Sunburnedddddddd
“They said we couldn’t do Sunburn, they said people wouldn’t come, but YOU have made sure it happened!”
Nikhil Chinappa was at his vocal best, constantly pepping the crowd up as he assayed his feelings about the trials and tribulations Sunburn 2008 has had to go throughout. But that’s life, and anyone who was there, knew how much it mattered to the thousands who thronged to ‘Asia’s Biggest Music Festival’ as they claim.
The prospect of Sunburn 08 was immense, after the crazy debut success they basked in after none other than Above and Beyond graced the stage as headliners. They’re No.2 in the entire world right now—in the world of EDM, if that’s not big, nothing is.
But when it came down to 08, the headliner and perhaps the entire lineup was a shade disappointing. Eddie Halliwell’s brilliant, but the no.21 DJ in the world is not Above and Beyond, and the rest of the lineup looked the same with usual suspects John 00 Fleming, Richard Durand and GMS, with only Roger Shah (of Lost fame) as the big new entry.
Still, its not really bad is it? Oh well, the fun has just begun, your passes and flyers claimed 4 STAGES! And they’re supposed to be simultaneous, but when you got there, you saw only 3, and one of them—the Bar Stage—wasn’t even functioning!
Looks like the trouble was getting to them, Eddie Halliwell pulled out on the first day of fest citing security reasons and lucky for them, Gareth Emery, who’s just two spots behind Halliwell on the Trance Addict TOP-250, was touring India, in comes Emery to replace Eddie.
All that’s ok, everybody realizes that 26/11 is probably the biggest bearing on all this and probably there are things that are out of even the event management company—PDM’s—fault, but how do you explain a 2-hour stoppage on day-2 because the decibel levels were too high. Yep, both stages—the Banyan Tree and the Circus one—had Richard Durand and 00.db performing respectively and had to shut their sets down for a 2 good hours because someone complained about the sound levels—HOW CAN YOU NOT FORSEE SUCH A SIMPLE THING AND GET THE RELEVANT PERMITS FOR THAT?!
I have no clue, and I’m sure nor does PDM, they spent the rest of Day 3 on lower volumes and we didn’t get the kick from the bass lines.
Now that was the organizational mess-up part. Let’s get down to the music shall we?
Day 1 was a tad bit boring with none of the earlier acts worth mention; however Defected in the House had something of a saving grace with the ShapeShifters keeping it chunky with their house—ably supported by the insane Shovell on live percussion which pepped up the atmosphere.
Day 2 was when the Indian acts finally started to show that they were pretty much ruling the roost when it came to crowd control and madness quotient, Brute Force took down the house on the Circus stage in the afternoon session with his energetic trance and his army of Submerge-aficionados, while Order of the Essence dubbed out the few hundred people who bothered to listen to them. It was the first time I’d heard them, but it won’t be the last—these two, consisting of Nasha and Udyan are probably the most promising electronica acts to come out India since Jalabee Cartel, and their dubstep sound is electrifying.
Following them was the unstoppable Jalebee Cartel, with two sets in one. One—their trademark live set with Ash on the percussion and vocals and G-Force Arjun on his bass guitar with Arjun and Ashvin on their Macbook PROs as they dished out their originals to a tripping audience. Part two of this was their DJ set as Arjun, Ash and Ashvin took to their synthesizers and Macbook PROs to launch an awesome assault of techno and electro house which blew the place apart.
Of course, what was to follow was less appetizing, 00.db (John 00 Fleming+ Digital Blonde live) and Richard Durand (at his outdated worst) were cut off by the complaint and it was all silent. Not that we were complaining, Durand was terrible with three quarters of set well past its expiry date. We left early!
Day 3 was when Sunburn really came into its own with Norman Doray completely blitzing the afternoon session, followed by a mini-session of minimal+percussion madness from Simon Dunmore and Shovell.
And then it was the Goddess of Indian EDM—DJ Pearl who came up after them on the Circus Stage and boy did the diminutive one bring it on. Techno, progressive and plenty of electro and tech house, it was probably the most energetic performance of the entire fest.
