There’s something enchanting about a sunset, isn’t it? The sun kissing the horizon, turning the sky into warm shades of gold and flame – signifying the conclusion of day and the beginning of an enchanting night. All one needed this Sunday to experience the perfect sunset was the right background score, which was merrily offered by Corona and Submerge in their collaborative efforts The Corona Sunsets Music Festival. Touring around the country, the music festival promised a host of artists and flavors that are curated specially for the delicate Sundowner sessions, which shows the exemplary powers of Deep and groovy electronic music to unravel and mystify our otherwise tumultuous and rigorous evenings. With a diverse lineup and an emphatic location to experience the sunset, the Corona Sunsets Music Festival at Mumbai easily embarked upon something new and left its attendees with an insatiable hunger for more!

The story begins when last year electronic music platform SFX Entertainment during Ibiza’s International Music Summit (IMS) announced a global partnership with Corona and Beatport to launch Corona SunSets, a series of worldwide beach festivals – inspired by the magic hour of the sunset. Corona SunSets is created to provide a festival experience that inspires people around the world to unplug, unite and celebrate the energy and spirit of the sunset.  In its’ debut year in India, the festival promised to be a close knit dance music affair, bringing together a community of like-minded people seeking the same thing – an escape, a chance to unplug, a shared experience worth celebrating. This brand new series of festivals brings to life the sound of the beach, a new genre centered at the crossroads of Balearic beat and deep house. After stopovers at Delhi, Pune and Bangalore, it was now the turn of Mumbai to experience the magic of the Corona Sunset!

The Venue

The good people at Submerge have this fantastic ability to scout some of the city’s best locations for music of the right nature, and with Asilo they definitely hit the mark. A short elevator ride, which results in your ears getting blocked on account of air pressure difference, led to a phenomenal panoramic view atop the 38th floor of a Hotel in Mumbai – now that’s taking things to greater heights (literally)! With the Arabian seas at our eye level, it bought about the enchanting Sunset as well as the beautiful monsoon aura into the glass-enclosed decks of Asilo. Around the sunset time, the entire venue was masked in hues of gold, transforming Asilo into a gorgeous piece of natural landscape. With enough food and drink to satisfy our taste buds, their was that glorious musical offering to satisfy the dance buds. The venue became seamless with the environment and as the sky shades turned, so did the depth in musical nuances. A picturesque setting for the Corona Sunsets.

The Artists

The evening began with Lynston D’souza taking to the decks with his Blurry Slur alias. He set the tone for the massive lineup coming our way with a delectable assortment of tunes from the underground. He was followed by Arsh who delivered a swerving set of Techno and Tech House.

Ranging from tunes such as ‘Caution You (Ohmme Remix)‘ by Paolo Rocco and Confute‘s ‘On the Hour‘, Arsh kept the basslines kicking in amidst a wave of emotive Techno.

Hollen, who’s known for his distinctive yet experimental sound, was all set to take over the DJ decks. With releases on respected record labels such as Suara, Tronic, Kling Klong, Terminal M and many others, Hollen has created quite the niche for himself over the years. His mastery as a DJ lies in the fact that he likes to blend various sound styles from the underground, while weaving a narrative through his set. Hollen began his set with a more progressive style of Techno, unleashing some rich textures that glimmered in the night sky like the thousand lights around us in the city of Mumbai below. With tracks like Demarzo‘s ‘Physical Attraction (Definition Remix)‘, he certainly got the audience to raise their arms instantaneously. But the real delicacies followed an hour into his set as he build-up his set to a bassline-friendly atmosphere. With tracks like ‘Dub City (Lutzenkirchen Remix)‘ by Irregular Synth & Andrea Frisina, he triggered an army of dance fanatics.

Hollen‘s set was characteristically distinguished with his effortless transition between melodic and club-friendly tunes. Dishing out the massive Stefano Noferini, Luca M & JUST2, CMM‘s ‘Raw House (Paul C & Paolo Martini Remix)‘, he controlled the tempo of this audience and showed unparalleled supremacy behind the decks.

The Vibe

While the Mumbai rains have sometimes played a damper because of its unpredictable nature, the weather didn’t play spoilsport this time around. Audiences put their best foot forward and came readily adorned to tackle the illustrious Sundowner session. While the humidity caused an unlucky few to perspire, the view atop the city of Mumbai was undisputed and gave a unique edge to the venue and the event. The smiles quickly spread as audiences lapped in the wonderful ambiance curated by Submerge.

We now look forward to the next editions of the Corona Sunsets Music Festival with bated breath, to take another whirlwind journey into some eclectic tunes amidst some exotic backdrops!

Special thanks to the Submerge team for curating this fantastic event.

Gig Review by Hamed Khalidi