Dr. BOMBAY JAYASHRI RAMNATH- The Carnatic Vocal Recital

I am a Post Graduate student at PES University in Bengaluru and like many other colleges, PES  brings in popular acts(like Vishal-Shekhar, Salim-Sulaiman) and also promote Indian Classical music, by hosting live shows for them too. So far I haven’t been to any of the shows held here, either due to lack of time, or interest, or due to commitments. That changed on Sunday,  when I saw that the eminent Carnatic Vocalist Dr. Bombay Jayashri Ramath was going to sing for us, here in campus on the 4th of April, 2017

For those of you who don’t know who she is :

 

• I am sure you know the classic, Zara Zara Mehekta Hain from RHTDM. The original version, which is in Tamil was sung by her. Here is the song:

 

 

 

• Also, she was nominated for the Oscars in 2012 for “Best Original Song” category, for the song “Pi’s Lullaby” in the movie, Life of Pi, scored by Mychael Danna.

 

 

Okay, done.

 

Beyond all this, she is an eminent Carnatic vocalist, who has gained fame and repute in India and all over the world for promoting and performing Carnatic music. I couldn’t miss out on this opportunity to enjoy this experience. This was conducted by the college through their Indian Culture arm, Ninaada,  in association with the SPICMACAY Chapter- Bengaluru.

I was well on time in the auditorium, and the Masters of the Ceremony called upon the dignitaries for the lighting of the lamp, after which the artists, took their places on the stage. They then began to introduce each of the musicians on stage, and listening to the felicitations they have received for their craft, makes me even more curious to delve into this world of Indian Classical music. I have a basic understanding of Carnatic music, thanks to a musician neighbor many years ago, so I never felt out of place.

Once the introductions were done, Bombay Jayashri Ramnath took over the mic, and started to interact with the audience, and began to talk about the music that they were doing, and it’s unique nature. Apart from being a wonderful singer, she is a good orator as well. She then began to sing the first line of a song, in praise of Lord Rama, and made the audience sing with her, making us realize how a single line is sung differently and how it can convey different emotions with different swaras(notes) in the tune.

She then got on with the song, with the other musicians playing in sync with rhythm and tune. She also pointed out to us how the percussion is played in the manner that conveys the emotion of the song, and not just acting as an accompaniment to the vocalist. She also mentioned that to understand and feel those emotions, all the musicians, including herself have had gurus, from whom they have learnt and nurtured under to be able to perform in the way that they are doing.

The mentions of all the nuances took me back to the days, when I was jamming with Carnatic musicians, and was experiencing these nuances as I played with them. It had been a long time since I enjoyed the subtleties of this form of music, and hence I was experience a different kind of happiness(even though I had a lot of work and submissions to do for this week, as well as next day :P)

During the course, we could also see a sort of jugalbandi, or as she mentioned, a musical conversation between the Kanjira and the Mridangam. She then finished the song, and then the interaction session began. Before we get to that, the audience was a mixed bag of people from all age groups, including students, and were sitting and listening to the beauty of Indian Classical, which is a good break for us, from all the other stuff that’s out there.

Everyone began to ask her questions on percussion, timing, melody, songs, differences between Hindustani and Carnatic music, and many other topics. Every person had atleast 2 questions for her, and I am pretty sure Bombay Jayashri did not expect so many questions from the audience. :D. To answer one of the questions, she told the Mridangam player to try and spoil the song as he plays, which he did, with not much success. 😛

After patiently answering everyone’s queries, she then went onto do a Thillana(A rhythmic Carnatic piece), which mesmerized us all once again. Being short on time, she then thanked the audience for their listening and their interaction, until someone from the audience asked her to sing a particular traditional song, which she agreed to, as she felt it would give a better finale to the show.

The Vote of thanks was then proposed by the Cultural Coordinator of PESIT, who also added on to the points made by the musicians in answering the queries, as he was a percussionist himself.

Overall, this was a different experience for me, compared to all the ones that I have written on this blog in all aspects. I definitely wanted to hear her sing more songs, and wished that the interaction session didn’t go as long as it went, but nevertheless, the experience left me fulfilled and happy from within, making me want to go for more Indian Classical music concerts in future.

