The ongoing music festival season in India gears up to welcome a grand buffet of artists sprawled across multiple genres of music, with some of them anticipating their debut performance in the country.
Event organizers have gone above and beyond to ensure that attendees enjoy the best live music from the best local and international performers, as concerts are returning at full capacity and without restrictions. With a number of music festivals making their grand returns in the upcoming months and Lollapalooza India’s anticipated debut, we take a look at a few artists who will perform in India for the first time.
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Solomun (DGTL India)
After a two-year break, DGTL India returns with a lineup of artists that includes BLOT, Anyasa, Sequ3l, Deep Brown, Sindhi Curry, Maribou State, Dubfire, Denis Horvat, and Tijana T.
Bosnian-German DJ Mladen Solomun, best known as Solomun, will make his India debut at the eco-conscious music festival on both days in Delhi and Mumbai. He is also slated to perform at the SteppinOut Music Festival in Bengaluru. Prior to the announcement of his appearance in India, Solomun made headlines for playing a popular dance number ‘Oo Anatava’ from the Indian film ‘Pushpa: The Rise’ (2021) during his sets.
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Post Malone (Zomato Feeding India Concert)
American rapper, singer and songwriter Post Malone will come to India as the headliner at the inaugural Zomato Feeding India Concert. Sales from the event will go toward providing meals for those in need and raising awareness of child malnutrition. Post Malone is a recognized figure when it comes to charitable efforts. He donated US$ 40,000 of his own money as part of his participation in the ‘Gaming for Love’ Twitch stream series, which, according to Billboard in August 2022, raised more than US$ 200,000 for charity.
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Sama Abdulhadi (Sunburn Festival)
Sama Abdulhadi, dubbed ‘Queen of Techno,’ is arguably one of the biggest names in the Palestinian underground scene. Sama will grace the stage at the upcoming Sunburn Festival in Goa. Her music is described as “a powerful punchy techno, dry and musical all at once, with a very unique twist of her own.” She first used the moniker ‘Skywalker’ before using her real name, Sama, which is Arabic for ‘sky.’
Imagine Dragons and The Strokes (Lollapalooza)
The city of Mumbai will be singing along to ‘Believer,’ ‘Radioactive,’ ‘Thunder,’ and ‘Bones‘ when the pop-rock outfit Imagine Dragons perform at the first Lollapalooza festival in India next year. The group was announced as headliners alongside Grammy award-winning rock group, The Strokes!
The Strokes took to Twitter to share this announcement saying, “We’re headed to India for the first time! Playing the inaugural @lollaindia next January.”
Jackson Wang (Lollapalooza)
Sticking with Lollapalooza India, rapper, singer, dancer, and fashion designer Jackson Wang will be seen onstage at the festival. A whole tier of fans went completely bonkers in response to this announcement post. Comments spawned include, “My man, I’m gonna cheer for you with everything I got ? Can’t wait to listen to Blue IRL”, “I HOPE I GET THE TICKETS I KNOW ONLY JACKSON NO ONE ELSE” and “The only person I am looking forward to see?” with #TEAMWANG smeared all over!
Speaking about India, Jackson Wang told Rolling Stone India in September 2022, “First of all, I really, really love India. Ever since I’ve been an athlete, till now (as) a performer, a singer, entertainer, I’ve traveled a lot around the world but I’ve never been to India and it’s always been on my bucket list. I just really love India and I really want to go.”
The Lumineers and Dirty Loops (NH7 Weekender)
Alternative folk group The Lumineers will be the closing act on day two of the NH7 Weekender in Pune, India. They are known for their upbeat performances and crowd singalongs. With their hit singles like ‘Ophelia,’ ‘Ho Hey,’ ‘Stubborn Love,’ and ‘Sleep On The Floor,’ the band will surely get the crowd up and dancing. The group shared on Instagram, “India! We cannot wait to see you next month for the 13th edition of BACARDI NH7 WEEKENDER in Pune ??.”
Also performing at NH7 Weekender is the Swedish jazz, funk, and electronica trio Dirty Loops! The group has released three studio albums and is known for its popular jazz fusion style of music. They will conclude day one of the festival. “We’re so excited to be performing in India for the first time ever at the 13th edition of BACARDÍ NH7 WEEKENDER Pune 2022! It’s gonna be lots of great International & homegrown music talent from 25-27 Nov!” reads Dirty Loops’ post on Instagram.
JID (NH7 Weekender)
Continuing with NH7, rapper, singer, and songwriter Destin Choice Route, best known by his stage name JID, will showcase his first performance in India at this festival. JID has three Grammy nominations – Best Rap Performance, Best Rap Album in 2020, and Album of the Year in 2022. The hip-hop artist will be the final act on day three.
MORTEN
Sunburn 2022 festival has a starstudded stacked lineup that will see the likes of Lost Frequencies, Black Coffee, Blasterjaxx, Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, Nicky Romero, and a queue of many heavyweight acts! Add to that mix – Danish DJ and music producer Morten Breum, who is making his Indian debut. As shared by Sunburn, “You all are in for an epic EDM experience as the maestro of New Dance Music Culture.”
Offset (SteppinOut Music Festival)
Billed as “India’s biggest multi-genre music festival,” SteppinOut Music Festival is set to showcase over ninety international and homegrown artists. The festival is set to bring to India American rapper Kiari Kendrell Cephus aka Offset! Offset has been nominated thrice for a Grammy award and is also a former member of the hip-hop crew Migos.
Catz n Dogz
Grzegorz “Greg” Demiaczuk and Wojciech “Voitek” Taraczuk, two DJs and electronic music producers, make up the Polish group Catz ‘n Dogz. The pair toured India in November 2022, also performing at the techno music festival Locals District. They took to Instagram to share their ‘random facts we have learned last two weeks in India.’
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