Festival Review ”“ Enchanted Valley Carnival Day 3: The Kids Are Alright

Nucleya drops a remix of Nancy Sinatra’s “Bang Bang”

If there’s one thing that should be taken away from the last day of Enchanted Valley Carnival, it’s that bigger names don’t always translate to better music. Although the main stage, Azbor, boasted of acts such as superproducer duo New World Punx, comprising German producer Markus Schulz and his Dutch counterpart Ferry Corsten, British DJ duo Third Party and more, the hype that surrounds an archetypal rise and drop can only equal teen spirit for so long – all pun intended towards the top tier of acts that butchered the Nirvana hit.

The crowds then sought recluse at the bass stage, which was trumped by local talent. There was Udyan Sagar aka Delhi Nutta’ Nucleya , who was joined on stage by MC Orifice Vulgatron of Foreign Beggars. The two were irrefutable champions of the night. Nucleya let his ethnic bass wails and rowdy rhythms out of the cage and Vulgatron tamed them well, two tongues, no three tongues at a time, with his Brighton accent and the crowd favorite “ey fuck off, fuck off, fuck off” chant.

The stage was now set for death-metal-turned-bass-lover Borgore. Although he launched to fame with cult classics “Nympho” and “Wild Out,” the Israel-based producer seemed to take a more cautious approach with an Indian audience, swerving between the Top 40 din of the mainstage and a full scale assault of his twisted tracklist. Songs like “Last Year” and “Kiss My Lips” were received word to word before Asaf Yoseph Borger tipped his cap up and went all out. Mumbai’s bad man of bass, Sickflip, was a surprise heavy-hitter. Performing most of the tracks from his repertoire, including those from his concept EP The Ladakh Project, the producer’s set was a fantastic mix of songs that shot straight out of the bass ball park. Los Angeles-based producer B.R.E.E.D. dished out generous doses of future bass, with his signature emphasis on rhythm and dub elements.

Over at Analog, the techno stage, Mumbai producer Qwiver delivered one of the most inventive tech house sets of the festival. Conscious that his was an opening set, the artist managed to draw in a crowd with beats that built tempo without being overbearing. Egyptian trance duo Aly & Fila missed their slot at the second day of the festival, but made an appearance at the main stage on the last day, representing the best of the genre with hits such as “Listening” and “Coming Home.” Their set was fantastic, but the crowd seemed to quickly lose interest and drift.

The afterparty, which was on till 5 am, featured artists such as Pune techno duo Oozeundat, New Delhi producer Kohra, New Delhi audio-visual duo BLOT! and returning superstar, Brooklyn-based producer Arjun Vagale. Although each set was fluid, overrunning and interchanging time slots, a lot of their audience seemed burned out from the day and eager to find their way home. So much for being party animals or enchanted even.