Simultaneously we had the fill-in headliner, Gareth Emery on the Banyan Tree Stage. He was average at best, with some immense trance numbers and some utterly disappointing stuff (Lethal Industry, wtf!?!?).
The night and the fest got to its swan song with psytrance duo Growling Mad Scientist (GMS) live. Their energy and immersion into their sound was unparalleled and the crowd probably loved them best.
But the real revelation for me were the Midival Punditz, their electronica, techno and electro house was from another planet, the crowd here was much lesser, but whoever stuck this side were treated to some sinful and chunky bass lines that made us swing big time.
So yet another Sunburn came to a close, it wasn’t massive and great as we expected to, but quite simply for an EDM freak, this is as close as it came to the real deal when it came to our music. Hopefully next year, we’ll have bigger acts, better sound, the promised four stages and loadsa madness!!
Comments
28 comments. Add your own comment below.
huzair
Jan 1st, 2009 at 11:45 pm | #
crazy man!!.
couldnt make it, security concerns ;)
Rooshabh
Jan 2nd, 2009 at 12:43 am | #
WOAH!!!!!!!!!! had no idea it was Asia’s biggest festival!!!!!
Manav
Jan 2nd, 2009 at 2:37 am | #
subash, nice article, very well written.
can you help me out, trying to get into electronica (k may be nt get it in but may b just c what its bout}
who shud I hear
Subhash
Jan 2nd, 2009 at 5:41 pm | #
Hey Manav,
Ok you wanna see what it’s about right, i’d suggest a few artists you must listen to for their relevant genres.
1)-Armin van Buuren- Trance god and no#1 DJ in the world, his music is immensely enjoyable listen to.
2)-Deadmau5-Pronounced as Dead Mouse, this guy transcends all boundaries of genres, he does trance, techno, house, you name it, his productions are vast and absolutely brilliant.
3) — D-Nox and Beckers- My personal favorites when it comes to techno, these guys can singlehandenly blow your mind once you develop a taste for techno.
Do get some of their stuff and let me know if you wanna fully immerse yourself in it!
Karan
Jan 2nd, 2009 at 5:46 pm | #
Ooooh amazing,I feel sorry for the people who missed it. It was totally worth every buck I spent to reach there and stay there (stayed at the most swankiest hotel,15K a night!!).I’d just say one thing to all those who totally dig this kinda stuff but were clutching their balls and holed up inside their houses fearing a possible terrorist attack…may god bless you with a penis( in your next life,that is).
Good job mate…10/10!
Anuj
Jan 5th, 2009 at 9:43 pm | #
You are right mate! It realli didn’t look like a festival. I mean there was so much space between people as if everyone was hating everyone. This is one of the things i dont like about the indian crowd. All the rich guys and girls are just so arrogant that you cant even say a friendly HI to them ,,,, ofcourse there are exceptions but i would say about 80% of the people wouldnt treat you friendly if you don’t know them. This is very opposite to other countries where people dont have ego in their hearts because they are rich or something. Its very laid back……..i hope people become more open lolz….we r nice we just need to open a little bit ;)
Anish
Jan 6th, 2009 at 12:14 pm | #
Subhash, I’m not trying to be overtly critical but, pardon me, you didn’t seem to mention much about Simon Dunmore and Copyright on Day 1. In fact, I don’t see the named Copyright anywhere on this page. If you know anything about mixing and playing a festival set, you should’ve realised to kind of stuff these two were doing, acappellas and what not.
As for Lethal Industry, I believe it was Durand who dropped it and not Emery :)
You also have seemed to miss out on the outrageous early afternoon set Nawed played on Day 2, and your hangover also meant you missed out on the bar stage (Which contrary to your views, was VERY much functioning between 12pm-3pm), where some young, very talented DJs playing BRILLIANT sets. So much for covering the festival huh..