 

 

As always, my pics aren’t great. The blog will be updated with the link to better photos, once it’s out. Cheers!! 😀

 

 

 

 

 

 

INDIAN OCEAN

Cover photo source:

http://www.ritzmagazine.in/indian-ocean-enthralled-mall-goers-with-a-concert-at-the-forum-mall-koramangala-on-20th-december-2015/

Like all my other posts, there is a small backstory to this gig experience as well, but I think the story of how I landed in this show is more interesting than the show itself. Of course when we talk about Indian Ocean, one of the early pioneers of Independent Music in India, and the Desi Rock scene, true music lovers would love to listen to them live and know for themselves as to how they managed to survive and give us such beautiful music all these years, but then this is how I ended up watching Indian Ocean for the first time:

It was on the 20th December 2015, a Sunday. I was on a BMTC bus(Bengaluru), going from Silk Board to MG Road, and on my way, the bus passed through the Forum Mall in Koramangala. I glanced upon a stage setting inside the mall corridor premises, with a lot of mics, lights and it had my attention, as to who would be playing there? It could be any act, a famous one or any new band, it would always have my curiosity. I had no information of any big gig then on that day, and so I didn’t bother finding out too. I went ahead with the bus journey.

After finishing my work in MG Road, I then caught a bus from Shivajinagar Bus Depot towards Silk Board, going back home(The Metro line hadn’t come then) . Owning to the heavy traffic along the Hosur road, the journey was slow, and I was sleepy as well. After sometime, we pass by The Forum Mall again, and the bus is at the signal. The place is well lit, and the stage looked great. It hit me again, that I had seen the stage being prepared earlier at noon. Seeing the bus stuck at traffic, I decided to get down the bus conveniently and have a look. As I made my way through the barricades in front of the mall, and paced myself, I just looked up and I saw a huge banner, which said that Indian Ocean is live here, and the show starts at 6. I just checked my watch, and I was like 5 minutes late I suppose.

I couldn’t believe it, I was like, “How could I miss this?? How did I not know earlier????”

Instead of wasting more time, I rushed to the crowd side, while my eyes were looking for any ticket counters, or something of that sort.

I quickly realized that this is a free gig, as the crowd were going past the security guards, and charging towards the stage, trying to grab the spots closer to the stage. I rushed in as well, but somehow managed to fit myself in the middle. Nevertheless I did get a decent view. It took me some time to breathe and just sink in that I just landed into an Indian Ocean show, and I will be listening to them live in sometime. 😀

By the time I settled in, there was an opening act, an act called Kalari,(headed by singer-songwriter, Shubham Roy enthralling the crowd with Bollywood numbers, already getting the crowd charged up for the big event. I was already tired, and my phone had died as well, but I thought, “Let’s enjoy the show, then I’ll see how to make my way back home”. The crowd kept coming, and they were gathered all around the stage, and some of them on the sides of the mall corridor, trying to get a glimpse of the show.

After a good set of Bollywood numbers, it was time for the legends to grace the stage. And they did, with a thunderous welcome by the crowd as they began their set with their brand of fusion music with traditional instruments, lyrics, and the elements of rock music.

They began to play songs from their latest album “Tandanu” like the title track (which happens to be taken from a Kannada folk song), and Behne Do, which helped set the right mood and the space to enjoy the amazing musicianship of the band members and their lovely compositions. The sounds were so well balanced, that only when you hear them live, you realize why they are such pioneers in their field, and why they command respect even after all these years.

Rahul Ram, I feel is not just an amazing singer in the true Desi sense, but also an amazing bass player live, and the way his bass lines moved with the music on a live setup was something true bass lovers would get a real kick out of.

It was the previous guitarist of the band, Sushmit Sen, who helped set the tone of the Indian Ocean sound with his clean guitar work, infusing Indian style playing with blues, jazz and other styles, and Nikhil Rao, the present guitarist is a treat to listen to live, and he does full justice to his role in the band, not only playing the works of Sen, but also doing his own work on the latest Indian Ocean projects, staying true to the sound.

Tuheen Chakravarthy(Tabla) brought about the traditional percussions with amazing finesse, with Himanshu Joshi serving as the second vocalist for the band, who was also supported by the drummer Amit Kilam.

