The music festival was everything a music lover would dream of.
The Mahindra Blues Festival 2017 took place on the 11th and 12th of February and we have to say, those days were anything but blue.
The festival featured some incredible performances by international as well as local Indian talents such as three-time Grammy nominee vocalist Shemekia Copeland, guitar prodigy Quinn Sullivan, rock band Blackstratblues, vocalist Janiva Magness, Grainne Duffy and an extra special closing performance by Supersonic Blues Machine with ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons and Eric Gales. Winners of the Mahindra Blues Band Hunt, BLU, gave two incredible performances.
The edition attracted musicians from all ages, specially since the line-up included artists ranging from 60-year-old Janiva Magness to Quinn Sullivan who is just 17! Owen Roncon, co-founder of Orangejuice, stated, “If we take the age out of the equation for just a moment, we’ll see that the festival has always been attracting genuine music listeners. That said, over the years we’ve seen an increasing tribe of young music listeners who seek good music and not just the experience of being seen at a multi-stage festival. That, to us, is testimony to the quality of music, and the discerning nature of the audience.”
The Mahindra Blues Band Hunt, judged by Shankar Ehsaan Loy, also saw a large amount of entries. Ehsaan Noorani said, “We were pleasantly surprised at the number of entries we had for the contest. At one point we had to stop accepting more. The talent pool in India is huge. We’ve seen some exceptional talent coming out of not just the major cities in India, but even smaller ones. All these musicians love how accessible the blues is.”
The place was packed with the familiar faces of Anand Mahindra, Farhan Akhtar, new parents Saif Ali Khan and wife Kareena Kapoor Khan along with Amrita Arora who were taking in the music and the cool vibe of the festival. Over a hundred attendees enjoyed the festivities.
The legendary Mehboob Studios came alive while holding Asia’s largest Blues festival for the seventh year in a row and proved that blues ain’t going anywhere in the current EDM heavy industry. We can’t wait to see what they have in store for us next year!
Meanwhile, we’ll be listening to Buddy Guy on repeat.
(Images courtesy: Mahindra Blues Festival)