And please stop listening to Deadmau5, even my 12 year old brother knows he uses a single patch FL Studio setup to produce that annoying sidechained bassline synth.
Subhash Dawda
Jan 6th, 2009 at 8:28 pm | #
Yes i agree i got the Bar Stage fact wrong, point taken. But both Emery and Durand dropped Lethal Industry, clearly remember both doing it. As for Deadmau5, the guy’s clearly got talent, tends to get repetitive but he’s avant-garde. And i was suggesting some to the guy, you’re not going to give Joris van Voorn, Robert Babicz, Delete and Laidback Luke to someone wanting to get into the music right?
Subhash Dawda
Jan 6th, 2009 at 8:37 pm | #
And i guess i should’ve left it on the main article but whatever, DISCLAIMER= The review of Sunburn contains information about acts post 3pm-4pm till the end of the fest… — -
Thanks for spotting the mistakes bro
Pee-man
Jan 6th, 2009 at 10:41 pm | #
@ Anuj
“I mean there was so much space between people as if everyone was hating everyone” - Sunburn is a festival and NOT a WHOREHOUSE!
“All the rich guys and girls are just so arrogant that you cant even say a friendly HI to them” - Must suck being poor,eh!
“This is very opposite to other countries where people dont have ego in their hearts because they are rich or something. Its very laid back……..i hope people become more open lolz….we r nice we just need to open a little bit” - Anuj, you’ve used the word “open” several times…what exactly do you mean to say..when you say “I hope people become more open”…do you want people to disrobe,form a line and service you…while you shout out ‘NEXT’…I’d say the next time you go to Sunburn…go along with your friends(that is..if you have any!)…and don’t try to hit on random chicks…I’m pretty sure you tried your best to get laid before 2008 ended!…but hey…better luck next time…Sunburn 2009 awaits you(and other sexual predators of your kind).
Vidhi
Jan 7th, 2009 at 12:01 am | #
Hahahahahaha. Pee-Man!!!!!!!!!!!!! So funny you are! :)
Pee-man
Jan 7th, 2009 at 7:51 am | #
Thank you very much :)
Anish
Jan 8th, 2009 at 3:20 pm | #
@ Subhash - I missed Emery dropping LI I guess, you can add the bar stage to the main review too, check this set from the bar stage, some veryy good stuff!
http://soundcloud.com/rejistry/reji-12pm-december-27th-bar-stage-sunburn-2008-goa/download
Cheers!
Nikhil Chinapa
Jan 11th, 2009 at 2:04 pm | #
@ Subhash… Really liked the review, although i wish you’d made it early enough to the festival to check out the bar stage. It was my most favourite area of this year’s Sunburn. The vibe was.. sublime :)
As for your observations on the decibel level violation and shut down… trust me, there was a lot more afoot than mere dB levels. There are many people who would’ve been very happy to see Sunburn fail. Why? Because some people don’t think of what’s good for music, or how something like Sunburn helps ordinary shack owners, shopkeepers, hotels, restaurants, taxi drivers etc. Some people just want to prove that they are powerful. More powerful than anybody else around. In the end, It boils down to ego. Just ego.
What it took, to get the festival back online, only a few people know. And by the way, ZERO money changed hands in the process… if that’s what you’re thinking.
Also, you’ve got yourself a press pass for the 2009 edition :)
Subhash Dawda
Jan 11th, 2009 at 4:34 pm | #
Hey Nikhil,
Thanks for your comments, really appreciate you coming and checking the article out! Pity i couldn’t check the Bar Stage and will be running through the videos Anish has put up for ‘em. As for money changing hands, no i didn’t reckon that was the problem, just thought that all ends weren’t covered when it came the organization part (me being from an event management background)! You can’t really do about acts not having the balls to come and perform due to terrorism and stuff like that.
Anyways bro, hope to seeing a bigger, more massive 2009, and i shall see you there in Goa, cheers!
