Sunburn 2017 starts amid delays, chaos

By Sugandha Rawal

Pune, Dec 29 (IANS) The first day of the 11th edition of the Sunburn music festival was supposed to be the kick-off party to set the tone for what's in store, but it turned out to be more of a trial run instead of the final show due to delays and a jumbled up schedule.

The crowd fighting with the guards for entry and stages being set up beyond the scheduled time of performances -- that was the note on which Sunburn 2017 started at Oxford Golf Resort, Lavale here on Thursday.

The main stage which goes by the name 'Empire of the Sun 2.0' was being set-up till 6.30 p.m., when it was supposed to start at 4 p.m. with the beats of The Unknown.

One attendee was overheard as saying: "Let us enter. The schedule says 4 p.m., then why aren't you letting us enter the arena?"

A security personnel deployed at the entry gate told IANS on being probed: "I don't know the reason, but I am instructed to do so. They (the organisers) first said the gates would open at 4 p.m., then they changed the time to 6 p.m. and now it is 7 p.m."

The other stages -- OLA stage, Garden Ville, Arachnoid -- were also a drab till sunset.

The world of Sunburn finally opened in the evening with music lovers flocking together to different stages to catch the action, and be a part of it.

'Empire of the Sun 2.0' was an example of bad management and planning.

The first act of The Unknown, which started around 7 p.m. with the tunes of "Something just like this", was cut short, Mariana BO was shifted to the OLA stage, and then finally Belgian DJ Coone took forward the music party as per schedule.

But it was famous Belgian DJ duo Dimitri Vegas and Like Mike who got the party started.

Before they got onto the stage, the music plug was pulled off, and the lights went off, making the crowd shout out their names. And the duo got onto the stage with the loudest cheer.

As soon as they got to work, the DJ duo got the audience captivated with their fast beats and remixed numbers.

From giving dance steps to the audience, telling them to join in for the lyrics, and jumping with them, the duo seemed like wizards with the audience getting charmed by their spell.

For instance, when they turned down the music and audience filled in the silence, and when they asked the crowd to sit down and then jump to the music on the count of three, they did as they were instructed.

The high point of the performance was how they engaged with the attendees, giving it a personal touch.

The fireworks, kaleidoscope of lights, confetti, fog gun, laser lights playing games, balloons and visuals in the background took the performance to a different level.

The highlight was when they both got on the console and waved the Indian flag with fireworks.

Expressing their love for the country, they said: "This is the fifth time we will be celebrating New Year in India. You guys are truly one of the craziest crowd in the world."

They left with a promise to come back soon.

As far as safety is concerned, one could see heavy deployment of police, with guards making random checks here and there. There was also a counter to check for the legal age of drinking among attendees.

Day one started on a slow note, but there are many acts like Grammy nominated French music producer DJ Snake and Dutch producer and DJ Martin Garrix to pump up the party. The fest will go on till December 31.

(The writer's trip is at the invitation of Sunburn organisers. Sugandha Rawal can be contacted at sugandha.r@ians.in)