From the sands of Goa to the grounds of Pune, the journey of one of India’s biggest music festivals is the stuff that dreams are made of. Conceptualised in 2013 as a beachside EDM festival that was first held on the beaches of Goa, Budweiser Vh1 Supersonic recently concluded its latest edition last week on February 16-17 at the MahaLaxmi Lawns in Pune, featuring some of the biggest superstars in the music industry.
The line-up (a diverse one across multiple genres) didn’t disappoint, with headliners like American musicians DJ Marshmello and rapper Jaden Smith making sure the crowd got their money’s worth. Both the artistes arrived on stage with the Indian flag, with the former starting his show with a two-minute silence in memory of the slain soldiers in Pulwama. Also, among the surprise guest appearances was Kartik Aaryan, who crashed the stage during Marshmello’s performance and danced along with the masked musician to the hit number Coca Cola, from his upcoming movie Luka Chuppi. Jaden delivered an electric performance, with his runaway hit, Icon Living, generating the loudest cheer from the audience.
The other notable performers over the two days were singer-songwriter Prateek Kuhad, Irish indie rock band Two Door Cinema Club, EDM artiste Bonobo, London-based musicians Dj Rudimental and TroyBoi, and Polyphia, the three-member instrumental rock band from Texas. Among the Indian artistes, usual suspects like Djs Ash Roy and Tuhin plus DJ duo Lost Stories and Zaeden drew in a massive crowd.
In the end, the icing on the cake was provided by Marshmello himself, who screened the music video of his latest dance number BIBA, produced in collaboration with Bollywood music director Pritam and shot as a tribute to songs from Shah Rukh Khan movies — enough to send the crowd into a state of euphoria!
Scroll down for some of the best images from the carnival:
The son of Will and Jada Pinkett Smith is now 20 years old, has shaved off half the hair on his head and recently released an album called The Sunset Tapes: A Cool Tape Story. Not many of his generation has broken stereotypes the way he has — both in music and way of living. Now the rapper reveals that he is contemplating going beyond hip hop in his upcoming projects. “Besides wanting to collaborate with more rappers, I am also thinking of exploring rock music in the future,” he told Indulge.
Before Prateek Kuhad heads to the US for his most extensive tour to date (15 shows spread over a month), the New Delhi-based singer-songwriter delivered a magical performance at Supersonic, his first in the festival. Visibly flattered by the size of the audience, Prateek admitted that he did not expect such a huge crowd, who sang along with him some of his biggest hits from his albums, In Tokens and Charms and cold/mess.
The instrumental band delivered one of the best performances on Day 1 and showed just why they are one of the most sought after bands in the world. “When we started out in 2010, our music was primarily influenced by our producers who are also our friends. Now, we just do our thing,” says Timothy Henson, adding that they are working on a new song called Look , But Don’t Touch.
It’s fair to say that Marshmello’s rise to superstardom in India has peaked with the release of his latest track — BIBA. Featuring music by Pritam, the video recreates sequences from some of Shah Rukh Khan’s most iconic songs, from movies like Dil Se and Kuch Kuch Hota Hain. He also played some of his other hits, most notably Happier, featuring Bastille.
(The writer was at Vh1 Supersonic 2019 by invitation)