Tamil folk group entertains audience at Storm fest

'What is music if it doesn't make you dance' feels Anthony Dassan, who heads Tamil folk group band Anthony Daasan and Yen Party, which brought the audience to its feet at the third edition of the Storm Festival which concluded here Sunday.

Storm, India's one-of-its-kind camp-out music festival, which brought over 60 artistes under one roof this year, kicked off Jan 31.

The band, featuring Tamil folk instruments such as Nadaswaram, Tavil and a few more along with guitar, drums and percussions, entertained the audience with its unique folk tunes and beats.

"The only music that we are aware of is the one that makes people dance. After all, what is music if it doesn't make you dance? We don't know about world music or even the different genres in it. We like composing music that brings people to their feet," Anthony Dassan told IANS.

Almost everybody in the audience, including foreigners, danced during the performance of the band which played back-to-back foot-tapping Tamil folk songs.

"Several bands played at the festival and most of them made us sing along but Anthony Daasan's band made us get up and dance. While most of us didn't understand the language but we still danced to their tunes because they were so catchy," Ankur Arora, a member of the audience, told IANS.

Regardless of age, people danced to the songs of the band.

"I'm 45 years old and I have never danced like this in my life. I think when you see people around you dancing you tend to shake a leg too. I didn't understand a word of their songs but I danced like crazy. Isn't a music festival all about fun and dancing to the music," said Bangalore resident Sandeep Acharya.

This is the second time in a row that Anthony Daasan and Yen Party performed at Storm. They had performed at the last edition of the festival as well.

The band also performed in MTV Coke Studio a few years back and has collaborated with singer Benny Dayal in the past.

Other bands that received the thumbs up from the audience included the Raghu Dixit Project and Indiva.