The end of the year in Goa, usually marks the culmination of the thriving Indian electronic music scene. For the uninformed, there are roughly 3-4 music festivals that take place in December, with 2 of the biggest ones happening around the same time, and they attract some of the biggest music fans from all over the world. Not to mention, their all-star line ups, which usually means almost all of the biggest stars in the electronic music circuit from around the world, are in this tiny little sea-kissed Indian state.
One of those festivals in question was Vh1’s Supersonic. With a line up of some of the biggest dance music acts in the world, and hearty mix of both mainstream and underground acts, it would have been a bad idea to miss it.
What sets Supersonic apart, is it’s attention to detail in terms of curation. The powers that be have very clearly paid attention to the wants of electronic music lovers and have, without a doubt, delivered. It was also very clear that the festival was only, and ONLY about the music and the experience that comes with it, by virtue of various tiny details, which we will be looking at further on in this article.
Venue & Layout
Supersonic hit the sandy shores of Candolim beach for the third year in a row. Which is what made it so much more authentic. Goa is known for it’s beaches, and the Supersonic team used that to their advantage, as always. There isn’t a point of hosting a music festival in Goa if you’re not capitalising on what the state is known for, viz., the beach.
The layout for this year was also slightly different than it was last year, and for the better, with each stage strategically located so as to be facing away from the line of sound of the other, so as to ensure there is an absolute zero chance of sound clashes. What we particularly enjoyed too, was that each stage faced the sunset, so if you were around while an artist was playing, you’d have the sunset right behind you, making for an absolutely perfect vibe.
Added to that, the placement of the bars at frequent intervals, the Free water counters, the medical tent and the lounges were so conveniently located, you really didn’t have to struggle to find them. Everything was brilliantly, conveniently located.
Stages & Production
The stages were a step up from last year as well, but for a festival 3 years old, they were considerably lavish in their design and visuals. The one thing that supersonic has always won with, is that they refrain from the useless pomp and show, and lights and trickery and use all of their production design to focus on the essence of the festival, the music.
Iron Heart
The main stage, also called the Iron Heart stage, was host to several big names, so naturally this was the grandest stage at the festival, with most of the production work. It was really well designed to go with their signature theme that they’ve been maintaining for the past 2 years.
Spectrum
The Spectrum stage also doubled up as the Awakenings stage. It was beautifully minimalist in its design, and the visuals and light-work complimented it perfectly. The angular design made it stand out from other, regular stages that we’ve seen in the past, and that also aided in it being protected from the backlash of sound from the other stages.
Laboratoire Supersonique
The Bass stage, which played host to Arms House and UKF artists was a nifty little stage right near the entrance, and perfectly set up to go with the sheer energy of the artists playing on it.
Artists
Among the artists that graced us with their presence at the festival were Adam Beyer, Ida Engberg, Joris Voorn, Luigi Madonna, Stephan Bodzin, Marc Romboy, NERVO, Deorro, W & W, Axwell, Don Diablo, Zedd, Netsky, Mala, Culture Shock, Joran van Pol, Disclosure, Norman Doray and Sultan & Ned Shepard, just to name a few. Yes, there were some MASSIVE names on the line up.
Day 1
Day 1 saw artists like Zeds Dead, Disclosure, Adam Beyer, Mala and Addison Groove. We spent most of our time on the Awakenings stage, hosting Drumcode acts, as we wanted to be there to witness history being made in the Indian electronic music scene. Ida Engberg, Bart Skills and Beyer all threw down severely impressive sets, but then again, they’re all legends in their own right so one could expect nothing less of them.
Zeds Dead played a pumping set with some great mashups. They dropped a remix of Fatboy Slim’s “Praise You” that got the crowd going wild. Towards the end of their set they started playing some heavy trap with thumping electro bounce.
However, the highlight of the day had to be Disclosure. Even though they played a DJ set, filled with all of their hits, Latch, White Noise, Magnets and F for You. What’s more is their seemingly final track was the Flume remix of You & Me. That’s when we thought it was done, but the british duo snuck up on everyone with Outkast’s retro hit “Sorry Ms Jackson“.
Day 2
On Day 2, the Spectrum stage hosted the Joris Voorn & Friends stage, and we were really eager to see Kolsch. However due to unavoidable circumstances, he couldn’t perform. So BLOT! more than made up with his extended set, expertly crafted, and perfectly timed with the sunset. After, whom Nic Fanciulli absolutely smashed it, and perfectly set it up for one of the best sets of the festival which was to follow, by none other than Joris Voorn.
Day 3
The Spectrum stage saw the likes of Luigi Madonna, Paul Ritch and Joran Van Pol, all of whom gave us a proper schooling on proper, banging techno. Each of them played out to the very sound they’ve come to be known for, but on the whole it was a pleasant transition from Joran to Luigi.
On the Iron Heart stage, we caught Deorro and W&W. Deorro played a lively, bounce and big roomed filled set, and it was followed by W&W’s signature big room electro house.
On the Laboratoire Supersonique stage however, Culture Shock unleashed some really wicked energy with his high octane Drum & Bass. And we mean proper, authentic Drum & Bass.
Day 4
The Spectrum stage didn’t play host to Awakenings on the final day, however, we were treated to one of Anjunadeep’s finest and most quickly rising stars, Yotto, followed by the absolutely amazing Pearl, who’s set was dark and progressive. She was followed by 2 very legendary DJs, Stephan Bodzin and Marc Romboy on a B2B set, and Anjunabeats star-child, Grum.
Yotto played a wonderfully melodic and really deep set, that effortlessly transitioned with the change of vibe from sunset to darkness. He played his remix of Above & Beyond‘s Counting Down the Days, and Krankbrother’s When You’re Watching Me, that sent us wafting through the clouds to dreamland. Pearl wonderfully prepped us up for what was to follow with her groovy, progressive and nocturnally charged set. This was followed by some really driving and nocturnally melodious tunes by Bodzin & Romboy, like the George Fritzgerald’s remix of Open Eye Signal by Jon Hopkins. Grum ended with a absolute bang in true Anjunabeats style.
Afterparties
One of the most stellar bits of the entire supersonic experience was the after-parties, each of which started at around 10:30 pm, as soon as the festival ended, and ended at around 8:30 am the next morning. Other-worldly performance at each of the venues, whether it was Sequaa for Big room and progressive, Waters for the Awakenings after parties and Cafe Lambretta for the bass after parties. Some of the best DJing we’ver ever seen in our lives took place over the course of those few days.
Overall Experience
All in all, it was an amazing experience, very evidently catered for music fans, by true music fans. Most of the staff behind the scenes were people from within the industry who’d been around for years, so you knew you were in safe hands. Added to that, the additional security, the frequent free water counters, the medical and first aid tie up with Manipal Hospital and the freedom to dance totally made sure you had a carefree festival experience.
Added to that the really cheap alcohol and many specialized lounges ensured you partied to your hearts content.
Big ups to the entire supercrew for helping us go supersonic, and giving us such enriched musical experiences.
Article By: Shule Puri & Jinen Gandhi
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