Back With a Bang

Pop-rock band Euphoria is celebrating 25 years since its debut with a special set at NH7 Weekender, a nationwide tour and fresh releases

- Amit Gurbaxani

Attendees at the Bacardi NH7 Weekender music festival this weekend will get to party like it's 1999. Punjabi pop star Daler Mehndi will headline on Sunday, December 3; the same day, Hindi pop-rock band Euphoria will perform a special set celebrating 25 years since the release of their debut album Dhoom. They follow other Indi-pop acts such as Lucky Ali and Baba Sehgal to have performed at the event over the years.

According to Palash Sen, the founder and frontman of Euphoria, music from that era is currently riding a wave of nostalgia because unlike "[most of the kind of songs being made now [in which] almost the same ideas are being repeated, there was so much experimentation in the '90s".

He says, "Daler Mehndi, Lucky Ali, Junoon, Strings, Bombay Vikings, everybody was making different music." Sen believes those acts made such an impression on their teenaged listeners back then that now that they're in their thirties or early forties, not only do they want the sound back, they're also converting their kids into fans. "There are 14-and 15-year-olds at our concerts singing 'Maaeri," he says. "How do they know it? It's a 23-year-old song."