Flying then, Raving Now!
This is what we suggested as a tagline for Bacardi EVC in our review last year and after a annual trip around the sun, here we are again, suggesting the same. The festival, in its third year has created an identify for itself of being a social gathering of like minded music enthusiasts with camping and adventure sports being a part of it too.
The true essence of Bacardi EVC lies in Camping with some strangers in the night and waking up to them being more than just another contact in your phones. Sure the likes of Fatboy Slim, Oliver Heldens & Tiesto look great on a line up and sound even better in live, you just can’t define Bacardi EVC solely on the lines of music.
It’s way more than that , it’s different than the lot out there, it’s not just a festival, it’s an experience of it’s own kind. And probably the only one of it’s kind in India right now. On this note we would like to take you on a more serious, in depth journey of our Bacardi EVC 2015 experience.
Venue
Bacardi EVC thrives on its prime Aamby Valley airway strip location which is far secluded from the chaos of Mumbai and Pune. This year with double the Camping Arena and 4 stages, the map of the festival was completely changed and to be honest, it wasn’t the best of decisions. The campers had just two exits, one directly out to the parking lot and the other to the live stage.
Navigating your way around the festival wasn’t easy for campers and the scorching heat in the day was just to unbearable. Even the artists were covering their laptops and mixers with cardboards, first time we saw that at any festival.
The Festival ground was just not ready for the festival, let’s just say that out honestly. As it is, dancing on a hard runway strip is not good for your feet, figuring your way through pot holes every odd yard wasn’t the adventure we were looking for.
Camping
First of all cheers to the person who designed the Harry Potter Quidditch World Cup style luxury tents. Though we didn’t get to stay in them, they looked luxurious and spacious. So wasn’t the case with other campers in the arena. Apart from the runway, nothing in the Festival arena including the camping zone was level enough to walk, dance or in our worst case, sleep.
The enthusiasm in the camping zone was on the lower side this year with many of the bonding activities being cancelled on the last moment. We missed our dearest the then one and only circular charging / activity zone from last year which indirectly made it epicentre of happiness in the camping valley. Though the Camping zone was twice the size and spacious in terms of planning, the intimacy and comfort was missing severely.
Music
Bacardi EVC has been a host to stellar lineups in the past, and this year was no exception. From techno heavyweight Dubfire (along with his massive SCI+TEC showcase) to Ferry Corsten and his Full On stage to Tiesto and Shpongle, and Arjun Vagale, Nucleya and Hamza to name a few Indians from the lineup, the acts were as diverse as they could get.
Each stage hosted a particular kind of genre: Cosmos was where bass was served in copious amounts, Terra hosted the live acts, Pyro was the euphoric trance hub except on Day 3, and Akva, curated by Soma, was a psy haven for two days before Day 3 engulfed the party people into a world of trippy techno.
Had it not been for the immense number of acts (or the lack of teleportation), we would’ve definitely given you details on every act, but like any other festival review, there are a few limitations, so kindly bear with them.
Day 1
Day 1 saw the likes of Ritviz, Sound Avtar, Nucleya and Aerreo among the Indian acts on the electronic music stages, the first three gracing the main stage. Aerreo opened the Armada stage, to set the tempo for Ruben De Ronde, Ben Gold, Omnia, and finally, Thomas Gold.
The Soma stage featured some amazing psy trance pioneers who played longer sets than their counterparts on other stages. Chromaderma went on opening duties as early as 4pm, before being taken over by Spinal Fusion, and finally Avalon, whose set was beastly, euphoric and twisted.
Terra showcased established and upcoming Indian live acts for all the three days, but the positioning of the stage was awkward, as it was overshadowed by the much-bigger Cosmos stage, confining it to a corner where people barely went. This was a little off-putting, to be frank, because this Saavn-sponsored stage was brimming with talent and unique sounds. Laxmi Bomb closed this stage on Day 1, after cool performances by Pratyul Joshi, Dhruv Viswanath and The Space Behind The Yellow Room.
