MUMBAI: The YouTube FanFest returned to India for a third edition last week. On 18 March, The National Sports Club of India, Mumbai was jam-packed with enthusiastic YouTube fans along with several artists and musicians from all over the world.
For those not in the know, the YTFF is a worldwide platform created by YouTube, to bring together recognised and massively popular YouTube stars closer to their fans. The event was bigger this year with a 30 artist line-up. AIB (All India Bakchod), Being Indian, Sanam, Darshan Raval, Superwoman, Abish Matthew, Kanan and Biswa, Connor Franta, Arjun Coomaraswamy, Maati Baani and many more were part of the impressive roster.
After a fun meet-and-greet session, the main event started with bass King Nucleya aka Udayan Sagar. His high-spirited numbers from his popular album ‘BassRani’ brought in a lot of oomph to the event. Abish hosted the event with his non-apologetic and sharp humour that fairly managed to entertain and engage the spectators.
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The bolt from the blue in the East India Comedy act was Kenneth (Kenny) Sebastian who cheered them on with a song for their act and continued post that as a solo act. Following acts by ‘Rickshawali’, ‘Hyderabad Diaries’, ‘Viva’, ‘Madras Meter’ and ‘Put Chutney’, were dull and not engaging however. The AIB people always steal the show and this year it was no less. Hilarious as ever, their comical act on ‘A look at life in the age of internet celebrity’ was outstandingly practical and entertaining.
The Indian Jam Project by Tushar Lall, the musical act by Sarthak Mudgal Collective along with the popular singer Natalie Di Luccio amazed the audience with some great melody. While vocalist Natalie Di Luccio was trying to woo the audience with her vocals, Sarthak showed some of his musical skills. He started with a guitar and ended his set on drums. Both were reasonably impressive. India’s RawStar’s finalist and a singer popular among the youth, Darshan Raval also performed, but sadly he sang some Bollywood numbers though he had some of his own compositions.
Next, Mumbai-based indie band ‘Maati Baani’ took the stage and kicked off the evening with their catchy funk-Sufi sound. Interestingly, they made their audience groove to their original numbers ‘Balma’, ‘Lagan Lagi’.
Up next was Arjun Coomaraswamy. The singer has apparently has done pretty impressive covers and music videos on his YouTube channel. He gave the audience a few lip-synced songs, and then it was Shirley Setia, the Indian origin NewZealand based singer who failed to impress the audience much. Arjun collaborated with Shirley Setia, Kurt Hugo Schneider, and performed ‘Mohabbat Barsa De’ LIVE with a guitar. That was an impressive act. Kurt Hugo Schneider impressed with his vocals and music skills. The last act was arguably the best, ‘SANAM’, the first ever Indie-Bollywood band. They were definitely the best musical staging for the evening, nailing the show with the songs like ‘Gulabi Aankhen, ‘Jo Bheji Thi Dua’, and ‘Mere Mehboob Qayamat Hogi’.
