With the inaugural edition of the Emerge Music And Arts Festival just around the corner, there’s plenty to look out for. From exceptional stage curation and installations to some super-talented supporting acts that you might have overlooked, there’s much more to this festival than what meets the eye. Here’s a comprehensive list.
1. Alt-J’s first ever performance in India
Here’s a band that has categorically denied labelling itself, and whose sound is actually quite baffling to genre-fy. Is it folk? Is it Indie? Is it trip? A beautiful combination of all three? Draw your own conclusions at their first ever performance in the country. Check out some of their best covers HERE.
2. Rudimental’s live shows are true spectacles
The UK based drum ‘n’ beat group have been tearing up the charts lately, with their pop infused, easy-to-listen take on the genre. Although they will be playing a DJ set at the festival, their on-stage presence is a sheer joy to watch. Want to know a bit more about them? Find out HERE.
3. Shilo Shiv Suleman’s brilliance will reflect on the main stage
Shilo will be designing the main stage at the festival, as well as creating stunning installations at the festival in Bangalore and Gurgaon. Her focus lies on the intersection between magic realism and art for social change and technology. In 2014, her collaborations with a neuroscientist on creating art that interacts with your brainwaves and other biofeedback sensors made her recipient of several grants and residencies, including an honorarium grant from Burning Man for the interactive project: Pulse and Bloom. The
project was then featured on a host of international media: BBC, Rolling Stone, MSNBC, Tech Crunch, The Guardian, WIRED and more. Here’s some of her work:
Click to view slideshow.
(Images Courtesy: Shilo Shiv Suleman Website)
4. Cupick is co-directing the art at Emerge
Bangalore based art portal Cupick will be co-curating the art at the festival. It’s a great platform to showcase your work as the approved pieces will be displayed on large sunboards and flexes across the festival. Head over to their stall and pick up some merchandise.
(Images Courtesy: Cupick Facebook)
5. Watch out for some stellar illustrations
Acclaimed American illustrator and writer Allisson Weeks Thomas will create pieces with a fairy-tale like charm and innocence and she has a particular penchant for mixed-media. Her masterpieces at the festival will surely dazzle you, so begin hunting for these before the music kicks off.
(Images Courtesy: Allison Weeks Thomas Facebook)
6. Feast your eyes with the brilliant sketches on show
London based designer and illustrator Alex Griffiths whimsical and witty drawings will also be displayed at Emerge. Here are some of his magnificent sketches:
Click to view slideshow.
(Images Courtesy: Alex Griffiths’ Website)
7. The bicycle discount
To keep the pollution levels under check and the city’s traffic under control, Emerge encourage visitors to pedal it to the concert for which you’ll receive 20% off on your ticket for your contribution to the environment.
(Image Courtesy: Lulu Fashion Coach)
8. Small Fry Co are in charge of the grub
Foodies, this is where you need to be. The food village at Emerge is going to be brimming with some of the finest delicacies put together by Mumbai-based Small Fry Co, whose primary goal is to create a community of food lovers and creators.
(Image Courtesy: Small Fry Co Facebook)
9. Daniel Waples will jam with The Petebox. Wait whaat?
The foremost authority of the Hand Pan, Daniel Waples, will be throwing it down with the beat-box sensation at the festival. For those who don’t know about Petebox, the guy has transformed the art of beat-boxing with the the use of effects, multiple loopers and a guitar to build layers of vocals into fully crafted tracks, integrating his award winning beat-box skills with a brand new setup to achieve stunning results. Also, with Waples simultaneously constructing new sounds with use of his Hand Pan, this is shaping up to be an exciting match-up.
10. Advaita and Parvaaz are two of India’s most promising talents to spring in the recent past
Although each one of them are performing separately at the two pit stops of the festival – Advaita in Gurgaon and Parvaaz in Bangalore, each city will be treated to the form of sound that Emerge aims to amplify. Providing a bigger stage for fresh ideas and promising talent is what Emerge is all about.
Advaita (Image Courtesy: soundbox)
Advaita are a Delhi-based band that have blended an array of sounds to produce their very own exotic genre of music. Emerging onto the scene with their Coke Studio stint, they’ve been tirelessly working towards maintaining their musical quality while also diving into unexplored sections.
Parvaaz (Image Courtesy: The Hindu)
Parvaaz‘ success story began in 2012 when they dished out their first EP titled Behosh, and since then, they have been performing at festivals across the country including – The NH7 Weekender, Storm, Fireflies and many more. The four membered band are not to be undervalued and Bangalore surely has it’s hands full with these guys on the roster.
All this and much more await you at Bangalore at Gurgaon come Feb-end, so if you haven’t got hold of your passes yet, it would be wise to book them right now by clicking HERE.
(Cover Image Courtesy: Youtube)
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