Bhangra Fever 5 Review and Feedback

[BhangraFeverCommittee]

The Bhangra Fever Committee and the Binghamton Bhangra team would like to thank everyone for making Bhangra Fever 5 a tremendous success. It truly was exciting to see all of the hard work transform into a reality over the weekend.

We would like to thank all of the teams for being very respectful and cooperative. Everyone who took the stage Saturday night gave nothing less than their best effort. The performances were truly amazing.

We would like to thank Harjot from GTV for making it out to Bhangra Fever for the second year in a row. It has been a great experience working with him; he really is the man. We are proud that Bhangra Fever was the first competition of Harjot's 10th year anniversary recording some of our most cherished memories. Thank you to Harkiran, Kinnell, Havish, Sapan and Sumit for judging. And a huge thank you to Raj Minocha for making the Bhangra Fever after party what it is and always will be - a tremendous success. Also, thank you to our emcee Sheel Mehta for doing an incredible job on stage, and the ushers/theater staff who helped us make sure that everything was running smoothly during the show.

Congratulations to all of the placing teams - First Class Bhangra, Anakh-E-Gabroo and Shaan Mutiyaaran Di, as well as all of the performing teams - every performance was phenomenal.

We are looking forward to feedback and reviews from teams or anyone who may have attended Bhangra Fever 5. Annual feedback and review helps us make our competition better the following year.

Please feel free to share your thoughts below!

Look forward to Bhangra Fever 6 next year!

 

[DamanSingh]

If at least four* captains post reviews, I'll post a thorough and detailed review from my perspective.

 

[faizan]

Give Feedback.

 

[mithu]

Only compliant I have as part of the audience is the sound system. Majority of the time the mixes were barely audible.

 

[siddyp]

Yeah... as much as the sound guys were awesome, it could have been louder on stage too. I'd suggest adding a monitor or 2. Though I know little about sound so maybe that's the wrong solution. But volume was an issue...

 

[babygoose]

Only compliant I have as part of the audience is the sound system. Majority of the time the mixes were barely audible.

agree - same problem was there last year

 

[nkrishnan]

I agree with the sound. I think with some louder sound the audience would also be more reactive, which has always been a bit of an issue at fever.

Honestly though, speaking as someone who danced last year and attended as an audience member this year, there was clearly a ton of work put into this. I personally liked the venue for the after party this year, though flash backs will always hold a special place in my heart.

Raj minocha killed it though, great dj

 

[Reeeeda]

First off – a huge congrats to FCB and AEG for their placing’s at Fever! And congratulations to all the teams for putting on phenomenal performances! Fever, overall, was a great weekend – here is a quick review.

Mixer
unfortunately, all of us on SMD had work that Friday and got stuck in NYC traffic heading up to Bing. We missed the entire mixer for the most part and made it just in time for the lineup selection. Thank you to Daman for holding off the lineup stuff as long as possible on our account. Sorry to all the teams for any delay that we caused!

Although we missed dinner, I pulled a random committee member to the side and explained how none of us had eaten and that we just arrived. He was nice enough to give us an entire tray of pasta (plates and all) to make sure we were fed. I didn’t catch your name, but THANK YOU!

After the mixer concluded, we were given rooms to practice in (located in the same building) till as late as 2am if we wanted. This was helpful and location was convenient!

Tech Time
We were 4th in the lineup. However, when we were getting on stage setting up our markers and props, another team was on stage testing some stuff out for their performance (they were performing second half of the show and had their own tech time later, ofc). Our time was actually delayed a bit because of them. Not sure why this was allowed by the committee honestly. All teams were requested to be at the venue early in the morning if they had additional setups. It was distracting having them there sharing the stage with us. The part that really got me and made me want to bring this up is that, the other team needed the stage lights turned off for what they were doing, so I was setting up markers and our team was setting props up in the dark until they were done…even though it was OUR allotted tech time. Long story short, Fever started our tech time when they got off stage, so it ended up working out

Also, although I submitted lighting cues in advance, the venue was not prepared and we did our time without being able to see if the lighting was correct. Daman was a big help here - I was allowed to speak to the lighting guy myself afterwards to ensure he knew what to do when we performed later that day. Unfortunately, the venue still managed to mess up our lighting and part of our saap segment was done in the dark.

