Weekender Returns

Line-ups for Delhi and Pune editions of the Weekender are out, with most of the Pune acts of the last two years performing in Delhi

Perhaps one of the most memorable moments during the announcement of this year's edition of the music festival Bacardi NH7 Weekender was when the organisers, Only Much Louder (OML), announced that the festival would be held in Bengaluru and Delhi, but said nothing about Pune. Since its inception in 2010, Weekender has been held only in Pune and in these years, it has become one of the most popular festivals in the country; so the announcement predictably didn't go down well with the fans.

Soon, however, the late announcement of the Pune event was acknowledged as a prank by the organisers and last week, the line-ups for the Delhi and Pune events were released. A majority of the artistes who have performed in Pune over the last two years will play in Delhi this year, while a number of Weekender first-timers will play in Pune. The Bengaluru line-up remains unannounced.

The decision to not repeat acts in Pune was restricting as far as choosing bands went, but it was fun nonetheless, says Vijay Nair, CEO of OML. "As far as Delhi and Bengaluru are concerned, we had more options with programming bands," says Nair, adding, "With Pune, it was a lot of fun to look as far out as possible to help curate the best list of acts from India and across the world."

Headlining the Bacardi Black Rock Arena — the stage for rock and metal acts — in Delhi is Megadeth, a band considered one of the pioneers of metal. This position in Pune will be filled by Karnivool, a progressive rock band from Australia. On The Dewarists Stage in Delhi are Anoushka Shankar and Shafqat Amanat Ali, formerly the lead vocalist of the Pakistani alternative-rock band Fuzon. A fourth headlining international act in the city — at the Eristoff Wolves Den, the stage for dance and electronica music — is Kaiserdisco, a Hamburg-based duo that plays house and techno. In Pune, among the other international acts are Seun Kuti and Egypt 80, Michal Menert and The Aston Shuffle. Another hugely popular part-Indian act that will play at The Dewarists Stage in Pune is ShriLectric and Vivek Rajagopalan.

... contd.

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