This Is Just the Beginning – A Recap of the First Alternatíva Mini-Festival

Alternatíva
Apr 23
4 min read

Updated: Apr 24

Original article published by Edi Nagy – January 14, 2018

We've had an incredibly exciting few days — our first self-organized concert night took place, and we can confidently call it a mini-festival. There was so much love, music, video premieres, full-on girl power, and unity on the night of January 11. Here’s a detailed look back.

There was even some group singing <3

We promoted this event like crazy — in fact, the entire Alternatíva community was built around this night. When we first came up with the idea, it was just meant to be a one-off — we even wrote about that — but it evolved into something huge, exciting, and wonderful. And then we thought: why couldn’t we do this again? With these three bands, or with others? Why shouldn’t we hit up festivals, radio stations — wherever we want — together?

Behind the scenes…

We needed a venue: we chose Kuplung because we knew it was perfect for a larger audience, and with their house rules, there was enough time to host three full-length sets. They did change the schedule on us at the last minute, which we weren’t thrilled about, and some people could only join later — but we didn’t freak out. Kuplung helped with ticket sales, and they also provided the sound and lighting technicians, who did a top-notch job and — as they told us after the show — did it with joy and enthusiasm.

We priced the tickets so that no one would have to sacrifice more than the cost of a beer to hear three lesser-known acts. Tickets at the door were 900 HUF. Pretty fair, right?

Media coverage:

We pulled every string and gave awesome radio interviews to Kontakt Rádió, Jazzy, and Tilos Rádió. Nothing proves Alternatíva’s relevance more than the fact that it’s become one of those Joker topics — it fits anywhere, and people are genuinely excited about talented women making music. 🙂 On top of that, Klubkoncert.com supported us with regular coverage, and we were also featured on Fidelio.hu and NOW Magazine. So cool.

The performances:

All three bands put in a ton of work preparing for their sets. We were sad that, due to the last-minute schedule changes, not everyone made it to Indigó’s performance — but those who were there screamed after every song, and we’ve always been about quality over quantity. That helped us stay calm about crowd size, too.

NAGYEDi had been sick for a week and was even banned from speaking, but Edi wasn’t about to be sidelined — she just sang a bit more cautiously, dressed warmly, and shortened the set slightly.

The Anahit had some technical hiccups during their performance, but that didn’t stop us either. If that’s not real girl power, what is?

Indigó

We weren’t joking — these are deeply emotional songs that sometimes lean into rock, blending jazz and pop influences, all delivered with an angelic voice by a uniquely charming songwriter. The band, named after Palágyi Ildikó’s childhood nickname, features none other than Gyémánt Bálint (guitar), Szabó Dániel Ferenc (drums — known from Mörk and Noémo), and the lightning-fast, meat-loving* jazz god Bartók Vince on bass.

*Edi and Vince were so hungry on their first meeting in the tour van that they could only talk about food.

NAGYEDiproject

As mentioned above, Edi and her band played a shorter set than planned, because she was supposed to be resting in bed — but instead, she was mini-festivaling with the girls...We were thrilled that Gyarmati Fanny (guitar) had just returned from Boston and added another dose of girl power to our collection. Alongside Edi and Fanny, the band — which floats between alternative pop and trip-hop — featured Budai Benjámin (keys), Kocsis Dániel (drums), and Szabó Kristóf Márk (bass). To make the concert even more complete, Máris Viktor joined Edi for one song, Szederkényi Zsolt busted out a wild dance on another, and a third was performed together with Indigó and The Anahit. Meanwhile, Gabriel Dubuc waved his visual magic wand and the band premiered their long-teased music video — which is now available on YouTube and embedded below:

The Anahit

The crowd loved the minimal electronic arrangements too. We grooved together to the trap and R&B beats — hopefully future hits.Alongside Csányi Rita, “The Somas” — Sashegyi Soma (keys, live act) and Horváth Soma (guitar) — appeared on the stage, which by then was drenched in smoke and emotion.The concert, which closed the Alternatíva mini-festival, ended with a screening of The Anahit’s debut music video for their song Clouds Of Smoke.

Our minds are already spinning with ideas for when, where, and what the next gathering could be — because we loved it, and the feedback from the audience has been amazing. So there’s no stopping now.

Take a look through the photo gallery and the world of "Alternadivas", and don’t forget to follow our page and send us artist recommendations. Let’s build this community together!

Follow us here:🌐 www.facebook.com/alternativa.movement 🌐 www.facebook.com/indigo.ildiko 🌐 www.facebook.com/nagyediproject 🌐 www.facebook.com/theanahit