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**** Annual Goanetters Meet ****
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Annual Goanetters Meet - December 28, 2015 - 11:00 am
Fundacao Oriente, Mala, Altinho, Panjim, Goa
http://bit.ly/FundacaoOrienteGoa
The Fundao Oriente carries out cultural and artistic activities
in India with, for historical and cultural reasons,
special emphasis on the State of Goa.
Looking forward to seeing you there
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There's a lot of money and many
egos riding on the competing
electronic dance music
festivals -- and, if rumours
are to be believed, political
corruption too. Pamela D’Mello
They're supposed to be celebrations of music and love. But
ever since they started going head-to-head in an attempt to
become the prime attraction of Goa's party season, Sunburn
and Supersonic -- India's most popular electronic dance music
festivals -- have waged a rivalry that has become the stuff
of local legend.
Since 2013, the end-of-the-year EDM events have been
accompanied by allegations that corrupt politicians have kept
permissions dangling until the last minute and about the
police being persuaded to cut the sound at the behest of
rivals when it goes over the prescribed decibel levels.
To those removed from the EDM world, some of the
rumours could seem downright comical. Writers on
online music portals have joined the chorus,
echoing complaints of long queues at one festival
or the other, nepotism in involving sons, wives and
brothers as DJs, domestic talent being treated
badly compared to the overseas musicians, tacky
stages and sound outages. In 2013, Sunburn accused
its rival of Powerpoint presentation theft and
replication.
This year, with both festivals scheduled to run between
December 27 and 30, the clamour has erupted again. As Sunburn
spruces up its venue at Vagator plateau and Supersonic tests
its speakers at Candolim beach, objections have emerged once
again.
Local objections
Earlier this year, Nationalist Congress Party leader Trajano
D’Mello went to court, pointing to unpaid dues by both
festivals towards security arrangements, the death of two
women at the festivals in 2010 and 2014, and accusations of
drug use. The court earlier this month ordered the state
government to recover the dues and increase security checks
at the venue. Said D'Mello, "Of what use are the festivals if
a private citizen has to go to court to get them to collect
dues to the state?"
Some of the state's hoteliers aren't very happy either. They
would prefer the two festivals -- which attract an estimated
audience of 200,000 between them -- to be held at different
times to serve the economy better and to ensure that the
state's narrow streets aren't overwhelmed by traffic. The Goa
government, they say, seems to have ignored the fact that
this has been recommended by the committee it appoints each
year to issue permission for such events.
"What is going on, that the special committee every year says
the festivals should not be held, police say two simultaneous
festivals are a security and traffic hazard and yet the
minister overrules the committee and permissions are given at
the last minute?" said D'Mello.
The controversies have been brewing since 2013,
when MTV host Nikhil Chinapa, the face of Sunburn
since it had started in 2007, parted ways with
festival founder Shailendra Singh of a firm called
Percept Live. Chinapa then joined hands with Live
Viacom 18 to put together a competing festival.
Supersonic chose the same venue and the same dates
as Sunburn and were after fans of the same genre of
music.
Since then, the competition between Sunburn and Supersonic
has made for some bizarre political antics in Goa. Much
before the fans arrive, the reverberations are felt in the
corridors of the tourism department and the state government,
where a single-window clearance committee oversees events
that require permissions from multiple state agencies.
Turf war
In 2013, the rivals fought a bitter battle for the venue -- a
74,000 sq mt beach-front property in Candolim that was the
Sunburn trademark. The owners of the property switched
loyalties and leased it out to the new entrants, triggering
court complaints of agreement violations and counter
allegations of non-payments. In the end, Sunburn was left to
find a new venue. It departed for a spot on Vagator plateau,
11 kms away.
On the face of it, Sunburn had suffered a blow by being
bumped off the state's hottest party spot. But it used the
larger 500,000-sq-mt venue in Vagator to scale up its act.
The organisers jumped up from three to seven stages, using
the additional space to introduce other elements such as
bungee jumping, artist and fan villages and food courts to
create a carnival atmosphere.
But it came with a price. Sunburn was alleged to
have told a former minister that it had to pay
bribes in order to obtain permissions for the 2012
event. This irked Manohar Parrikar, who was chief
minister at the time. He called for further
discussion on the matter, arguing that Sunburn was
causing traffic snarls and was tainted by
accusations of participants consuming drugs.
Parrikar demanded an apology from the organisers of
Sunburn for alleging that they had to pay bribes to
get permissions for the event.
Around the same time, the opposition parties got into the
act, accusing the state government of corruption. As a
result, Sunburn filed a Rs 50 crore defamation case against
Nationalist Congress Party leader Trajano D’Mello, the man
who has taken both festivals to court earlier this year
regarding their unpaid dues.
Scaling up
In 2014, in a coup of sorts, Sunburn got permission to
continue for a fourth day. It was thrown open to local fans
who routinely find themselves kept out of the party happening
on their doorsteps because of steep prices -- Rs 11,000 for a
season pass and Rs 4,000 for a day pass. Local
representatives were given passes to distribute to their
constituents.
This year, Sunburn is promising its biggest festival yet,
with "120-plus artists, 248 hours of on-stage music, 40
experience zones, volleyball, hot air balloon and helicopter
rides, zorbing, a flea market, a ferris wheel". It claims
that fans from over 50 countries have already booked tickets
to dance to acts like David Guetta, Martin Garrix, DJs
Dimitri Viegas & Like Mike, Kygo, Aly & Fila and Bassjackers.
On Saturday, Sunburn organisers put out an ecstatic
press release after it managed to get the Goa
Tourism Development Corporation, a government body,
on board as its strategic partner. With that
partnership cemented, Sunburn has stolen a march
over rival Supersonic for this year at least.
But Supersonic organisers don't seem unduly perturbed. Live
Viacom 18 Business Head Jaideep Singh said that the
competition will benefit both festivals. "It is an evolving
space and the market in India is huge," he said. "The
category only grows when you have competition."
Competitive spirit
According to DJ Aneesh Gera, who worked for Sunburn before
switching over to Supersonic, each festival seems to be
focusing on different genres, catering to separate music
followers and bringing in more variety for fans.
"While one is focussed on the techno genre, and going more
mainstream, the other is going more niche, getting in a deep
house artist from the UK to headline," he explained.
This year, Supersonic is positioning itself as a more
accessible, fun festival that is safe for women. It is claims
to be building domestic talent with DJ contests, and has 15
Goan DJs on its roster. The headlining acts include former
Swedish House Mafia star DJ Axwell, English music duo
Disclosure, American artist Deoro and Canadian duo Zeds Dead
and DJ Zedd.
Jaideep Singh said that Supersonic is focussed on top quality
production, bringing new artists for fans "to keep opening up
new genres of music", have diverse genres on stage, and
involve the domestic community to "keep the festival unique".
Ultimately, Gera said, fans tend to split their time between
the festivals. He said, "Having two festivals simultaneously
favours the fans."
We welcome your comments at lett...@scroll.in
http://scroll.in/article/777233/sunburn-vs-supersonic-the-bitter-rivalry-between-goas-year-end-electronic-music-gigs
