This year has seen two major shifts when it comes to the music scene. One is the sheer number of international headlining acts which came to India. The Global Citizens’ concert is probably the biggest event of its sort that has happened in the country till date and it saw so many international acts sharing the stage. Both Jay Z and Coldplay are big names in the global music scene and the fact that they came to India was highly encouraging. The whole concept of action journeys for the tickets was also a really cool way to sell the tickets, and one that was new to Indian audiences. I’m sure we’ll see more of this next year, even if it is not on the same scale.
Aside from Global Citizen, you also had major acts like Steven Wilson at NH7 and Gurthrie Govan, who is actually someone that Wilson has worked with, came down to Mumbai, along with his band—The Aristocrats. I think that this will probably encourage more artistes of global standing to come down to India to perform even in 2017 and that is definitely something that I am looking forward to.
The other is the increased buzz in the indie scene. Virtually anyone and everyone is making their own music. There is no longer any pressure for licenses or record deals. All you have to do is upload content on Youtube. Though people have been doing it for a couple of years, this year saw an explosion of material, which is quite encouraging.
These artistes are also trying out a lot of new and innovative techniques that you wouldn’t get to see otherwise. For instance, I once saw a performance where the group had a female lead singer, two bass guitarists a drummer and a saxophone player. That’s not something you would see everyday.
New venues have come up which support the indie scene as well. Though Blue Frog shutting down was a blow, Antisocial (Khar) has stepped up admirably as an alternative venue. Aside from that, there are a lot of bars, pubs and culture hubs, which have started hosting indie musicians. I think this is also something we can see continuing into the next year.
(Bobby Talwar is co-founder, Only Much Louder)
Penn Masala:
This completely acapela band of Pennsylvania State University students have left their mark internationally with their mash-ups of English and Bollywood songs. For the first time since the inception of the group, they came to perform in India, and of course, Mumbai was one of their first stops.
Global Citizen:
Perhaps the concert of the century, the Global Citizen’s festival, which was headlined by British rock band Coldplay, also saw the likes of Jay Z, Demi Lovato, R.Rahman share the stage.
The Aristocrats:
A much more intimate production than the others, Guthrie Govan and his band—The Aristocrats performed at the Hard Rock Café. The tickets sold out weeks before the evening of the concert and it was, of course, a full house when Govan showed his dexterous skill with the guitar, jumping from genre to genre, within the span of minutes.
Shaggy:
Reggae fusion singer and DJ Shaggy also had Mumbaikers rocking to his beats during his performance at Phoenix Market City in October.
Steven Wilson:
The headlining act of NH7 Weekender this year was none other than Steven Wilson of Porcupine Tree fame. Though he sang many PT numbers, including his iconic number Lazarus, he also wowed the audience with his solo album songs.
