Never imagined I would headbang at folk fest: James Mackintosh

The fifth edition of Rajasthan International Folk festival (RIFF) here came to a rocking end with folk genius James Mackintosh leading a motley collection of artists, which encouraged the lively audience to 'headbang' at the folk venue.
Under a splendid moonlight, the Scottish percussionist Mackintosh staged the festival's last act at the city's centuries-old Mehrangarh Fort accompanied with the Manganiyars of Marwar, guitarist Damian Wright and other musicians.
The audience surged towards the stage to get closer to their medley, which lasted for over two hours.
"I never thought I would head bang to an event which is folk. I would have understood if this was to be rock concert. But having headbanged at a folk festival to a fusion of folk and classical songs is a new experience to me," Mackintosh said.

"For this particular experience, I would even come to the festival next year," he added.
The crowd danced and sang to the tunes of Indian, Senegal, African and European music beautifully fused into one another.

Percussionist and Festival Director Divya Bhatia sharing the stage with the artists and played the bongo.
"The Rustle RIFF is our largest impromptu collaboration event that concludes the festival's night time revelries," Bhatia said.
"Every year, the festival appoints an artist as 'rustler', who then rustles up musicians from the festival to participate in this performance in pairs, or quartets or all together- he or she feels fits to do. It is our way of giving them an opportunity to perform on stage with each other, most of whom have never met before or may rarely meet again," Bhatia said.

This year, James Mackintosh from Scotland, was appointed the rustler who included a violin, several African instruments, and an Indian classical singer in his troop.
Manganiyars also received a standing ovation for their solo performance which lasted for an hour.