The cultural week began with the much awaited show of the semester by the Music Section. Much awaited, because for the first time in many years, the Open Air Theater was finalized as the hosting place for the show. A place best suited to head-bang and enjoy rock music matching the spirit with which it is played, OAT has been one of the most underutilised places in our campus. Anticipating a Battle of Bands/MJGF worthy concert, the crowd gathered on a fine Monday evening to a rock-concert worthy backdrop which was apparently crafted by the members of the Music section themselves.

The setlist of the show was exquisitely chosen with some mind-numbing tracks of ‘Flying’ by Anathema, ‘Holy Drinker’ by Steven Wilson, Madcon’s ‘Beggin’ and ‘Titanium’ by Sia. The popular hindi tracks of ‘Aao na’, ‘Jee Karda’, ‘Zarra Zarra’ and evergreen ‘Dum Maro Dum’ combined with all-time favourite English rock number, ‘Baba O’Riley’ by The Who, promised a show that the artists of Music section had been waiting for quite some time.

Keeping in mind the excitement created by the posters for the countdown of the event, the evening sadly didn’t turn out the way as it was expected. From a technical point of view, the sound-check was not done properly prior to the event. As a result, the crowd occupying a major area in front of the stage didn’t experience the full impact of the music and some great performances were rendered reaction-less with almost no hint of enthusiasm from the audience. Some of the disgruntled junta of IITR after the show, attributed this incident to the mediocrity displayed by the Audio section. This however is not the first time a mishap in Music Section’s performance has taken place due to the audio system.

Apart from the fundamental issue of the voice of the artists not reaching the ears of the audience, Music section continues to fight a bureaucratic battle with the Cultural Society. The lamentable state of equipments in the music room combined with a lack of proper practise on behalf of the members due to restricted timings of the section, plays a major role in the outcome of an event like this. Adding to that, it should be noted that the section gets the access to the main stage two days prior to the event which, in their opinion is nowhere near sufficient to pull off a flawless concert.

It must be understood that attributing all the blame to Audio Section is a little unfair. The musician enjoys the spotlight and the praise and in this process, Audio always takes a back-seat. Even as members, the incentives for them to work hard are quite low since the success of a concert is inevitably attributed to the dexterity of the musicians and not to the technical support crew. The overall outcome of the show was not very positive. The song, Baba O’Riley, which was meant to be the show-stopper for the evening was enjoyed by only around half of the population that was initially present. Dhun, being the penultimate event of the Spring semester (and ultimate for a majority of seniors of the Music Section) holds an important place in the hearts of music lovers of the campus. A mishap like Dhun’15, for whatever reasons there may be, should not get repeated.