- Goa, of course, has been associated with psychedelic trance since the late '90s, but last year the island haven got a fresh lease of life in the form of the debut Sunburn Festival, which ambitiously sought to create a niche for dance music and its enthusiasts by hosting a two-day extravaganza that featured DJs such as Carl Cox, Above & Beyond, John '00' Fleming and a slew of other formidable local and international talents. Although it had some initial hiccups, the party was a roaring success, instantly becoming one of the premiere events for fans of electronic music that had grown weary of the psy-trance sound.
Sunburn's second edition garnered great expectations as a result, but rumors of the festival's demise were quick to circulate: Sunburn didn't have the sponsorship of Smirnoff like it did last year and, what's more, terrorist attacks in Mumbai in November shook the whole of India, and Goa was reported to be the next target. Festival organizers Nikhil Chinapa and his Submerge crew along with the event producers PDM Entertainment took both issues in stride.
They somehow got enough support to bring in a wide variety of international artists—although many reportedly took a pay cut to be there—and also assuaged festival-goers fears by letting them know in plenty of time that the event was still very much on. (The letter from the Goa Tourism Minister assuring that tight security measures would be enforced certainly helped.)
Photo credit: Prmod Bafna
The result? Sunburn 2008 was bigger than its predecessor, with an extra day and an extra stage along with 40 odd artists both international and Indian, gracing the festival. Of those three stages (The Bar Stage, Circus Stage and Banyan Tree Stage), The Bar was functional from noon until around 3:30 PM when the Circus and Banyan Tree stages came alive. Also on the festival grounds? An extensive flea market where revelers could purchase anything they might find at a normal Goan Flea market, as well as food and beverage outlets, seven bars and a dry spa. If anyone fancied a massage, that is.
DAY 1
DJ Reji took opening honours and kicked the festival off with some very nice tech-inspired sounds, even if the BPMs seemed a bit high for the early hour. Reji was followed by fellow local DJ Rithesh, whose liquid grooves set the mood for the beach party perfectly. Shiva Sound System seemed a bit out of place with their drum & bass onslaught, but the crowd eventually warmed up to them once some familiar remixes were dropped.
But this was all prelude for Simon Dunmore and Sam Holt of Copyright (alongside percussionist Shovell). The Defected boss started things off with a deep and blissful groove and upped the ante throughout with loads of inspiring and uplifting a cappellas. Holt and Shovell, meanwhile, went for more uplifting and funky sunset sounds that drove the crowd into a frenzy. Hearing "The Man with the Red Face" at sunset was easily one of the best moments of the festival.
Photo credit: Prmod Bafna
Closing out the night were Roger Shah and Ma Faiza. The former was one of the most highly anticipated acts of Sunburn, but Shah failed to make much of an impression by playing classics and crowd favourites from his kitty. It was pleasing, but Shah sacrificed flow as a result. Faiza, on the other hand, played a charged-up progressive psychedelic set that got the crowd going wild.
DAY 2
Nawed Khan started the second day with a very sweet, balanced set that suited the time (3 PM). He had the crowd in the palm of his hand throughout with a great sense of flow. Around this time, the crowd started to slowly seep in, bringing with it a number of eccentric outfits and antics: Fire spinners, jugglers and pois swingers all graced the Circus stage to cheering and enthusiastic applause.
Brute Force followed, playing a delightful mix of electro, techno, prog and psy that melted quite a few faces in the crowd who seemed rather amazed that those kinds of sounds could be played so easily together. Richard 'RDx' Durand, on the other hand, didn't do much to surprise, but his set was loaded with enough energy to get people excited.
Photo credit: Prmod Bafna
Jalebee Cartel, an Indian electronica quartet, were next and lived up to the local's high expectations. To commemorate the event, they changed the vocals to their song "Midnight Madness" to the appropriate "Sunburn Madness" and played a rather twisted mix of sweet progressive and techno sounds for about an hour, until the power mysteriously cut out—much to the dismay and disappointment of those gathered. They came back on after almost 15 minutes and immediately went back to their set with a very bouncy mix of "Yeke Yeke."
As 00.db were setting up, you could tell that the duo of John '00' Fleming & Digital Blonde were there for some serious mayhem. Unfortunately, only a little bit into the set, they were shut down by the Goan Police who claimed that what we were hearing was "noise pollution." When they eventually got back on the stage, their final half-hour was pure mayhem—and ended the day on a very high note.
DAY 3
Festival host Nikhil Chinapa took to the decks and played some sweet sounds to begin the third day's proceedings at the Circus stage, with a rather bouncy and happy-vibed tech house set that did the business. Vachan Chinnappa, a local legend of sorts from Bangalore, came on next to much pomp and displayed great aplomb with his brand of dark, driving electro sounds with more than a few surprises thrown in. He was one of the few at the festival spinning vinyl and, appropriately, played an old-school set with great energy as he brought in the sunset with great panache.
French Producer-DJ Norman Doray came on later, playing a beautiful set with loaded house tunes and a presence that delighted everyone. But many on the third day were here to see Pearl, who signed to Defected this year and was in her goddess element. She wowed the crowds with an infectious energy and hard-edged sounds before Garth Emery, the DJ slotted in due to the cancellation of Eddie Halliwell. Luckily, the replacement delivered with a beautiful journey interspersed with techy, melodic driven sounds and Gareth's own big reworks of some fabulous tracks.
Photo credit: Prmod Bafna
It was the perfect lead-in to G.M.S., who finished things off as only they could: The frisky duo put forth two hours of absolute psychedelic energy mayhem, with live compositions of popular tunes. They made sure that Sunburn closed with the crowd going wild.
Sunburn 2008, almost accomplished what it set out to do. They made a three day festival happen in Goa with some very talented artistes and a repertoire that spanned some of the best international and Indian artists. It even went on despite the aforementioned hurdles that could have easily derailed the event.
While the artist handling and management could've been much better and the sets more punctual overall, the added surprises and free-spirited vibe worked in Sunburn's favor and created loads of memories and experiences with a truly Goan accent to it.