After entertaining the crowd with their new album songs, it was time for Amit Kilam to don the mic as they moved to Mann Kasturi from their then Bollywood project, Masaan, and the crowd swayed to the lovely melody, the powerful voice of Amit on this one, and also his drumming. I got my high on this one, as I used to keep humming this song all the time then.

The show wouldn’t end without them playing their evergreen hits, like Bandeh, Kandisa, Ma Reva, and the mention of their ex-band member, the late Asheem Chakravarthy(Tabla and lead vocals). The crowd were on a high, when they played Kandisa and Bandeh, as they sang along with Rahul for the main parts of the song. One thing about watching them live is that, you just don’t get to hear the parts they’ve already recorded for the songs. No gig of theirs is incomplete without their jugalbandi, or their live jams on stage, where not only the members, but the crowd lose themselves into the band’s sheer brilliance and their control over their trademark sound. They ensured they had something like that in most of their songs in the set list.

The show ended around 9:30 pm,and the crowd began to disperse.

Photo courtesy: Nithyanand Pai. (One of my friends, who happened to be there, and I didn’t know it then)

This gig was more memorable, not only because this was my first Indian Ocean gig, but also I didn’t land there in the typical way. What’s the typical way ,you ask??

1. I get notified on Facebook, or on Eventshigh about a gig(or some friend tells me about it)
2. Decide on going based on availability, the act who’s playing, ticket prices and stuff
3. Waiting for the big day 😀

So yea,  none of this happened for this one, and that made it even more fun. I was tired, my power bank and my phone, both dead, but I was enchanted by the brilliance of this band, and the music they had to offer. I then ended up going to my friend’s place nearby, uninvited to crash for the night. 😛

Cheers!!! 😀

 

BACKDOORS PART-2(STEVEN WILSON)

EDIT: The link for the photographs for the Backdoors event is out on their official page, and so I am updating the post with the link down here. Do check it out 😀

https://www.facebook.com/pg/thtbackdoors/photos/?tab=album&album_id=627211697403883

 

It has been exactly one week since the BACKDOORS event happened, and I am still not over the awesomeness of it. Continuing from my first part of the BACKDOORS experience, I will now cover the most important aspect of this show, the one and only STEVEN WILSON!!!!

The crowd had thronged to the second stage, and were eagerly waiting for the band members to take stage. People were trying to push through the front as much as they could to get a glimpse of the man himself. The excitement levels were such that any passing person on the stage would be met with cheers and screams, expecting him to be one of the band members. We thought we would have to wait out for a few more minutes. Moments after that thought crossed my head, the band members, Wilson included came onto the stage and took their respective positions.

The crowd went mad, the moment was here. The genius was on stage, the instruments were ready, and the cheers didn’t stop for even a second. Looking out to the crowd, the band started off by playing the intro riff of the title song, “Hand Cannot Erase”, which kicked things up even more, as the crowd starting singing along, and grooving to it. Steven Wilson played the last show of his worldwide tour in Bengaluru, to promote his album, “Hand Cannot Erase”. After the song, the band themselves got the hang of the mad crowd, which I am pretty sure they would have expected, but not to the extent of the reality at Backdoors. 😀

He then armed himself with the bass guitar, and they started off to “Home Invasion”, infusing the required energy into the show, changing the entire setting of the show, from a show playing soothing, peaceful, to a power packed show, where half the crowd were already headbanging. The lighting and the sounds did their part in making this show as exciting as it already was.

After that energetic song, and that treat of pure prog rock music, he then went on to speak to the crowd, and present one of his own famous songs as a tribute to the late David Bowie, and that song is none other than Lazarus. This is one of his most recognizable songs, written during his stint with Porcupine Tree. True to its nature, the crowd sang the chorus louder than Wilson (Of course they were singing the other parts with him, but nothing beats the chorus). The setting was perfect, with Wilson on the acoustic guitar, the lights focused on him, and the crowd singing with him, and losing themselves into the music.  The “Lazarus” moment was captured by many smartphones during the chorus. The piano kicks into the next song, and he begins to sing the song “Happy Returns”, making the crowd sway to the soft acoustic song, supported suitably by the band.