The show
We were backstage preparing and didn’t feel a delay (if there was one). We were told when we were on deck and then we took the stage. It went pretty smoothly timing wise I’d say. As I mentioned earlier, our lighting cues were messed up and a piece of our saap segment was done in the dark, which sucked. I have the same complaint for the sound system. It was really low on stage while dancing and WAY low when we were watching other teams from the audience.Also, the stage was really slippery, but I don’t believe this is new information. We were aware this may be a problem so we tried take some precaution on our end to prevent a slip or fall.

Food on Saturday
No breakfast provided and lunch was given to us pretty late (5pm). It didn’t bother SMD too much because we had our own cars and could fend for ourselves. But, I could see this being an issue for out of state teams with a liason that was MIA as ours was…

Judges
The judges were super transparent and very open to discussing a teams performance outside of the competition. Email addresses were provided if we wanted to contact them for additional feedback. Transparency is huge – so it was great to see Fever release a thorough breakdown of each teams scores by judge, the average points for each team and each judges individual judging rubric for your team. Very helpful.

After party
We had a blast. We were a bit skeptical when we heard the location was at a Days Inn hotel, but it turned out to be really spacious with plenty of room to dance. Raj was the DJ and he did an amazing job as always.

--------

The last thing I want to mention before concluding this post, is that our liason was basically non-existent. I believe I saw her 3-4 times in short intervals this entire weekend. She was not with us back stage to keep us updated before the show. I was told that, after the judges meeting, she would be waiting for me to hand off pizza for SMD. I scrambled around the venue looking for her and was finally informed that she had left. No text, nothing. Again, it didn’t really hurt SMD because we had our own transportation and could take care of ourselves because of that. However, if we were a team from further away, this would have been a huge problem. Other committee members that were not assigned to us ended up being a huge help and Daman was EXTREMELY available via phone/text if and when we needed anything.

Great weekend with great people at a great competition. Fever has always been a great time, but Daman really stepped up the Fever game. Hope to continue seeing Fever grow even with this being Damans final year.

Need to give a special shout out to Harjot. You are awesome.

Thanks to Daman and the Fever committee, GTV, FCBeats for our mix, and DJ Raj Minocha for being all too good to us!

 

[Gabroo Tv]

Need to give a special shout out to Harjot. You are awesome.

Thank you Was great seeing you guys last weekend. See you soon @ Bell. Have them poses ready!

 

[disharma1317]

Also, the stage was really slippery, but I don’t believe this is new information. We were aware this may be a problem so we tried take some precaution on our end to prevent a slip or fall.

We definitely didn't know that in advance, so I really wish we'd had the opportunity to take some precautionary measures as well. I know dancers on other teams slipped and fell, and I talked to multiple people about how frustrating it was not being able to dance all-out knowing there was a distinct chance of slipping if you weren't paying close attention. I don't know if this is something, as a committee, that can be addressed, but the stage alone caused a few injuries this weekend. I think communicating that to teams that have never danced at Fever in the future would help dancers make whatever preparations they think is necessary beforehand.


Also, the lack of ice made this situation a little more problematic as well. I had an injury while on stage and EMS had to be called in order to get an icepack. I would recommend keeping those on hand the next time around so that everyone doesn't end up having to sign an AMA. Last point - all the blood on the floors backstage was mine from a foot injury. Sorry to anyone who saw a trail of blood and was severely grossed out. I have no bloodborne infections to my knowledge though, so I wouldn't worry too much about that haha


Other than that, awesome competition! We had a lot of fun chilling with other teams and hanging out with Harjot (mah mannnnnn!!!!!). Big ups to the greatest DJ around, RAJJJJUUUU, you da best, and thanks for that personalized shout out hahaha. So excited to see everyone's GTV videos!

 

[DamanSingh]

Thanks to those of who you have posted reviews. Annual feedback and review helps us improve the competition from year to year. I know for certain that several issues from last year were only addressed this year because they were brought up in last year's BTF review thread. I encourage everyone to continue posting reviews.

