IndieMarch was back bigger and better than ever! And Day 1 did not disappoint. I’ll be quite candid in admitting that I was looking forward to Colour Haze play live from the day I bought my tickets. But all the acts in the build up to the stellar set from Haze were fabulous. The F16’s have gotten a lot tighter in terms of their sound and stage presence since the last time I saw them at NH7. A few of the songs were new to me as I’ve not been keenly following the band, but this gig was their best that I’ve seen. Diarchy, one of the new acts I heard at the NH7 Weekender last year didn’t disappoint, barring a broken snare drum which cost them some time and caused some of the folks who were hearing them for the first time to walk away and check out the other acts. Probably a little more focus in terms of occupying such blank spaces could help this two-piece stoner rock outfit with their stage presence, something the likes of Amrit from Live Banned never had a problem with. That entire bit aside, what the band should probably take away was the fact that despite the technical glitch, Stefan Koglek from Colour Haze stayed and watched the band throughout their set.
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| F 16s |
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| Diarchy |
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| Stefan looks on as Diarchy plays |
I caught the last song of AsWeKeepSearching, dressed in black (almost like techno DJs). As the sun set and we waited to check out the Manganiyar Seduction, we caught some of the songs from the gig by Parekh and Singh. At this point, all I can say is interesting sound and I’d like to check out some more songs of theirs before I can (or should) pass judgement. The Manganiyar Seduction, riveting as always, though lacking in terms of the energy that was there in the previous gig of theirs.
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| AWKS |
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| AWKS |
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| AWKS |
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| Parekh and Singh |
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| Manganiyar Seduction |
The penultimate act for the evening was by one of my favourite indie bands, Skrat. Another systematic high-energy set from the band… it’s almost second nature to them now. I’m yet to see them have an off-day.
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| Skrat |
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| Skrat |
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| Skrat |
Finally, at a little past 8:30 in the evening, the band everyone who was at this festival was waiting to see took stage – Colour Haze. Playing songs from across their arsenal of albums, the band was one of the tightest I’ve seen. (German engineering I guess). Haze powered through an almost 90-minute set that left the crowd wanting more. I still can’t recollect how I came across this band a couple of years ago. And they weren’t on my list of must-see bands as such, but it was an absolute joy to watch them play live.
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| Colour Haze |
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| Colour Haze |
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| Colour Haze |
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| Colour Haze |
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| Colour Haze |
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| Colour Haze |
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