Chintan Kamani
Jan 12th, 2009 at 2:11 am | #
Subhash: This has been Exaggerated that music was off for almost 2 hours… I dont think that its correct. Moreover, you could have written about number of people who left/waitied when the music was stopped. Not right dude.
Subhash Dawda
Jan 12th, 2009 at 7:56 am | #
Hey Chintan,
While the amount of people that waited back makes for an endearing image, still doesn’t change the fact that the music stopped right? And at no time do i mention EVERYONE leaves. I just mention ‘we’ did, I’m sure the connotation directly signifies me and my crew! And yes, quite a few people waited, but quite a few people left as well, you’ll agree with me on that won’t you? Thank you for your comments!
Subhash Dawda
Jan 12th, 2009 at 8:07 am | #
Hey Anish,
Just downloaded Reji’s set, insanely smooth…do you happen to have any more from the Bar Stage? If i could get a couple more, i’d have enough content to write a some stuff on it!
Hermit
Jan 17th, 2009 at 8:30 pm | #
@Sub : Very nicely written, It makes us feel we need to do more for next year and come out with better festival…
I know from the outsider people dont care but it really took alot to pull this year off, considering the fact there were no beach parties, Main Artist canceling out and the Terror threat that we were under. Iam sure we could had done alot more and make it a better experience for everyone and iam sure we will make sure next year will be bigger and better!
Though i really like what you wrote, they are very few people who really write it out!….
Subhash Dawda
Jan 18th, 2009 at 7:52 pm | #
@ Hermit
Sure hope it will be, :) !!!
emran khan
Jun 17th, 2009 at 3:49 pm | #
@Subhas
Nikhil already commented on the 2nd day sound issue … But as u mentioned being from an event background. I am sure you know the db levels allowed by the authority and what levels are required for festival… But hats off to the organisers who managed to get the sound ON.
joseph george
Jun 29th, 2009 at 8:19 pm | #
any idea about sunburn 2009???
Vidhi
Jun 30th, 2009 at 11:30 am | #
@ Joseph: We’ll put up details as soon as the official dates are out…but as always, it’ll be held in December!
Piyush
Oct 9th, 2009 at 5:23 pm | #
Cant wait for the review of 09
racheal
Oct 16th, 2009 at 11:38 pm | #
hey can any one temme wer i can i buy passes for sunburn2009….. n how much will they cost?…ty :)
Chintan Kamani
Nov 12th, 2009 at 8:35 pm | #
I guess I bumped into this post after a decade…. :)
Anyways, Lets leave the past behind and focus on Sunburn 2009. Amazing Line-up this year that only fore-fathers would have thought and made a plan to execute it in 2025 maybe….
PDM & Submerge have done more than good to EDM scene in India with this festival.
So Excited to witness Sunburn 2009. Its going to be in Two Parts: Sunburn on the Beach and Sunburn Afterdark.
@Rachel: You can buy your passes on http://www.sunburn-festival.com
And for latest updates, Join the ‘SUNBURN’ Fan Page on Facebook and sign-up yourself on Submerge Forum: http://www.submerge.in/app/webroot/forum/index.php
I AM SO FUCKING SUNBURN’T…… :)))
Anish
Nov 13th, 2009 at 4:45 pm | #
Hey Subhash,
Sorry for the ultra late reply to your comments!
I don’t have links to any more sets from the bar stage..
Looking forward to seeing you in Goa this year :)
Cheers!
aayush
Dec 11th, 2009 at 11:20 am | #
hey NIKHIL
THIS YEAR WILL BE MY FIRST VISIT TO THE SUNBURN.
MOST OF MY FAVOURITE DJ’S ARE IN THE LIST
THE THING YOU MENTIOPNED ABOVE, ABOUT EVRYONE MAKING PROFIT OUT OF THE SUN BURN (SHACK,RESTAURANTS, DRIVERS)..
I CAN UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU ARE TRYING TO DEPICT HERE, AND THOSE PPL WHO WANT SUNBURN TO BE A FAILURE THEY WILL KEEP ON DREAMING.
hope to seee you there