I'll add some details later, but here's a brief review

Mixer -- was a lot of fun. could and should have been shorter (we started a little late ), and it dragged on a little longer than intended. Line-up selection was 100% random, and the games were non-competitive, which I think fostered a more relaxed and enjoyable environment for everyone in attendance. I'm glad we were able to accommodate everyone who needed practice space, which was conveniently situated in the same building as the mixer hall. Teams were free to practice until the building closed at 2 am. the mixer concluded with a judges meeting.
Tech time -- was off by 6-7 minutes at the end of Act 1, and around 22 minutes at the end of Team 10's rehearsal, but ended on time because our live singer did not use any of the time we allocated for him and another exhibition act did not use all of their allotted rehearsal time.
Show -- The show ran on time. There were concerns regarding a few teams getting ready early on, but everything progressed fairly smoothly. We tacked 6-7 minutes on to intermission, but there weren't any noticeable delays. We started around 6:15 pm, and ended around 9:40 pm. Ten competitive teams, three exhibition acts, and one singing performance in that time frame. All of the performances were phenomenal, and every team gave nothing less than their best effort. It was incredible to see all those months of hard work transform into a reality on stage.
After Party --was a blast. The venue was great, and Raj, along with Harvey, absolutely killed it in the DJ booth/table. We should have extended the after party until 4 am, but we were contractually obliged to end at 3 am. I was also concerned about the shuttle service not being able to run an extra hour to accommodate everyone if we had managed to extend it.

--
I'm not sure what the issue with the audio is, to be honest. Maybe Sid's suggestion of adding a few more monitors is a good one. I'll do some more research on the issue. If anyone has any suggestions, please feel free to post here or PM me as this is an issue we would love to resolve for next year.

Shout Outs
Are numerous, so excuse me for limiting this list to just a few

Thank You to Cherag, Hardeep, Arjun Barua and Simran for helping out with paggan backstage. All four were a huge help, and we can't thank them enough for volunteering their time.

Harjot Hundal - Although his professional qualifications are in engineering, Harjot is a true videographer, capturing our most cherished and priceless bhangra memories. Harjot has contributed a lot to Bhangra Fever, not only through his videos, but his humility, love and passion for this community. Thank you, Harjot.

Sheel - awesome emcee, did a great job on stage.

Raj Minocha - Raj has been DJ-ing our after party for several years now. He generously offers his speakers every year for both the show and mixer and is always willing to help out however he can. The Bhangra Fever after party is always a huge success, and it's because of Raj. This year was no exception - Raj did an incredible job at the after party.

That's all for now. I'll edit this post later this week once I've develop[SIZE=small]ed my thoughts on a few things.[/SIZE]

 

[aneeshsahni]

Overall, the comp was really well run and a lot of fun!


Committee definitely took a lot of the stress off....Here are some +'s and -'s:


Good stuff:
- lineup was very diverse.....teams bringing all different kinds of stuff
- Kanica was a solid liaison! overall, committee seemed to know what was going on and was able to answer questions as needed
- mixer games were good
- hotel, venue, mixer, practice rooms were all SUPER close by, which was really convenient
- committee members were accommodating with any random stuff that came up (dietary restrictions on team that we weren't aware of)
- GTV!
- committee/Daman were trusting of teams (ability to submit the mix day before/day of as well as lighting cues)
- Daman was really accessible the day of and in the weeks before to answer any/all questions
- afterparty.....no issues @ the front door/roomy enough for dancing
- transparency (judges' meeting beforehand was solid and releasing sheets+scores was good stuff)


Things to think abt for next year:
- mixer length was good, but could've started earlier
- our practice room was a bit smaller than stage dimensions....not too much smaller though
- sound could've def been louder....couldn't hear mix well from the audience
- the show was run on time/not too long....but a ton of audience had left by the end which I get because they'd seen performances...but wondering if there's a way to get them to stick around longer
- shuttles were a bit delayed
- slippery stage...don't think anything can be done about this but maybe just warn teams...bc it's something we didn't notice during tech time for whatever reason
- somehow getting teams more time w/ judges? i imagine you want peeps to be able to get ready for afterparty quickly, etc. but 5 mins wasn't very much at all.


Overall, things ran very smoothly and there was very little to stress about from a captain's perspective. I had a lot of fun, as did everyone from Princeton. Thank you, Daman!

 

[DamanSingh]

I'll edit this post later this week

This didn't happen, but probably will sometime soon. haha

Things to think abt for next year:
- mixer length was good, but could've started earlier
- our practice room was a bit smaller than stage dimensions....not too much smaller though
- sound could've def been louder....couldn't hear mix well from the audience
- the show was run on time/not too long....but a ton of audience had left by the end which I get because they'd seen performances...but wondering if there's a way to get them to stick around longer
- shuttles were a bit delayed
- slippery stage...don't think anything can be done about this but maybe just warn teams...bc it's something we didn't notice during tech time for whatever reason
- somehow getting teams more time w/ judges? i imagine you want peeps to be able to get ready for afterparty quickly, etc. but 5 mins wasn't very much at all.