Apart from the music, the band also played visuals for each of the songs behind, which was like an icing on the cake, adding to the overall experience. He then moved onto some of his older solo work, starting with one of my all time favorites, Harmony Korine and then going to Index. The execution of the song “Index” was done differently, with the introduction based on clicks of fingers by all the members keeping time, with Wilson singing the first part, and then the band kicking into the music after the chorus.

To give the crowd sometime to breathe, and relax into his music, he then moved into “Ancestral”, which is a 13-minute-long song, and gave us the right kind of mood to just enjoy and sink into his lovely compositions. It was with songs like this, that they keyboardist of the band, Adam Holzman, played all kinds of sounds, making us pause and notice his mastery behind the keys. Steven himself went behind the keyboards for this one, separately in the center. He went back to Porcupine Tree with “Don’t Hate Me” and “Sleep Together”. A newer version of this song was recorded for his latest EP release, “4 ½”, which was a little longer one, with more music. He then he kicked into the instrumental “Vermillioncore” from the same EP.

Wilson then teased the crowd by saying Goodnight, and leaving the stage with his band members, leaving us wanting for more, but of course came back and promised us more music for the night.

The band returned, and then Wilson talked about how Prince influenced life and his music, and had only great words to speak about him. Paying a tribute to the late artist, they kicked into their cover version of the Prince song , “Sign “☮” the Times”.

He then started off “The Sound of Muzak” and asked the crowd to sing the “catchy chorus” along with him, since he barely gets catchy choruses to write. After all the singing, swaying, and headbanging to the music, it was time for the last song. He got his chair near the mike, and the visuals were in sight. Many people like me guessed the song that was coming, and the first few chords of the piano led us to “The Raven That Refused to Sing”, which got all the die hard fans crazy, since he hadn’t played any songs from that album yet. While some of them lightly sang the initial lines with Wilson, most of them were either lost in the music, in his voice, or in the lovely music video of the song that was being played behind. There were many others, like me as well, who kept watching the visuals as the song went by, getting us into tears, and immersing ourselves into the pain expressed into the song.

He then kicked in with the electric guitar, and went into the final parts of the song, kicking into the stirring motif in a dramatic manner, with the dramatic lighting, bringing an end to his show at an emotional, but a satisfactory high.

This night was a dream come true for all Steven Wilson fans, as no one, like me would have expected him to play live, that too in our own city. When I wore the Raven t-shirt(Courtesy: Headbangers Merchandise), I felt proud to see Bengaluru listed as one of the cities along with those all over the world, where he toured and enthralled the crowds, and also the fact I was in the crowd as well. This night will be remembered for years to come, not just for Steven Wilson, but for the entire musical experience. I don’t think we can thank The Humming Tree enough for giving us Backdoors, and for giving us the Steven Wilson experience, down here in Bangalore. With smiles, and a heart full of satisfaction, the night came to a close. Well I wish I had better photographs, but I got this one from a friend, who was with me.

Picture Courtesy: Fisto Jose

PS: The experience is penned down based solely on memory and a little help from the Internet. The views expressed are solely personal, and does not attempt to be a critic in any form, on any department.

The setlist for this show(Steven Wilson) can be accessed from here:

http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/steven-wilson/2016/indiranagar-club-bangalore-india-13fb8109.html

 

BACKDOORS Ft. Steven Wilson, Patrick Watson and Jose Gonzalez- Part 1

I still remember the moment, somewhere in mid-October I guess, I was sitting on Instagram post midnight, and I come across this post by The Humming Tree on it saying, they’re getting Steven Wilson and 2 other artists for a new event named “BACKDOORS” in Bangalore. I couldn’t contain my excitement!!!. I had made peace with myself that I won’t be able to go to the Pune NH7 Weekender , thanks to my exams, and so watching the great Steven Wilson live was out of question. (And yeaa I didn’t go for Coldplay also).

But that post just gave me the kick again. The show was to be held on 4th December, one day before an exam, but I didn’t bother about that at all. I was going for this, come what may. I would also get to discover the other 2 artists in the lineup, Patrick Watson, and Jose Gonzalez. I kept my friends, who were SW fans, informed through Facebook for all kinds of updates on venue, timings, and tickets as well, by tagging them on the official posts from the pages, whenever I could. This was a big event. A big one. And this one coming next day after his NH7 gig in Pune.

