Pune – December 28th, 2016: The sun, sea and sand were gone, but the music shined even brighter. Sunburn moved to a new destination, after a decade. This year’s edition promised to be bigger, better, bolder and it lived up to its expectations – be it the astronomical number of people expected to attend the festival, the massive production or the mind-blowing eco friendly ambience. Sunburn that finds pride in its unremitting approach to provide unique lineups spared no effort in ensuring a befitting programming that allowed music enthusiasts to get a healthy dose of their daily EDM.
The world’s biggest electronic music festival sprung to life at the sprawling 30 acre Sunburn Hills overlooking the majestic city of Pune with dance music lovers from across countries congregating to watch their favourite artists. Sunburn started off with a bang opening its doors to a thousand of fans on Day 1. The Main Stage titled Dance Garden was impressive as usual, props to the light shows! The stage blew away everyone’s expectations, as always the Main Stage was very crowded — having all of the headliners perform their epic sets.
The 500 feet plus Main Stage drew its inspiration from nature in its unmasked grandeur. From lighted creepers to electro pop mammoth daisies to majestic peacocks to the golden cranium of the sun, top of the line DJs took centrestage in a grotto crowned by a phoenix officially heralding the 10th year anniversary celebrations of India’s most loved multi-act dance music brand .
On the first day of the festival, Siana Catherine kickstarted the madness with her energetic and interactive set at the Main Stage with progressive drummer Mr. Bose on the Gionee Stage for company, setting pace for the rest of the day.
Terrazak, Arsh Indra J, Oozeundat and Eli & Fur engaged the enthusiastic festival goers on the Techno Deep House Stage as the sun came down on the beautiful hills. The discotheque vibe at this stage was perfect. There were just the right number of people, room to breathe and of course, brilliant music. House music diva Priyanjana had the requisite festival bass lines to get the floor warmed up, bouncy and groovy all at once.
Breaking away from the bog room acts, the Vinyl Stage in the form a mobile ambulance featured Ignatius Camilo Ignatius Camilo aka Iggy (G.U.T/ Gandu Records) , Fintushami (G.U.T/ Gandu Records), Matsehora (Raunchy Poses) and Thee J Johanz (Ballyhoo Records) giving an underground vibe to the festival
The lethal combination of Siana Catherine and Lucas & Steve at the the Main Stage was deadly, there’s no denying they owned the former part of the evening with their revolutionary beats and high-octane energy.
Mr Bose, Miss Tara and Mojojojo, on the Gionee Stage and NoiseFaktory, SHIVV, Zephyrtone and Zenith vs Unknown on the Rayban Stage spun some of the most inspiring deep house, hip hop, drum and bass and every other sub genre in between and had the festival goers go nuts to every beat.
About the same time, the festival goers in front of the Gionee Stage had swelled from a few hundred, who showed up for a sun down hardstyle set by Miss K8 and Teri Miko who closed the stage, to many thousands, with all of the festival goers at their altar of mass destruction.
Broz Rdz and Tom Swoon turned up the energy with their inimitable mix of progressive and electro house and closed the the Rayban Stage for the evening. Angerfist played some hardcore and had the arena reverberating with his hardcore style of music on the Main Stage and set a high octane tone for the following sets. Dannic delivered an electrifying high energy set of the ultimate dance music anthems, packing in grade A production and fresh new music making way for the headliner of the evening.
With a futuristic theme, lasers and pyros, the Main Stage closed with Trance legend Armin van Burren who dropped bespoke euphoria with chartbusters like Intense, Pulsar, Not Giving Up On Love, Mirage kept the BPMs high throughout the course of his main stage ensemble. Topping it all off, Armin played a 2 hour trance set that blew everyone away. He managed to play the classics while throwing in some major tracks meant for a festival stage. Overall the entire day was magical.
It’s just not an EDM festival but the biggest party of the year with a larger than life experience. Sunburn 10 saw the largest artist village and camping site in Asia. And with the precursor to the way music madness has shaped up on the very first day, the next three days are sure to up the temperature all the way up to the orbit. Campers were positioned atop the hills and got a panoramic view of the musical drama unveil itself in full glory.
Karan Singh, CEO Sunburn said, “The turnout today far exceeded our expectations-especially since we have found a new abode in Pune. We still have three days to go, and expect a full house on December 31st. This year it’s all about love for music and we have given the DJs longer sets to create a mood and actually tell their stories through music. “
Sunburn 10 returns with more madness, more music and more memories to make. With a combination of some of the biggest names in dance music with a carefully crafted selection of the very best and burgeoning talent from India and around the world, dance music aficionados were spoilt for choice. Stellar stand-out sets from a number of different dance genres pulsed through Kesnand, spanning over four days, totaling upto 10 hours per day, with spectacular performances by the world's finest electronic artists who performed alongside their Indian counterparts to give music fans the spiritual music experience they seek as an annual ritual. Trance, house, electro, techno, drum & bass, psychedelic, experimental – Sunburn covered all these genres and more, unifying the festival goers who had gathered at Sunburn Hills to celebrate dance music and the unique unifying feeling it creates. An immersive experience with on-site camping, artist and fan village, adventure sports, flea markets, elaborate food courts and crazy after parties, 2017 marked the culmination to a beautiful year in dance music. With more than 150 artists and about 500 hours of music spread across 5 high octane stages including District 808, Gionee, Monstercat, Ray Ban, Shaan & Friends, Soma Project, and Vinyl Ambulance - giving music enthusiasts completely varied and individualistic experiences within the overall festival.
LIVE.LOVE.DANCE