Fireflies festival in pictures

Tuesday, April 11, 2006

The annual event formerly known as Bhoomi Jathre was staged last Saturday. It was easily the best yet. I stayed all night, took lots of pictures, and made enough of a spectacle of myself that I may be the official photographer next year.

These pictures are not a representative set; they are simply the ones I liked most. Not all groups are included here. For the artists who asked for pictures, I’ll be mailing them out soon. For those who didn’t ask but would like them, please give me your group name and email address.

I made an entry for the event on Wikipedia. It needs working on.

Dollu Kunitha kicked off the evening with their high energy drumming and acrobatics. Those drums are strong enough to build a three-tier human pyramid on.

When the band finished, they drummed their way through the audience. Several got up and followed them into the courtyard, where they continued to drum while the next band set up.

It’s remarkable how “uncle” can even stand, let alone play so passionately.

Red light either completely messes up your pictures, or creates psychedelic effects.

Geetha Navale, co-organiser. I’m not sure why previous organisers Kirtana and Konark Reddy were missing this year.

The Digideroo makes a strange sound.

Oikyotaan was easily the funkiest band of the evening. Even if they played no funk.

They were into it totally.

And they had the pulse of the audience.

The percussionists in the corner are easily missed out.

I’m told the mouth harp is a dangerous instrument. You can slice your tongue if you’re careless.

Bharat Sargam Qawwali matched Oikyotaan for energy without even having to stand up.

The fellow at left, whose name I can’t recall, is a former resident of Fireflies and now writes for Deccan Herald. He suggested I turn my camera on the audience occasionally. I’m glad I did.

Anugraha John from Fireflies (centre) asked for this picture. I wasn’t going to share it, but I loved the mood.

Prakash Sontakke was totally focused.

Sumathi Murthy’s pained expressions made me go click-click-click.

The light will be out soon.

Here comes dawn.

With the light materialised that glorious backdrop.

The Raghu Dixit Project played in open light

The Raghu Dixit Project played to daylight. Two other bands followed them.

zefirino — Apr 11, 2006 1:58:44 AM — # ↩

nice pics, esp. the 11th one from top
sajith — Apr 11, 2006 2:21:19 AM — # ↩

Yay!

I have some n compositions with Karthik, in my head. Such a stage presence. (So is Raghu Dixit.) The camera was loaded with slow film so thought no point in bringing it along :-/

You rock. Thanks for the pictures.
- Kiran Jonnalagadda — Apr 11, 2006 7:34:47 AM — # ↩
  
  Is that you in the corner here?
  - sajith — Apr 11, 2006 11:13:04 AM — # ↩
    
    Yes.
- mat_attack — Apr 11, 2006 11:01:27 AM — # ↩
  
  Damn! Now I feel bad I didnt come. :-(
pinak — Apr 11, 2006 5:19:51 AM — # ↩

What camera do u own? Those are some awesome pics... but I am just spellbound by the quality/resolution... again...what camera do u own? :)
- Kiran Jonnalagadda — Apr 11, 2006 7:32:05 AM — # ↩
  
  Nikon D70.
  - pinak — Apr 11, 2006 8:31:40 AM — # ↩
    
    Neat stuff! :D
    Someday when (I earn and) I can afford...I will buy something like Canon Rebel XT or better. :)
    - Kiran Jonnalagadda — Apr 11, 2006 8:35:04 AM — # ↩
      
      The Canon cameras have CMOS sensors which produce lesser noise at higher ISOs. I was shooting at ISO 1600 most of the night. The fellow you see with the flowing hair here had a big fat Canon EOS-1D and several large aperture lenses. I'd love to see what he got with that.
      - pinak — Apr 11, 2006 11:23:55 AM — # ↩
        
        U might wanna see this
        
        Kiran Jonnalagadda — Apr 11, 2006 11:37:50 AM — # ↩
        
        I'm not switching loyalties from Nikon to Canon! It's too expensive. Resale value for equipment is rarely up to the value of continuing using them.
sriramb — Apr 11, 2006 7:07:22 AM — # ↩

Great pictures, Jace. Well done.
- Kiran Jonnalagadda — Apr 11, 2006 11:41:38 AM — # ↩
  
