The Dewarists Stage on day three of the Bacardi NH7 Weekender saw an array of fusion bands that take over the show. The only ones that didn’t fall into this category was quirky indie Scotsman, Fence Collective. The main highlights of the stage were rock giants Indian Ocean and Bangalore folk-rockers Swarathma.
King Creosote and the Fence Collective
Straight from the cold air of Fife, Scotland, to the hot heat of the Laxmi Lawns, this friendly seven-piece indie crew, brought a quirky and odd Scot humour to the start of day three. They consisted of King Creosote, The Pictish Trail and indie trio, Found. They looked like a band straight out of a Scottish countryside pub. They played indie folk with semi-falsetto, yodeling, screeches and crooning. What made them even more endearing were their lyrics. In their final song, Kenny Anderson, aka King Creosote sangs, “Where’s my dog? I need my dog.” Gold.
Fence Collective - King Creosote, The Pictish Trail and Found
Swarathma
The Bangalore folk-rockers launched their brand new single (‘Aaj Ki Taaza Fikar‘), which was the first single from their new album Topiwalleh. When performing their song ‘Topiwalleh’, they all wore topis with floral designs, polka dots, etc (which were also available for all at the festival bazaar). Lead singer Vasu Dixit even ran into the crowd interviewing random audience members, asking them questions like what shampoo they used. Swarathma were a friendly, interactive bunch of guys, who, besides performing their music they just wanted to chill, have a chat and get to know you.
Jishnu Dasgupta and Vasu Dixit of Swarathma
Dhruv
Blue Frog co-owner Dhruv and his band dazzled on stage with their brand instrumental jazz-rock. Bursting with screeching guitar licks, keyboard tinkering and drum banter that made you focus on their musical craftsmanship, this was a solid set from the Mumbai singer-songwriter. What particularly stood out from the performance was a cracking bass solo from Sheldon D’Silva, who started out with intricate plucking to his fingers just gliding across the fret like water, till he whipped out some slap bass. It was a chance for punters to see them show off their technical proficiency.
Dhruv
Papon and The East Indian Company
This electro-folk fusion band kept a very folk-focused set which included a Rajasthani folk song, and a cheeky Assamese folk song (which is sung to entice girls to come to a boat race) and even squeezed in their song, ‘Banaao’.
Papon
Indian Ocean
Ending The Dewarists Stage performances for the festival were Indian rock giants Indian Ocean, who played a crowd-pleasing set of fusion rock songs including their classics ‘Bandeh’, ‘Ma Rewa’ and ‘Kandisa’.
Rahul Ram of Indian Ocean
The Other Stage
After every act at The Dewarists Stage was an acoustic performance at The Other Stage. On the last day of the festival an eclectic mix of musicians took the stage, starting with foreign returnee from LA, Tara Priya singing her vintage soul songs that were mainly about matters of the heart and boys. Nigel Rajaratnam brought an acoustic-y indie-pop set to the stage (rather than his usual beatboxing) accompanied by an electric guitarist. Akhu Chingangbam aka Imphal Talkies sang his lyrical stories over guitar strumming, one of which – “I Want To Go to Moscow” – spoke of his boredom in India, and how he wanted to escape. Alisha Pais, like her fellow band member Alisha Batth (of Middle Sister), rendered a bluesy-jazz set, to welcome Indian Ocean on to The Dewarists Stage. Once Indian Ocean were done, everyone began leaving the venue till they heard some uptempo beats and a guy rapping about “hos” and “bling”. The source of this ranting rap was none other than Johnny Lynch of The Pictish Trail. He, sadly, only performed one song after that giving the last dregs of audience a taster of his electro-indie pop.
Akhu of Imphal Talkies
Photos by Shiv Ahuja and Kunal Kakodkar
Follow all our coverage of the Bacardi NH7 Weekender 2011 here.
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