GAJENDRA PURI GOSWAMI
Sulafest 2019:
An Unlikely Melange Of The
Past & Future Of Music
M
usic is a timeless piece of art,
and anybody who thought
otherwise would have changed
their view had they been present at this
year's Sula Fest in Nashik, Maharashtra.
Sula Fest has, over the years, built itself
the reputation of being one of the better
organised music festivals in the country,
the quality of which is unparalleled by
any other festival in the homegrown
music scene. The festival in its 12th
edition too, upheld all the virtues that
has earned it the title of being India's
no.1 gourmet music festival, be it the
power-packed music performances or the
flurry of irresistible food and beverage
options. Although in this particular
review, the writer, with extreme
reluctance, has sidelined the palatable
food and tasteful wines he's had the
honour of salivating at the festival and
delve only into the music realm, for the
virtue of its its raw appeal and exalting
diversity. Here's a complete breakdown
of all the musical performances during
the two days of Sula Fest 2019.
Divided by the two stages- Amphitheatre
and Atmosphere- and united by a
common yearn for heartwarming
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music, music listeners from around the
country flocked to the Sula Vineyards
in Nashik on the 1st and 2nd February.
Even at the beginning of Day 1, which
gathered momentum rather slowly, the
high anticipation for the headline act of
the day - British neo-funk band Jungle-
was quite palpable within the crowd
thronging to the venue. But before that
happened, the stage would be graced by
a bunch of other talented musicians that
left the audience enthralled with their
high-intensity performances. Amongst
these were Indian electronic duo Nothing
Anonymous, UK based Balkan music
group Hallouminati, multicultural
US-Israeli hip-hop collective Lucille
Crew and DJs Nikhil Chinnapa and
Diatonik. The writer of this review
could not make the venue in time for
the performances of Diatonik, Nothing
Anonymous, and Spencer Maybe due
the obligation of attending a highly
informative and religating wine-tasting
session presided by a couple of Sula
Vineyard's most prolific wine makers.
Although he did manage to make his
way to the Atmosphere stage- also
dubbed as the electronic stage- well
in time for Nikhil Chinnapa's heart-
rending performance. The sojourn didn't
last long. About ten minutes into the
performance he decided to make a well
informed decision to trot towards the
amphitheatre stage, where British band
Hillouminati was swaying the audience
in their trademark Balkan style.
Hillouminati stayed true to its uplifting
party vibe and slayed the stage with a
high-energy set featuring songs from
their 2018 album Tonight, Is Heavy.
Armed with a barrage of bouzoukis,
brass, guitars, keys, and deranged beats
the band got the Indian audiences to its
feet with their electrifying guitar riffs
and unapologetic gipsy sound. Next-
up on the amphitheatre stage was the
Israeli-US hip-hop collective Lucille
Crew, which in our ingenuous opinion
was the most striking highlight of the
day; although this may be the unpopular
opinion. The band were travelling to
India with the New York MC Snowflake
Black, who effortlessly reverberated
their funk-soul sound with his flawless
flows and gritty rhymes. There were
many moments in the Lucille Crew's
performance which would have a lasting
effect on the audience's memory. Lucille