I'll respond to some of the things that Aneesh and several others have mentioned.

haha, I don't think there's much we can do about the student audience at Binghamton. Most of them aren't bhangra-heads or aren't too engaged with bhangra. It is what it is. The crowd was at its peak around intermission or team 7, and then some people began filing out. The show started on time (we advertised 6 pm sharp, and started at 6:12 pm), and everything ran on time, but much of the campus crowd that comprised our audience this year didn't want to sit through all 14 performances. From what I saw and heard, though, the crowd was great - vocal and enthusiastic!

Our semester started on January 27th and the show was on February 8th, which meant we had less than two weeks to sell physical tickets (in addition to online tickets and the ones we had sold prior to our 5-week winter break), and two weeks to spam flyers and posters around campus. This made promotion a real challenge, and makes me wish we could have secured a later date for Fever 5. Feb 22nd would have been great, and March 1st would have been ideal. Having another week or two to promote the show would have been very helpful.

After Party
One thing that could have been improved was that line in the hallway. Maybe adding a bouncer or two at the other entrance would have made the line progress a little quicker. And as I mentioned, maybe we'll make the after party an hour longer next year. Instead of 11 pm-3 am, we could do 11pm-4am. I think a lot of people would like that.

The bus driver for the after party shift was kind of annoying. He was driving very fast. That, coupled with snowy/icy roads and drunk people yelling boliyan on the bus, made for anything but an enjoyable bus ride back to the hotel. haha, so I didn't expect it to be enjoyable but the bus driver was speeding and slamming the brakes constantly to get everyone's attention when they were being loud, which was very annoying. Several people told me after the weekend that they did not feel comfortable on that 10-minute bus ride back to the hotel, so that's something to change for next year.

I was under the impression that the tech-time shuttle was on time because everyone arrived for rehearsals in a timely manner. The after-party shuttle was a bit off schedule. Aneesh, I'll email you to gather more details on this.


edit: the tech time and show shuttles were on time. The after party shuttle was a bit off-schedule. I think this may have been because no one (or very few) was willing to board the bus around 11pm when we started the shuttle service. A majority of people went to the after party after midnight.

Judging
We limited the meetings to 5 minutes per team because of venue restrictions. The show ended around 9:40 and the venue closed at 11 pm. The last shuttle leaving the venue for the official hotel also left at 11 pm.
--

A general note on the judges:

All five of the judges were more than willing to address any questions or concerns that teams had before and after the show. I CC'd the judges to many of the emails that I sent to team captains, so everyone had contact information very early on. The two judges that arrived late and missed the mixer judges meeting felt very bad about doing so and stressed to me repeatedly, until I went to bed at 1:45 am that night, that they were more than willing to meet with any of the teams anytime before the show to address any questions or concerns. As an organizer, I was very appreciative of this.

Philosophy regarding post-reg materials

My committee and I made the mix due at the mixer this year (thanks to Sid from FCB for suggesting this), and everything worked out fine. Mixes are not required in advance by our technical staff, nor is it necessary for my committee and I to have them early. There were a few teams that didn't bring their mix to the mixer but said they would bring it to tech time, and I said that was fine, too. Teams understand how important their mix is, and understand that they can not take the stage without it. Some might argue that it is important to have the mixes in advance as insurance in case teams forget their mix or don't have it ready. From my experience, I have not encountered any teams that are irresponsible enough to forget their own mix or not have it ready by tech time. I think it is important to be trusting of teams and make planning as stress-free as possible for them.

Most post-reg materials were due a week in advance, and leniency was granted upon request. And no, our program guides were not filled with blank pages, nor did any team forget their mix, nor were we missing final rosters during team check-in, which took place in the lobby during tech time. We didn't request post-reg materials until we needed them, and everything worked out absolutely fine

Slippery stage

Disha, I hope your leg is feeling better

I'll post a response to this issue very soon.

 

[disharma1317]

Slippery stage

Disha, I hope your leg is feeling better

Haha much better, thank you. I was forced into some quality R&R by my teammates for the past couple of weeks