embellished with striking visual art, and
even some hammocks suspended in a
corner for people to hang in while sipping
their beer.
We started leaning in towards the stage,
but not before getting hold of a Bira
from the bar. On the stage, Delhi based
femme DJ-collected were spinning their
uber progressive tracks to small set of
audience dancing superseded to the stage.
The performance was in its last stage by
the time we started catching up with the
tempo, but the following act -DJ Mo City-
kept us engaged enough to intermittently
bob our heads and groove along.
Next up on stage was rapper, visual artist,
and Delhi-native Sumit Roy performing
along with his band, Rolls Roy’s. Roy’s
brief set of rap songs, played alongside
meditative guitar riffs and soothing
percussions, did have brief, coruscant
flashes of brilliance, but failed to impress
neither the audience nor the nature as it
had started drizzling a little by the time
his performance ended. For a moment it
seemed like the clouds hovering above the
Delhi sky were well prepared to mire the
party in muddy waters (quite literally) but
decided against it to watch Raja Kumari
spill her magic on stage. Armed with her
raw appeal, overwhelming stage presence,
and vivid visuals, the Indian-American
rapper enchanted the crowds with a mix
bag of songs from her old and new EPs.
The day’s most awaited performance - The One Eight Project
by Prabhdeep - was by all means also the most striking act of
the day. The rapper is one of the rare find from Delhi’s rap
scene who continues to grow with each performance and his
set at April Fools’ Fest, barraged with diverse rhythms and
soulful solos from each member, remains a testament to this
fact. Conceptualised into three stages - struggle, industry,
and success - the act traced the rapper’s journey of defiant
hustle and grind through songs from his debut album - Class
Sikh. It would have been quite fitting had Prabhdeep brought
an end to the day’s performances as the closing act for the
day - DJ Sa with Shah Rule and Full Power - wasn’t just cut
short due to time constraints, but also lacked the impact and
bewitchment that the former had showcased. Yet, the crowd
kept soaring and jumping to the gamut of uptempo pop and
hip-hop hits played by the DJ and we left to refill our glass of
beer in a hope to return for more the next day.
Day 2 at the fest, that began with an electronic set by New
Delhi based DJ-Producer Nash Jr, was filled with hits and a
few misses. After regretfully missing the opening act of the
day, we kept our eyes and ears fixed on the next performer,
DJ Ishani, who soared our spirits with her succinct set of old
school hip-hop mixes. DJ Ishani was followed on the main
stage by another female DJ - Monica Dogra - who at one point
in her performance missed a step while dancing on the stage
and almost tipped over her equipment. Her performance too,
was an extension of this incident, as it had great potential
to enthrall the crowd but kept missing the mark during
crucial moments. So, it was only fair that we went over to
the Room 91 to check on comedian Kunal Kamra and see if
he had anything new in his pandora’s box of political jokes.
Sadly, the performance was running significantly late and we
sauntered back to the main stage, only to see a sea of seething
music fans dancing to DJ-Producer duo Madstar Base’s
blend of bollywood-dub-cum-funk mixes. Their performance,
accompanied by some imaginative lyrics, was one of the
festival’s biggest revelation and accomplished everything
that Monica Dogra’s set inspiringly missed. The duo did get
some help from MC Soopy and DJ Mo City in pumping up the
audience but the credit for getting them dancing in unfiltered
jubilance goes entirely to them.
The last end of performances at April Fools’ Fest began
with a powerful hip-hop act by local rap-duo Seedhe Maut
accompanied by producer Sez On The Beat. The rappers,
performing in front of their home crowd after a considerable
amount of time, made an instant connect with the audience
by the virtue of their raw appeal and verbose rhymes.
Performing songs from their debut album, Bayaan, the
duo’s act displayed momentary flashes of everything from
provocative, conscious bars to head-bobbing trap hits. The
headline act at Bira 91 April Fools’ Fest - Naezy - surprised
the audience as soon he entered the stage by bringing out
fellow Mumbaikar and rapper Mc Altaf along with him. What
followed was another 40 minutes of unadulterated (if not
virtuosic) hip-hop music with one ‘hard’ song after another.
The performance did get cut short due to time constraints (10
PM being the closing time), but we and many others left with
no regrets and bunch of wonderful memories to reflect on
until the next year.
The
Score Magazine
highonscore.com
29