  Thanks, Sriram. I can see so much to improve on for next year. Feels good to have a clear sense of what to do next. :-)
ashwinne — Apr 11, 2006 7:17:19 AM — # ↩

The lake emerging in the light now placing the tree and its platform on its bank ... it looks like heaven!
brainz — Apr 11, 2006 8:23:02 AM — # ↩

Super pictures!
- brainz — Apr 11, 2006 8:24:53 AM — # ↩
  
  Didn't we witness the Jazz band in Java city some years back?
  - Kiran Jonnalagadda — Apr 11, 2006 8:31:45 AM — # ↩
    
    Yes, the same, but the Java City version is a subset that didn't go by the "Jazz Revival" name. Lester Bob (the bass guitarist in the background) specifically requested I not call them that. He said they were "Jazz 4 U".
    - brainz — Apr 11, 2006 10:26:12 AM — # ↩
      
      IIRC, they called themselves 'Jazz 4 U' even back then.
      - Kiran Jonnalagadda — Apr 11, 2006 10:50:31 AM — # ↩
        
        I was referring to the "back then" part too.
        
        brainz — Apr 11, 2006 11:05:25 AM — # ↩
        
        ahh, i mis-read your comment! :p
theju — Apr 11, 2006 10:06:35 AM — # ↩

Never heard of this Fireflies Ashram or the Bhoomi Jathre before!. Does it happen every year on the same date? How do you get to know about the date? I definitely want to attend one of these next year.
- Kiran Jonnalagadda — Apr 11, 2006 10:52:08 AM — # ↩
  
  Every year in April, same place. There's usually a newspaper announcement, but I always end up hearing of it via email forwards.
  
  The Times appears to have a policy of not covering any event that doesn't pay to be covered.
- Anonymous — Apr 11, 2006 11:41:12 AM — # ↩
  
  There was an announcement made at the end of the festival that it will be held next on April 14th 2007
  
  -lomax
moccacino — Apr 11, 2006 11:05:22 AM — # ↩

Ah! this looks fabulous! and lovely pictures

A colleague had sent me a note on this. The wiki entry looks like a copy paste from that email. Since this was too far off, and I don't have my own vehical, I gave it a slip. No missing it the next time!
- Kiran Jonnalagadda — Apr 11, 2006 11:39:56 AM — # ↩
  
  The wiki page is indeed based on that email. It's just a stub.
  
  The event is not worth missing. Even mom wanted to come! She says she'll be there next year.
prady — Apr 11, 2006 11:50:26 AM — # ↩

Great shots. Especially post dawn, when the light reveals the lovely backdrop.
beerbal — Apr 11, 2006 4:28:26 PM — # ↩

Nice. The first is my favourite.
joshmachine — Apr 12, 2006 5:01:14 AM — # ↩

Nice!
irq2 — Apr 12, 2006 12:51:07 PM — # ↩

Remind me to tell you why Bhoomi Jaatre was the cause for me and shruthirao to get married earlier than we wanted ;/
- Kiran Jonnalagadda — Apr 12, 2006 1:22:07 PM — # ↩
  
  Tell, tell!
ashwinne — Apr 12, 2006 6:53:45 PM — # ↩

In the paper ...
The music within us
drkishoremurthy — Apr 13, 2006 9:17:28 AM — # ↩

I love the first pic too... Captures the energy of the festival.
anitab — Apr 13, 2006 2:47:22 PM — # ↩

lovely!
nice pics jace! the first one really captures the mood of the evening. also like karthik (baoul) and the pic of the digeridoo!

the line up was definitely much better than last year. couldn't hang around till morning, but got to see the lake behind the tree in your pic! looks lovely. you definitely should be the official photographer!
Anonymous — Apr 17, 2006 4:04:24 AM — # ↩

Whoa! Totally awesome pics, Jace!

Love,
Vaish
Anonymous — Feb 23, 2009 12:17:57 AM — # ↩

Fireflies 2009?
Hi Jace - were you there this year too? ANy phtotos you can share?
Impressed with the snaps taken above.
- Kiran Jonnalagadda — Feb 26, 2009 10:46:41 AM — # ↩
  
  Re: Fireflies 2009?
  I wasn't in Bangalore during this year's event, unfortunately. Expected it to be in April; got too short a notice that it would be in February itself.