Shanti Jatra - Psychedelic Gathering 2007

Getting crazy in the woods of Nepal

Author: Shiven Thapa
Date: Nov 12, 2007
Views: 6256

Date: Nov 12, 2007
Text: Shiven Thapa
Photos: Shiven Thapa

Shanti Jatra

Psychedelic Gathering 2007

Magical music, spiraling sound, omnipotent and round….abound and around with magical mystery drops.

Welcome to psychedelic wonderland. Here, the scene has been more scattered than small, more weekend getaways than profoundly festive until now. It has ardently required a breakthrough in sound, performance and festivity. Waiting, waiting, waiting…

Ahhh, this new dawn brings a dimensional shift to an archaic paradise. Respect to the old timers in the scene who brought the classic Goa sound and ambience to Nepal’s picturesque landscape with parties held close to lakes, mountains and forests. Younger crews have continued to keep the scene alive and, now have Psychedelic music, open and outdoors, and where it is meant to be.

This year’s Shanti Jatra festival held in October has been inspirational as far as merging local DJs with international artists is concerned but the reputation of the festival had hinged on securing a good venue and topping it off by performance.  Our night-mode entry to the party saw us walk past a brightly lit food stall, a less brighter chill-out stage and a much darker but creatively decorated main dance floor with floral spider webs, visuals, backdrops, and much more eye candy, all well placed and well thought décor by Psybabas.

From my personal perspective, this much-awaited breakthrough in sound and quality can only be brought about by producers becoming DJs or DJs willing to produce plus aware trancers who are either well traveled or acutely sensitive about the quality they seek from Psy-Trance DJs.

Music went on for 2 nights and 3 days, celebrating alien psychedelic life form pushing for liquidelik visuals to drive you into a mind-alternative journey. Triggered by dancing, music, video, lights, incense and nature, darkness overwhelmed the night courtesy of Parvati and ex-Parvati Record artists with standout sets by Giuseppe, and some very relentless power from Psyovsky taking it through the first full moon night in anticipation of some floor burning morning music later towards dawn. Very edgy, pulsating vibes on the first night, and hugely appreciated morning blasters from Vectro Electro. 4 hour break for the chill stage on second noon, grooving to eventide, night and morning rituals in the second phase. Night music this time was less amusing than first night. More deep, wandering musings from the sound and less stomping on the dance floor. At 6 am, the fog settled and, sun and Neuromotor (Frederick Talaa) were out to bring on the stomping shoes. Featuring in the scene since his debut album back in 2001, Fred has put out tracks on such well-renowned labels as Shiva Space Technology, Spirit Zone, and Turbo Trance, as well as his own effort – Mechanik. Over the course of that time, jaunting around the globe blowing up dance floors, the Neuromotor sound has continued to grow, spanning the space-time continuum between dusk and dawn with its bouncing bass lines, crunchy synths, tweaked out sampling, screaming acid lines, and uplifting melodies. A very powerful morning set by one of the pioneers of the psychedelic genre. Missed the first evening and second morning-after sets but thanks to all the DJs in this pretty long line-up. Peace. Uplifting vibes on the dance floor, nice energy, smiles and good music from DJs local and international alike.  

Eventually, the scene here will grow or diminish depending on the crews that host trance parties, the DJs they promote, the kind of ambience they create, how they recognize international talent, how they contribute to local communities and environment, the culture they nurture and how they collaborate with each other by pooling in limited resources to enhance the psychedelic experience. After all, psychedelic trance is about the lifestyle it promotes instead of an unfashionable weekend fashion event. Trance is neither fashionable nor elitist but if you witness some of the cutting-edge alternative wardrobes on offer and wonder how rare designers on FTV display parallel clothing, you begin to understand how this scene is fashion unto itself, dripping with creativity from Light, Sound & Dance visions.  An unusual universe of its own.

What could be the integration of psychedelics into 3rd millennium society’s rituals in open spaces and under blue skies? Colors and sound, sound and colors, colors and sound, cutting sharp and drawing voids, spinning round and round from magical mystery and ccccrunnchieesweeepingelectro sound.

Light Sound & Dance.

 

 

 

 

 

   

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