Make it large

English artistes Basement Jaxx and Imogen Heap.

An electronic dance music duo,Basement Jaxx will be represented by Felix Buxton,one half of the duo,who will play a DJ set on the first day of the festival at the Eristoff Wolves Den,the stage for dance and electronica. Imogen Heap will play at The Dewarists Stage,dedicated to world,folk and eclectic music,on the second day of the festival.

Joining Basement Jaxx at the Eristoff Wolves Den are Delhi’s Jalebee Cartel,Midival Punditz and a solo live electronica act by Sahej Bakshi called Dualist

Inquiry; Mumbai’s Shaa’ir + Func and Bay Beat Collective; and Bobby Friction,DJ Nihal and Riz MC from London. The Dewarists Stage,apart from Heap,will see the likes of soul and blues band Soulmate from Shillong,the incredibly popular Raghu Dixit Project from Bangalore,Swarathma,also from Bangalore and Hipnotribe from Mumbai,among others. The third main stage,Bacardi Black Rock Arena,features some of the best rock and metal acts in India today,including rock giants Pentagram; metal bands Scribe,Bhayanak Maut and Skyharbour; alt-rock bands The Circus and Menwhopause; and pop-rock act Tough on Tobacco.

India has its fair share of music festivals,but a few of them can confidently be called multi-genre,and fewer still have lived up to the standards set by their counterparts abroad. Vijay Nair,CEO,Only Much Louder,agrees and says that was the very reason they decided to start Weekender. “I have attended plenty of festivals abroad. I realised we have nothing that matches up to those festivals in India,” he explains. “My instinct made me believe that people in India would appreciate a multi-genre festival,as opposed to a festival for just rock or electronica,” he adds.

Sahej Bakshi,the brain behind Dualist Inquiry,believes that the festival has stamped its superiority as a multi-genre festival. “Weekender is the best platform for an Indian artiste to be discovered,” he says. Jishnu Dasgupta,bassist and backing vocalist with Bangalore-based folk-fusion band Swarathma,agrees with Bakshi. “Weekender is right up there with all the festivals we’ve played abroad,” he says and adds,“Production wise,it makes a big difference if people who care about music organise a festival. It changes the very vibe of the festival,which then becomes pro-artist.”

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