The first edition of the Parx Music Fiesta at Raymond Grounds, Thane, kicked off with some fab Indian music artists performing at the inaugural edition of the two day event on the weekend of 19^th and 20^th November 2022, with Hrishi K compering the event. 

Parx, the premium casual fashion lifestyle brand from the house of Raymond, also concluded its 6^th edition of Parx Hunt – India’s Best College Band. Parx embarked upon this journey in 2016 and carved a niche for itself in this space where all Gen-Z brands aspire to be.

This year, Parx saw participation of bands across 120 colleges from over 60 cities of India and gave the opportunity to perform a high-decibel rock music in front of eminent jury members from the music industry. So what you had on Day One afternoon was four bands from the North, South, East and West of the country vying for the coveted title for the Parx Band Hunt. You had bands like HP 14, Panic, Skulptr and White Vinyl rocking it out. Each band had an opportunity to perform for 30 minutes and were evaluated on the quality of music, style, and entertainment value and stage presence.

After much deliberation from the judges in deciding who the winner would be, it was a unanimous decision that Panic from the East zone (Kolkata) won the title of Parx Band Hunt beating three tough contenders.

Gautam Hari Singhania, Chairman and Managing Director, Raymond Group, handed over a cheque of Rs 2 lakh to the band Panic. Besides the prize money, the band also got a chance to collaborate on a music video with Sony Music.

After the Parx Band Hunt, it was time for the evening to open up to some thrilling music, starting with Swarathma, a Bangalore-based Indian Folk/fusion band, music that draws from Indian Folk and Classical Music, blending it with Western sounds like Blues - Rock and Reggae. Next on the stage was Indian Ocean, considered as the pioneers of fusion rock in India and much loved by almost every rock fan. The band consisting of founders Rahul Ram and drummer Amit Kilan, and their band got the crowd dancing to their songs, Ma Rewa, Kandisa and many others over a one hour set.  

The 100-feet stage, with a massive mixed media installation, and probably the largest ever in the country, saw Underground Authority X Nikitha Gandhi with some heavy hip hop pieces and brought the audience on their feet, with EPR and Nikitha also paying tribute to the late Chester Bennington who was best known as the lead vocalist of rock band Linkin’ Park. EPR and Nikitha gave their own mix to the song In The End and what a performance it was in tribute to Bennington, a most loved musician who had an early death in July 2017.

Benny Dayal next on the cards, charmed the crowd with reputed Bollywood hits like Battameez Dil, Pappu Can’t Dance, Muqablaa and more, that set the crowd in a frenzy and had them grooving. Closing the night was the final act by celebrated music composer duo Salim-Sulaiman and band who gave a dose of their work fronted by singers like Sukriti Kakar who got the crowd grooving with the song Mar jawaan from the movie ‘Fashion’, while Raj Pandit enthralled and captured the crowd with a soulful Haule Haule.

Parx Music Fiesta is surely the next big music festival in Mumbai’s calendar in the years to come. It had everything a music event could ask for. You had a buffet of food spread across the large ground, from Biryani, Pizza, to Desserts and Ice Cream there was something to fill every empty stomach. For those who wanted some alcoholic beverages, you had a range of beers, mead to choose from and hard drinks too.

Day Two also had a mind blowing set up for music lovers and it was good to see a larger crowd compared to Day One, with not only youngsters dancing the night away, but many families in tow having a musical night out with their kids.

The line up on the second day was fantastic. Opening the evening was Mumbai based band Daira, to a riveting performance by Bangalore based rock act Parvaaz. Kerala boy band When Chai met Toast a multilingual indie fold alternative sound went down well with young fans who just couldn’t get enough of them.

Mumbai’s biggest-ever carnival themed music festival had something for everyone and thus you had Papon all the way from Assam who not only sang some very meaningful songs about his homeland, but also brought on some young female dancers from his state to showcase some quaint dance moves.

But it surely was 90s pop band Euphoria whose high-energy live performance was the highlight for the evening. Euphoria’s set maintained the nostalgia trip triggered by the recently concluded Independence Rock (I Rock). Palash Sen was in fine fettle, which was so good to see, moonlighting as a singer by night for the last 24 years and Doctor by day. Their songs like Maeri and Dhoom Pichak were well received.

Amit Trivedi brought the audience to their feet with his super hit numbers with a terrific, high energy, pulsating set that only he can do. His songs including Luk Chup Na Jao Jee, and many more were well lapped up by fans. This final act also ended the two day musical fiesta. 

This Fiesta is definitely going to get bigger and better with each year. Everything was perfect including the colorful getaway zones outside the performance area, the box office counters and security and of course the washrooms well sorted out. This festival, the brainchild of Gautam Hari Singhania, Chairman and Managing Director, Raymond Group, rewarded its attendees with a magical feeling with the best talent in the music industry. This carnival-theme event celebrated the best of music and fashion that India can provide.

A great job by the team Raymond.

Reviewed By Verus Ferreira