artists who joined Mendonsa included brother Zorran Mendonsa, a collaboration which saw a performance of ‘Bombay Rain’; only the second live performance of the track (photos from the first time it happened, here). Mendonsa was later joined by Sidd Coutto (of Tough On Tobacco) and Jai Row Kavi (of Indus Creed) on drums, Rushad Mistry (of Indus Creed, Agnee) and Johan Pais (of Helga’s Fun Castle) on bass. Gaurav Gupta (of Tough On Tobacco), Sahej Bakshi (of Dualist Inquiry), Dhruv and Randolph Correia (of Pentagram, Shaa’ir + Func) also joined Mendonsa on guitars at various points of time, to back the host of vocalists.

Sidd Coutto (who we recently launched his solo album, Sunny Side Up, photos here) performed a track from Tough On Tobacco’s second album that has been in the works since over a year and also dropped ‘Alone’ by erstwhile band Helga’s Fun Castle. Ankur Tewari of Ankur & The Ghalat Family was up next and performed ‘Mohabbat Zindabad’ and ‘Bhool’, a track Tewari claims to forget every time. Rhys Sebastian D’souza (who we last saw perform alongisde Bay Beat Collective at Live From The Console, Mehboob Studios; photos here) joined Mendonsa on the stage with a saxophone on a cover of Billy Cobham’s ‘Stratus’. Shazneeen Arethna (of 3 Guys And A Girl) and Siddharth Basrur (of Goddess Gagged) assisted on vocals at different points. Arethna performed her own material, while Basrur performed a cover of Pearl Jam‘s ‘Animal’.

Next up, Vishal Dadlani and Randolph Correia of Pentagram took to the stage, backed by Mendonsa, Jai Row Kavi and Rushad Mistry to perform three tracks – ‘Ten’, ‘This Is For My People’ and ‘Voice’. New Delhi electronica artist Dualist Inquiry took stage next to play a fairly short set, including tunes from his debut EP Dualism (review here) and remixed a couple of Coldplay tracks as well. Sohail Arora of Bay Beat Collective closed the night, with a short, twenty-minute set. Arora, one-third of the local electronica trio, despite performing alone brought the same energtic, bass-heavy material the act is known for, bringing the night to a close.

Photos by Naman Saraiya. For a full gallery of photos, visit our Facebook page.