Arivu and Yogi B steal the show at Chennai’s Madras on Music concert

At Madras on Music Indie Alt Festival, Tamil indie music was celebrated with artists like Yogi B, Kaber Vasuki, Navz-47, Iykki Berry, Oorka, Skrat, Paal Dabba, Oorali and Puli Cats. The event was a success, boosting the city's music scene and creating a platform for collaborations. It's time for more such events to take place in Chennai.

Just as singer Yogi B was 15 minutes away from finishing his set — the final act of the two-day Madras on Music Indie Alt Festival — it began raining. The crowd lost it. This is when Yogi B and his frequent collaborator Natchatra sang their magnum opus Tamil independent number from 2008 — ‘Madai Thirandu’. Everyone else screamed along, euphoric.

A moment like this amounted to a core memory for A. Janarthanan who was in the audience as the event unfolded. “Yogi B was among the first artists that rapped in Tamil. His music was so well received. Madai Thirandu played on loop for years in my playlist. It was fantastic to finally see him and Natchatra live on stage,” he said.

Janarthanan, who visited the festival on both August 29 and 30 said that it was nice to finally boast about heading to a fun concert in Chennai. Friends of his travel across the country and the world to listen to artists like Kaber Vasuki and Navz-47 who were part of the line-up at the event. “I can say that we now have interesting events too,” he said.

The two-day music festival with bands and singers like Iykki Berry, Oorka, Skrat, Paal Dabba, Oorali and Puli Cats helped boost the city’s reputation for two days.

Arivu who mesmerised his audience, making them dance to songs like ‘Sanda Seivom’ and ‘Enjoy Enjaami’ on the first day of the event, said that it was important to pay attention to the line-up as it included those who could be considered pioneers in the Tamil indie space. It was important to have massive turnouts that could sing along and support these voices, he added.

Santosh Kumar, one of the three curators of the event, in an interview, said that the festival is soon going to result in a number of collaborations between the several artists we we’ve seen on stage. “The artists have all stayed together, getting to know each other. It has been a fantastic exchange of synergies. We cannot wait to hold more such events,” he says.

“Until recently, the Covelong Surf Festival was the only reputed music event that took place in Chennai. This is despite the abundant talent here. We are excited about livening the scene up a little and want to add to the existing culture,” he adds.