The lineup for the fifth edition of Lollapalooza India was announced to much debate amongst Indian concert-goers last week. Olivia Dean, Limp Bizkit and Katseye were announced as the headliners. The Indian lineup included heavyweights Indian Ocean, Blackstratblues, Ricky Kej, The Manganiyar Seduction, Scribe, alongside newer sensations Anuv Jain, Aditya Gadhvi, Kayan, and Curtain Blue.
The debate on whether or not it was a “good lineup” travelled across to musicians. Singer-songwriter Benny Dayal took to Instagram to react to this public opinion, asking audiences to get over their reservations and support the passel of Indian acts on the concert bill. He elaborated on his points in an interview with Billboard India.
“The Indian scene is starting to blow up, but it can only become a world phenomenon if we truly support our artists,” says Dayal. “Everyone loves Korean artists but we forget how much the Korean fans do for them. When BTS blew up globally, they were already supported by an army of fans from back home,” he adds, referencing the swaths of fans the Korean pop-band brought with it to global venues. His message to Indian fans is simple, “Support your friends. Buy their tickets, see them live and keep the stubs in a little box as collectibles.”
Dayal’s dismay at the public reaction to the festival lineup boils down to one key issue – audiences deciding whether the event is worth attending solely based on the international headliners. “Why aren’t you excited for these other cool acts playing there?” he asks. “Scribe has a brilliant new album out. I’m super excited to hear some of RANJ X CLIFR’s new mixtape live too,” he continues, shouting out his favourites from the lineup.
With twenty years of experience as a playback singer, a live performer and an independent artist, Dayal understands the work it takes to make it to a stage as big as Lollapalooza. “It was a struggle when I started out. I had to put in a lot of effort to get things going,” he reminisces. “Every Indian act on the lineup is super cool. Everyone has worked very hard to get to that place and we should be proud of them. RANJ put out 27 CLUB (her latest mixtape) in less than eight months. That in itself is so cool.”
“When an artist takes the stage live and puts on an impeccable performance, there’s nothing like it. That energy can change your mind. If you love music, you ought to show up and experience those performances,” closes Dayal.
