Madboy/Mink got things going on Day One, dishing out songs that are their take on ’70s-’80s funk and disco, ’20s-’30s jazz age swing, modern French electro, ’80s synthpop, cabaret, musical theatre, film noir.... Performing on top of the Red Bull Tour Bus, Imaad Shah, son of Naseeruddin Shah, and Saba Azad turned on the funkadelic vibe with songs from their debut EP All Ball, transporting fans to “a dance party in a Harlem speakeasy of the ’30s”! Before starting off the song Taste Your Kiss, birthday girl Saba said: “The next song is about kissing... so land a kiss on the person standing next to you!” Yes, that’s how ‘kool’ NH7 Weekender is.

The rehearsals were “killer fun” and the gig (atop the Red Bull Tour Bus) went off like a dream. Calcutta Local — with Tanya Sen, Neel Adhikari, Suyasha Sengupta, Bodhisattwa Ghosh, Jivraj Singh, Rohan Ganguli, Roheet Mukherjee and Ankit Gandhi Lall — performed songs by The Supersonics, Zoo, Nischay Parekh, Pink Noise and Neel and the Lightbulbs. High point for all? That they were doing each other’s songs! “Watching Mamshi’s (Ananda Sen, singer-songwriter of The Supersonics) face in the crowd was awesome as we did The Supersonics songs! He was bleary-eyed and happy. Personally, my high point was switching instruments and playing keys on stage for the first time. We shared and rearranged the songs... opposite styles were juxtaposed... it was like cross-dressing,” laughed Neel.

“We get out there and sweat it out and play it like we mean it. The more the crowd gets it, the more we get into it, and we like to leave everything out there on stage. If people give you their attention they deserve everything you’ve got,” Money For Rope frontman Julian McKenzie told t2 before taking the stage. And his band from Melbourne really gave everything they had, including two drummers who kept the music loud and mean. A tight set followed with almost zero blabbering. By the time their track Sail Past Your House came on, most of the members had lost their T-shirts. And that was just the perfect time to announce: “India is a beautiful country with beautiful people. Now a few quickies for you all…” Non-stop high adrenaline rush. And then, sweaty selfies and happy hugs.

If you were my guitar, I’d play you all night long/ I’d tune you up just right baby, and together we’d sing our song... If you were my guitar, there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you/ I’d run my fingers up and down your body just like you want me to — sang guitarist Rudy Wallang of Soulmate, much to the delight of the audience. “If You Were My Guitar’s one of those fun, naughty songs with innuendoes,” Rudy later smiled, soon after a display of exquisite blues guitar chops. “We were overwhelmed by the love showered on us,” said singer Tipriti.

Neel Adhikari couldn’t help but make his way right up to the front to go and groove, just like hundreds in the crowd, to the sound of Mr. Woodnote and Lil Rhys. The duo from Bristol were nothing short of a discovery, playing as easily in a packed arena as they are known to do on the streets. The dubstep-breakbeat guys believe in impromptu music. So, it was a bouncy set that featured the loop pedal in a big way. Mr. Woodnote said: “I feel at home with the Loopstation now but at heart I am really a saxophonist.” And his album list for t2 readers? Hank Mobley’s Soul Station, Hermitude’s Tales of the Drift, K-OS’s Joyful Rebellion.

Delhi band Them Clones played at the Bacardi Arena while Fossils played on a neighbouring stage at the same time. “We know just how huge Fossils is in Calcutta and we want to thank all of you who are here listening to our music right now. We are Them Clones!” said vocalist Prithwish Dev, as the crowd shouted and cheered. They also invited all the listeners to join them for the after-party backstage, saying, “We have all the free booze you want!” Way to go, boys.

Australian duo Peking Duk set the Micromax Mega Mix stage on fire on Saturday night. The last act for that stage, the DJs played a string of remixes like Beyonce’s Crazy In Love. They also got the crowd singing Seven Nation Army’s (by The White Stripes) iconic guitar riff. Their music along with the trippy visuals playing out on the backdrop was an electronic music lover’s dream come true.

Monica Dogra emerged on the Red Bull Tour Bus to loud cheers. “How are you guys feeling? I’m known for having manic breakdowns, and I do that on stage too (laughs). If you are crazy, you gotta own it, right? So I wrote a song where I imagine that I met my four-year-old self… she is saying you are not that important, life’s not that hard and everything is all good,” said Monica about the opening song Into The Night. “So many hot girls here, cute boys too!” said Monica before launching into the song.

Fun, flirty and fabulous would describe the set from Ankur & The Ghalat Family, the Mumbai boys with an acoustic heart. Leader of the pack Ankur Tewari dressed in a grey suit got into the groove when he introduced Khamoshi as a song for “all women who use silence as a weapon against men”. After a brief pause he dropped former PM Manmohan ‘silent’ Singh’s name! Once the crowd started singing along, he gave the number a twist by punching in a classic Beatles in the form of Let It Be. Their first gig in Calcutta would have been incomplete without two of their popular tracks, Sabse peeche hum khade and Tu hi hai, which Ankur dedicated to the sound department because he had missed his soundcheck. The round-off song Mohabbat zindabad proved the group has a strong following here.

Text: Arindam Chatterjee, Mathures Paul and Deborima Ganguly

Pictures: Anindya Shankar Ray