Express News Service
The walls of the battle-hardened 17th-century Alsisar Mahal in Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan, came alive with spectacular 3D projections as thousands of music lovers danced, swayed and banged heads to the beats of pulsating music. In the twilight setting, it seemed as if the royal palace was playing a role rather than being just the venue for the three-day Magnetic Fields Festival.
From a vantage point on the rooftop, the sea of attendees moving in tandem with the throbbing beats and colourful projections on the palace walls looked like a scene out of a fantasy movie. The biting cold of Rajasthan in December meant many of the attendees, some in mini-skirts and thigh-high boots, and others in trendy jackets and woollen beanies, danced not just to let their hair down but also to generate warmth.
Behind the console of the BUDx North Stage by Budweiser, Rishi Sippy, one-half of the ingenious Technomads duo and a creative powerhouse fuelling cutting-edge electronic music, churned out a living ebb and flow of sound as the evening changed colour and faded into inky darkness. Bengaluru-based Sippy, whose portfolio boasts of enthralling showcases at top-billed venues across Europe and Southeast Asia and who has attended the festival many times in the last 11 years, was performing here for the first time. In his own words, the experience was nothing short of “magical”.
“I’m mostly always experimenting and exploring. I don’t necessarily stick to just one style or genre. If anyone were to ask what I play, I just say I play dance music,” said the musician who started deejaying two decades ago and has left an everlasting and resonant impression on the minds of his fans.
The 6,000-plus crowd which thronged the confluence of music, art and wellness over the course of three heady days in the middle of India’s western desert could not get enough of it. “As we celebrate the third year of our partnership with Magnetic Fields, we have crafted an experience that resonates with the attendees of this contemporary arts and music festival,” said Vineet Sharma, Vice President of Marketing – India and South Asia, AB InBev, adding that their initiatives at music festivals are helping transform experiences by going beyond conventional sponsorships.
Indeed, on this stage, the nights turned to mornings as artists such as I Jordan, Milan-based Chilean DJ Paula Tape, and Glasgow-based inimitable selector Bake set the stage ablaze as did sets by Canadian sound wizard Deadbeat, London-based DJ ADHD and the versatile DJ and producer Mella Dee introduced the audience to unique styles and contemporary tunes.
From the courtyard inside the mahal to the expansive stage just outside, producer DJ and guitarist Dualist Inquiry aka Sahej Bakshi enthralled the audience as he introduced them to his upcoming album When We Get There. The custom-made projections for his set elevated the experience. “I couldn’t have asked for a better platform to showcase my new album. Every little detail to do with the venue, sound, atmosphere, lineup and setting is fine-tuned to such a great degree that it really gives us artistes the best possible context to perform in. The crowd was incredible too.
I really cherished the experience of finally getting to share the new material that I’ve been working on for over a year,” he said about the album due out in February. Born out of a personal headspace, Bakshi says the album feels like a private journal he wrote with a lot of changes taking place in his life. “The feedback I received was both in real time as I played and after the show. I couldn’t be happier,” he said after the show.
As the three heady days of sensorial delight that filled the halls, courtyards and rooftops of the grand Alsisar Mahal drew to an end, the weary attendees made their way back to their tents in the wee hours of the morning, with all the satisfaction that comes from being part of a transcendental experience.
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