Take me back!
Take me back to a place where laughter is speech and smiles are abundant. To a place which is mystical in presence yet feels strangely like home? I choose to describe my personal journey to attend this gathering of sorts as only via this will I be able to give a decent gist and encapsulate the entire experience.
Magnetic Fields first caught my attention primarily because of the designs they dished out on their social media portals. Every creative they’ve posted have just been spot on! The starry backgrounds, the incorporation of the Islamic star were like butterflies in my stomach – it touches every aspect I obsess about, screaming at me that I really needed to go.
All this mindless banter about design is mostly because I tend to do some design myself, the lack of experience in writing will be evident as you continue reading this article. After some waiting they finally released the price of the tickets for their inaugural edition and it didn’t seem to agree with my college boy situation. Some furious messages were sent to their inbox and a couple of troll’s later, I succumbed to the fact that I was mostly broke. It’s not you Magnetic Fields, it’s me.
Now in this year of 2015 post a long drought of no travels, Magnetic Fields posted their line-up and immediately me and my bank account decided that this trip HAD to be made. Come thunder, wind chills, desi bedouins, and any other registaan related term – I had to be standing in the crowd listening to Shigeto drumming to ‘R Life‘. I went ahead and booked my tickets with a grin on my face knowing that this was finally happening.
Fast forward to the cold morning of 18th december, a Friday – I’m walking towards the platform at Sarai Rohilla looking at the scores of people awaiting the train to Sadulpur. Most of them excited, some of them waging a war against the winter. The veteran bedouins stood there describing their past experience to others, the most popular description of the festival being “a cleansing of the spirit.”
Alsisar seemed like the run of the mill village. We arrived in a barrage of cabs from the train station, negotiating the one car only, super narrow lanes. We saw tailors tailoring, sellers selling and kids running alongside our taxis. At the main gate, there was a familiar face of a bouncer (security forgive me) paired up with a guard of the mahal with his magnificent moustache perhaps giving a gist of the things to come. I was to collect my band directly at the reception without an email acknowledgment but the bouncer didn’t let us through, so we fooled him by showing my friend’s online receipt, twice.
All the fuss was clear as soon as we entered the palace – the tiresome journey and the intriguing surroundings all seemed to be worth it just by stepping within the walls. The first sight you see is of these lights descending from a point above. You could see many people still running about trying to get things done. We were greeted by some unfamiliar faces, one of them I later found out was the co-founder of the festival itself – Munbir. The crew were kind and proactive in their resolve, helping people who were standing clueless staring at the mahal and point them towards where they were to be. Post getting our bands we decided to explore the place a little and find out the ordeal that was to follow.
We chose to walk a few footsteps away from the palace past the stalls that the people of Alsisar set up serving all the winter favourites to get to what was the massive bedouin village. A red carpet leads you uptill the signature stage, the Heineken Desert Disco which is followed by neat rows of tents with their entrances facing opposite each other. In the night, the tents were dimly lit just adding onto the whole atmosphere and mostly emphasizing the starry night sky. Being from different vendors certain tents were bigger and better while the others weren’t really upto the mark. You had the most random stalls from a henna designer to a hokey pokey ready to serve you up of ice cream in the middle of December. But at the end of the day it was mostly about the music. The Heineken Desert Disco had the responsibility of warming up the bedouins alongside the afternoon sun untill the music moved to the mahal. On day 1, we had the music collective from Dubai, the 264 Cru doing the deed early on. On day 2, special guest Soul Clap and M.Mat set the tone for the people. Taru Dalmia aka Delhi Sultanate filled the vicinity with some reggae roots music on a lovely Sunday afternoon. Matchboxes were being distributed raising awareness for his campaign for the construction of India’s first Mobile Reggae Sound System along with his warnings about the narco’s lurking around the premises. Do take a moment to check out and possibly contribute to his campaign by clicking here.
