On a high note

As far as the Bengaluru line up goes, the biggest act without a doubt would be A.R. Rahman. While his name on the NH7 Weekender roster definitely showcases the seriousness of the music festival, my only concern is that the festival has become too ‘mainstream’ with such a large Bollywood influence. The sceptic in me looks at this as a move to increase ticket sales. However, the optimist looks at it as a great chance to introduce people who come to see A.R. Rahman to a lot of indie acts that they would never even be aware of. The same goes for Clinton Cerejo, who is also rostered to play.

I know of Mark Ronson as an acclaimed producer, but my only exposure to his own music has been on the 2014 hit, Uptown Funk. I’ve absolutely no exposure to the music of Flying Lotus aka Steve Ellison; so these would be two acts that I would want to watch for the first time with an unbiased opinion. Among the Indian artistes, I eagerly look forward to the Kolkata alternate rock act, Ganesh Talkies. I thoroughly enjoyed their debut album In Technicolor and hear that they are a fabulous live act. The same goes for Rehan Dalal. An interesting debut at the festival is Dr. L. Subramaniam; I’m quite keen to see what he brings for the NH7 audience. I hope that Swarathma, who recently went into the studio, debut new material at the festival. Thaikkudam Bridge, Tails on Fire and The F16’s would definitely bring their A-game to keep the crowds going. While it’s exciting to see both The Raghu Dixit Project and Vir Das’ Alien Chutney on the roster, I am concerned that there might not be any new material to offer. Overall, my only prayer is for no rain.