If there is a list of cities that know how to party, Kolkata will surely be at the top of that list. And the night of October 7 remains as a testament to this. Kolkata saw two major events that night along with other club events and somehow, all the scenes seemed to be back. Dutch artistes Armin van Buuren and Laura van Dam were present in the city for their recent India tour with Sunburn Arena where a mix of trance, house and underground music was played to a huge crowd at Biswa Bangla Mela Prangan. Simultaneously, Offline and Submerge joined forces to host Satellite Beachside, a techno, progressive house and melodic music festival. Being the first one in the city, hosted at JW Marriott Kolkata, the festival brought down Jerro, hailing from Belgium who is known for his melodic house and downtempo electronic music. If that wasn’t enough, Adnan Ariff also hosted a brilliant garage house and retro night at Miss Ginko where 8-Bit Culprit manned the console.
My Kolkata dropped in for all of the events where the city wrapped up by 4am!
Sunburn Arena with Armin van Buuren (on till midnight)
Armin van Bureen at the Kolkata chapter of his tour
Most people were kicked to find out Armin van Buuren was coming back to the city. The concert at Biswa Bangla Mela Prangan saw a packed audience waiting to see the artiste who was responsible for our first step into trance music, for many of us. The event saw the DJ performing his hits like This Is What It Feels Like and On & On with a mix of EDM, trance and a little bit of techno.
Not only was the sound crisp but the visuals were top-notch
To wow the audience his set came with an audio-visual experience with lasers, lights and graphics that were showcased on a screen. His interaction with the audience was to a maximum where he kept complimenting the energy and hyping them before each drop. Special mention to the intro of his set which not only grandly presented Armin but kept the audience in anticipation till the artiste could be seen.
The audience at Biswa Bangla Mela Prangan could not get enough of the concert
Before Armin had taken charge of the console, Laura van Dam was on duty to bring the audience to a certain hype. She too was on the Indian tour with the artiste and even played at the after-party that took place in Space Hause in Topsia.
Freddy, Kunal G and Pro Bros opened the Armin show in Kolkata
For opening duties were a mix of local and national acts including Antimatter, Freddy, Kunal G and Pro Bros. The different warm-ups included music like EDM, big room, house, indie house, techno and a little bit of dark disco. Some of them even got to snap a quick pic with the big names during and after the show.
8 Bit Culprit at Miss Ginko (on till 2am)
8 Bit Culprit playing his house, garage and edits set at Miss Ginko
It’s always good to see 8-Bit Culprit behind the console. Somehow, he always manages to wow the audience with a surprise factor or something or the other. At Miss Ginko, the artiste played a garage, house and edits set that lured the entire audience toward him. It started with programmer and DJ Adnan warming up the scene with some house stuff before 8-Bit took over with his garage house set. While he started in an offbeat manner, the end of his playlist sure included some old-school hits by Blue and 2Pac.
Adnan had warmed up Miss Ginko just right for the party
Satellite Beachside with Jerro (on till 4am)
Jerro during his debut gig in the city
The underground music scene is growing and how! The Kolkata edition of Satellite Beachside was a testament to it. For the first time, Jerro was in the city for the event hosted by Offline (Sonu Agarwal and Tiffany Ann Alice Brewer) and Submerge (Nikhil Chinapa, Pearl Miglani and Hermit Sethi) and stuck to a progressive house and melodic type of vibe. The banquet hall at JW Marriott Kolkata was packed as dancers got a glimpse of the artiste who played his original melodies. His set had a stark balance between energy and melody where each track had a joyous vibe.
Browncoat and Nikhil Chinapa went back-to-back to close the night
Of course, Kolkata loves high power which is why Browncoat and Nikhil Chinapa had done a b2b set to close the night. Maintaining the flow of the music, the two kept it melodic but packed it with a bit more energy. Not only was their set the perfect ending for a banger of a night, but the showmanship that Chinapa brings to his gigs is always commendable.
Others on the line-up were Cmyk, Weird Sounding Dude and Vikrant