Close to the seasonal pool, we had the South Stage which would be reminiscent of a “main stage” of any other festival (just that this wasn’t.) Bombay based producer Kumail kicked off the proceedings with his ambient sound, along with an added dimension courtesy his Jaar-like vocals into the microphone. The highlight of the stage was without a shadow of a doubt – RATATAT, who thrilled the rammed audience with their signature tunes. Apart from their mostly instrumental sound, the accompanied visuals for Gettysburg and Wildcat were absolutely on point! Rocktronica is how they’ve always been described but that performance was nothing less than a psychedelic rock concert. Shigeto, the man hailing from Ann Arbor who I was personally looking forward to finally made his maiden voyage to India and stunned the people present with his persistent drumming accompanied with groovy synths. Ringleader showcased his afro-carribbean jazz influence while R Life capped his set on a feel good note. Armed with their axes – Peter Cat Recording Co, Donn Bhat + Passenger Revelator, The F16’s did a splendid job. Special shoutout to the boys from Kuala Lumpur, Bass Sekolah who surprised people with their hard hitting beats accompanied with some kaos-infused vocals and let’s not forget that red hair.
Nestled in the heart of the palace, we had the Red Bull Music Academy North Stage. This was where all the dance enthusiasts flocked and claimed the night. The North Stage was sensationally curated showcasing unheard sounds, perfect for dancing away in the middle of nowhere, under the stars. The Indian Delegation was well represented with metalhead turned synthpop producer, Aqua Dominatrix and synth-extraordinaire, Sandunes‘ new live project coined as Perfect Timing. And then we had the heavyweights. Hunch Music champion Hunee paired up with Antal to school the crowd with some classics and show them truly what is dance! People really didn’t want that to end. On Day 2, DJ Koze started his set with a Bollywood vocal sample playing to a barely there bassline. From that point till the lullaby he chose to end it with the people present truly witnessed something spectacular. High point being when he dropped his famed remix of Moderat‘s Bad Kingdom. Grime guru, Mumdance didn’t shy away from wheeling up to double dose the people with his copious selections. LA legend Kutmah capped off the stage on day 3 with probably the heaviest bassline I’ve heard in the longest while even featuring a medley of tunes from Kendrick Lamar‘s latest – To Pimp a Butterfly.
Heading towards the hours of dawn post surviving the North Stage, it was incredible to see that people craved for more. The solution? Each night had a different after party. Day 1 had a showcase of two labels from the rebelling neighbours; Pakistan’s Forever South and India’s Consolidate which was made possible by thump and Border Movement. Label founders’ Rudoh and _RHL squared off against one another while DJ MoCity was up on MC duties. The most anticipated night was on day 2 which was to take place in the dungeon of the palace – Resident Advisor Underground featuring Soul Clap keeping things lively and letting through a fresh burst of energy with their funk inspired sounds until the daybreak! The final day had a secret stage which was successfully kept in the dark up untill the late hours. While walking opposite the temple which was a hotspot for the people trying to keep warm around the campfires, everyone noticed a network of mesh strips along with mini disco balls being suspended. As soon as Jitter initiated his disco set, the suspended fabric was brought to life with incredible projections, setting the ambiance. Famed Indian duo BLOT! were on deck duties to close the festival with a large chunk of the attendee’s praising it as one of the most magical sets they’ve ever witnessed.
I knew the music and mahal would be magical but I still take back the smaller moments as the best memories which just added onto the whole experience. I spoke to the people of the village who loved the fact that such a festival was happening in their backyard. Music being played till the wee hours of the morning was the least of their concern, they were just really happy to see some fresh faces in their village. Apart from that there was this sense of community evident everywhere. The freezing cold made the campfires a place to keep warm and in the process meet new people. For the one’s who were taking a break from the music they chose to stroll around admiring the beauty of the mahal, certain people got a chance to even star-gaze on the roof top. The all night eatery did a fine job dishing out pizzas and waffles for the gluttonous. All said and done, Magnetic Fields Festival 2015 was a high point on a lot of people’s calendars. It truly was beautiful!
Photo credits: Artfotos
Written by Ehsan Atiq
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