Cosmos was a bass station on Day 1, as all the Indian acts mentioned above hit hard sets that left people gasping for breath. But Cosmos still had some fire left. Bass Modulators took the stage, and what followed was complete annihilation. Though a small vocal section of hardstyle fans exist in the country, India is yet to experience a full-fledged hardstyle phenomenon, and that’s what these guys set out to do. Noisecontrollers came right after Bass Modulators, and they unleashed mental sets to a responsive crowd who loved what they were served.
Day 2
The sun shone on Day 2 and it was time for some chill-out vibes to get over the madness that was Day 1. Nanok took over the Cosmos stage with his chill-out funky house stuff, followed by long-timer Nawed Khan and progressive house sensation Sartek to end the Indian showcase on Cosmos for the day. Far East Movement took the stage next, and that’s where the party really started. They dished out banger after banger, sometimes switching to bass-heavy trap beats that left the crowd in a frenzy. To tone this down, Oliver Heldens brought his signature “Wombass” sound to turn jumps into jigs, as people grooved to his future house beats. And finally, the British legend himself, Fatboy Slim, graced Cosmos with his disco-influenced acid house tracks and his hilariously twisted visuals, sometimes switching to old-school hip hop to draw vocal crowd reactions. Norman ended the day on a high, and made sure everyone went home happy.
Pyro hosted Ferry Corsten’s Full On stage for the day. Though we couldn’t catch most of the acts here, we did listen to some of the sets thanks to the proximity of our tents to the Pyro and Akva stages, and we landed just in time for Ferry Corsten’s magical set, before Marco V took over and started playing even harder tunes. The stage ended with a small B2B moment with Marco V and Ferry.
At Akva, Shpongle was pushed to last on the schedule, but after Bullzeye and GMS slayed the Soma Project stage, Shpongle made sure he took it to the next level, playing his usual chill out stuff whilst still leaving ravers in a daze.
Notable acts from the Terra stage include Coshish, Kanishk and Kavita Seth, and BLaNK, a project DJ Skip is a part of, and the silent parties featured Maulik, Mash, Nawed Khan’s techno alias Browncoat and DJ Skip, and took place in the campsite.
Day 3
The last day of the carnival had an all-mainstream lineup on the Cosmos stage, featuring some of India’s brightest EDM producers and DJs. Zenith started things off, followed by Kerano and Zaeden. Following them was Lost Stories who played a B2B set with (S)haan to round off the Indian acts for the day. The popular duo Dzeko & Torres adorned the stage next, and they did not seem to stop the progressive vibe going further, as people jumped, screamed and basked in the streamers. Then came Tiesto, and the decibel levels doubled. Playing tracks from his own label Musical Freedom and occasionally resorting to classics like ‘Maximal Crazy‘, Tiesto’s set was full of energy, and people felt it there. It was undoubtedly the best way to close the festival, and people were visibly tired, but they overflowed with happiness.
Pyro was all about the ‘untz’ on the last day. Dubfire’s talented SCI+TEC showcase featured an eclectic lineup, with Stiv Hey on opening duties for the day, followed by the Indian minimal star, Kohra. Shaded and Hobo played deep sets full of sub-bass and massive kicks. But, after Dubfire took the stage, all hell broke loose. Even Kohra was seen drifting in the audience, grooving to the underground maestro’s tunes. Dubfire’s visuals were crazy, hypnotic and off the chain. His act alone was outstanding.
Akva featured Sashanti, Stefano Richetta and Steve Rachmad, known for their trippy sets, and ravers who drifted off from Pyro and Cosmos got a taste of exactly that when they stepped foot onto the Akva stage. No set was boring, and nobody stood still during their sets. Pure perfection.
Terra had acts like Faridkot, Fuzzculture and Hamza, the latter unleashing a surprisingly groovy set, the lack of a crowd notwithstanding. The silent parties saw people groove to the tunes of Technoetic, Cod3d, Kusai and Quistek.
This brought in the end to a magical 3rd edition of Bacardi Enchanted Valley Carnival, which, with its share of highs and lows, delivered an extraordinary music festival. Onto BEVC 2016!
Written by: Akshay Naravane and Brij Dalvi
Edited by: Pranav Gupta
Image Credits: Enchanted Valley Carnival Facebook
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