For all the inflammatory rhetoric spoken or tweeted by the 45th president of the United States, there’s been an opposite effect.
And much of that counter groundswell can be seen and heard at music festivals around the world, in which Delhi 2 Dublin have performed.
“There’s definitely been a different vibe,” band founder Tarun Nayar told The Tri-City News last week. “We go down to the States now and it’s almost like a rally.”
Their shows, which have a mix of global sounds that primarily focus on Indian and Celtic beats, are becoming bigger with people motivated to think and take action against the forces in the White House, Nayar said.
Most recently, they saw the underlying politics at their Los Angeles event where strong opinions were voiced on and off the stage. And those sentiments have been echoed more strongly over the past year.
D2D — as they are commonly known — have felt the uneasiness in Canada, too, although most of their gigs this year are for Canada 150.
On Saturday, they will mark the country’s milestone anniversary again by headlining the city of Port Coquitlam’s celebrations with a free two-hour concert at Leigh Square Community Arts Village, starting at 7 p.m.
Nayar said the PoCo crowd can expect a dance party, with “some really high energy and global vibes.... It’s becoming more and more pertinent to just get together and dance to music — no matter where we are.”
Nayar (tabla, electronics) founded D2D 11 years ago with Sanjay Seran (vocals) for a gig at the Vancouver Celtic Festival called Delhi to Dublin.
Their first big show was at the Canada Day festivities on Parliament Hill in Ottawa a year later, with more than 150,000 spectators on site.
Since then, they have played at major international festivals including at Glastonbury in June, a five-day music bonanza in Somerset, England, that draws half-a-million ticket holders and brings in top acts.
D2D, which also includes Ravi Binning (dhol, dholak) and Serena Eades (violin), performed three shows there with their fusion of Bhangra, electronic, funk, dub reggae, hip hop and celtic mashups — one of them at 1 a.m. at a pop-up pub. “It was total madness,” Nayar remembered.
Still, while their summer has been hectic — especially around Canada Day — there’s been a lot of rest and relaxation for the musicians as well.
“It’s been a really nice mix of high-profile shows and downtime. I’ve been able to swim in lakes and other stuff that normal humans do,” he joked.
As for this fall, Nayar said the band has only four shows booked. It plans to write more and, perhaps, record some songs in January to follow up on their hugely successful album, We’re All Desi, released two years ago.
• For more details about Canada 150: Celebrate Our Journey in Port Coquitlam on Aug. 26, visit portcoquitlam.ca/canada150.
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GETTING THERE
CAR: On-street parking will be available in downtown Port Coquitlam during the day as well as at Gates and Lions parks and around the Port Coquitlam recreation complex (Leigh Square Place and the city hall parking lot, next to Starbucks, will be closed).
BIKE: Cycle to the events and park your wheels — at no cost — at a valet station.
PUBLIC TRANSIT: Hop off the Evergreen Extension at the Coquitlam Central station and take a 10-minute bus ride on the 160, 173 or 174 to downtown PoCo.
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WHAT’S ON
On Saturday, Aug. 26, Port Coquitlam kicks off its Canada 150 party at Lions Park at noon with a rivers and trails festival until 4 p.m.
And from 2 to 9 p.m., Leigh Square Community Arts Village will have shows from:
• Jodi Proznick Quartet
• Alex Wells, a champion Lil’wat Nation hoop dancer
• The Full Spin
• Atomic Swing Vancouver dance team
• and Delhi 2 Dublin.
And be sure to take a peek of the Terry Fox: Running to the Heart of Canada museum exhibit.
