Sufi with Sawhney at Sula

It was only three months ago that I saw Soulmate, a blues band from Shillong perform live at the NH7 weekend. It was one of the most rocking performances that I had seen in years from an Indian band. Tipriti Kharbangar had a Joplin kind of a presence and took the crowd by storm.

I was desperate to see Soulmate perform one more time. I had no idea that the opportunity would come at a wine festival. I’m really not into wine. The idea of going for a wine-tasting event had always seemed very yuppie. So the Sula wine festival was really not my scene. But everything changed when I saw the line-up of the bands that were gong to perform for next two days. There was Soulmate, Nitin Sawhney, Papon and Nikhil D’souza.
The last two have made themselves a name because of their Bollywood singles. Nitin Sawhney was going to perform for the first time in India and that was reason enough for me to attend.
At the vineyard, I almost expected men dressed in formal ties, women with hats and long dresses and heaviness in the air that makes me uncomfortable. (I had been to a wine tasting event last year in Bandra and I was bored to death)
But things turned out differently. It was more like a music festival than a wine event. The liquor was not restricted to wine and there was plenty of whiskey, rum and beer for those who just did not have it in them to go for that second bottle of wine. Rayban aviators, khaki shorts and slippers were everywhere.
The afternoon kicked off with a small gig by Nikhil D’souza with the blackstrat blues. They concentrated on alternative rock with guitars and drum solos. The band failed to involve the crowd and played for themselves and went away.

We decided to hang outside the admin office tasting wine. Everyone was having a rocking time and we were getting ready for Papon. Instead of beer or rum, we decided to stick to wine for the simple reason that it was economical.
It was around 9 pm we heard the first tune up of Papon and the East India Company. We had to drop our dinner plates and rush into the amphitheatre, that was already filled with people. There was no place to stand and we found ourselves far from the stage.
Papon loves to talk about Shillong. He loves to involve the crowd and considering that most of his songs are electronic folk in Asamese-- he just does a great job.
Raghu Dixit is known to do this to the crowd. Singing in Kannada, he holds the crowd with his voice and music to apt attention. Papon is similar but probably more contemporary. He is one of the few musicians who can destroy the language barrier.
The performance gathered a high response when he went into Jiyen Kyun, the Bollywood song from Dum Maro Dum, that has been one of the big hits of 2011.
The crowd went ballistic especially after he announced that he was a great admirer of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and would attempt a song that often separates real Sufi music from the shaggy haired wannabes.
When he hit the first note of Dama-Dam Mast Qalandar, the crowd closed on to the stage. The song started on a slow rhythm and ended into a rocking Rage Against the Machine (RATM) style kind of finish. At that point in time it seemed like one of the most mind blowing live acts, I had seen in a long time. Much later, back in office, my colleagues Shishir and Vikas felt little emotional connect when they saw the video. They still prefer the classic Sufi versions. I will not argue about that. But at 10 pm in that chilly vineyard in Nasik, in the amphitheatre, Papon just felt right. Maybe it was the wine and the overall energy of the crowd, the song simply took us higher. I shot a video of that song. It is jerky at times. But you can take a look at it here [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RExdifDL_f4[/youtube]
We came to our hotel rooms and could not stop talking about Papon and the East India Company.
The next day began with Ankur and the Ghalat family. Hindi rock. Great performance and Ankur had the ability to get into the crowd and get them on his side. We look forward to more from this guy.
Soulmate did their own stuff. Power blues. It was out of this world. I was happy to see Tipriti letting her hair down for an awesome performance. It was 3.30 pm and the weather was pleasant. But the connect with the crowd was missing. The band needs to talk to the crowd. Maybe even play one or two cover versions. It helps. The crowd loves it. And it is a different high for the band.
The evening belonged to Nitin Sawhney. It was his first Indian concert. This is modern music. Swahney has managed to put up a band of international musicians. The lead singers Nikki Wells and Sloka glowed in the evening sunset as they blended Indian vocals and Husky jazz. Incidentally, Wells, the tall blonde singer brings freshness to Indian classical singing. The singers had made a distinct connect with the crowd.  This was music at its best. No language involved.
As we made our way back home at around 8.30 pm, we did not say much through the journey. In our minds we had Papon and Sawhney for company.

The thoughts and opinions shared here are of the author.