My respect for The Humming Tree just shot up, getting Steven Wilson to play down South, that too even after the disappointment of Bengaluru losing out on a Weekender this year. Seeing the number of fans he has here, it would have been sad that most of us would have missed out on him coming to India, that too after so many years(He came last time to Mumbai with Porcupine Tree in 2008). You guys rock. \m/

After waiting for all these days, the D-Day was here.  The venue was Indiranagar Club, the same one where The Aristocrats ended up playing in September( No I didn’t watch them). The gates were open by 4:30 pm. I gathered at a friend’s place to get some company with me to the venue. I managed to reach at sharp 6pm, when the show was scheduled to start.

After getting our wrist bands, post confirmation, we went through 2 rounds of frisking, as there was a strict “No-Smoking” rule inside the concert. We then passed by the stalls, food stall, the Headbangers Merchandise stall, as we explored the place a bit. We then went inside and Jose Gonzalez, the first artist was already live on stage. The stage was magnificent, well lit, and big, which was a delight to the eyes. We then see the huge line gathered for drinks coupons, while the show had already begun. We were on the tennis court of the Club, and two stages were set up parallel to each other, between which we were roaming about and enjoying the music.

The place was brimming with people already, and Jose Gonzalez was setting the mood for the gig.  His soft songs, coupled with his work on the strings of his classical guitar already gave us the impression that this night is going to be as musically memorable as it can get. Apart from singing his own compositions, some from his latest album “Vestiges and Claws”, he even had a few covers as well.(I am yet to see the full set list, so need clarifications), and not to forget, he had a soothing voice as well. Being an indie folk musician, he did have some songs playing around with a little percussion too. He ended his set with his rendition of his cover of “Heartbeats” by The Knifes.

After the beautiful set, it was time for Patrick Watson and his band to take the stage. The setting of the stage took some time, as they had to put up the pet orbs(See it in the picture), and a grand piano as well. They the;on began their set, with the lovely setting and the beautiful piano being played by Patrick Watson himself on the side, and giving vocals. As and how the the music flowed, the lights kept changing. I just stood there and enjoyed the soothing vocals of Patrick and his piano, with his band complementing him. Patrick Watson was on an India tour to promote their latest album, “Love Songs for Robots” (Thanks Backdoors page for the info :D)

As their set went, they went more into a more Floyd-like zone with their sound, and also had elements like, bringing in the drums suddenly into the song, after a nice, slow trip, which kept making us feel we are floating in some other universe, in some of their songs.(like how it happened in their song “Lighthouse”). If the music was doing it’s part, their lighting didn’t fail as well, turning it into a complete visual treat, of a kind I have never seen before.

Photos courtesy: Nikhil Alexander

Photo Courtesy: Backdoors Facebook page

I couldn’t be more happier, seeing that what my generation missed out big time on shows like “The Pulse” by Pink Floyd, I am getting a small preview of what a show like that would have been like in 1994.

I also spotted a woodsaw player in the band(who was also the drummer), and I was trying to filter out his sound alone with my ears, trying to hear what it sounds like. I did manage to, but I felt it was a little feeble, or that was because the mic wasn’t set up properly for him. Anyways he made up for that, when all the band members came to the center to use just one mic for all the members. It was there the woodsaw got it’s sound and added the element of bendy tones to the layer of soothing music that was created, adding a touch of psychedelic aspect into the music. The audience were lost into the music, or busy standing in line for drinks,(or waiting for SW) but then the set came to an end, and we were left wanting for more.

Of course, one part of me couldn’t wait for Steven Wilson to come on stage, but the other side, I was so content and musically happy that apart from Wilson, I also got to hear two other soulfully beautiful artists, who set the mood and gave us beautiful music for a memorable night and for a lovely event like Backdoors.

The announcement then came in, which said that Steven Wilson will come on the other stage(A bigger stage), just parallel to this one where the other 2 artists played. The crowd starting moving there, trying to get to the front as much as possible. Mind you, some of the SW fans were already present there, booking their spots and enjoying the music playing on the other stage. It was time, for the master to take stage. This will be covered in the second part of the blog.

PS: I will add better photos to the post once the official ones are out from the Backdoors Facebook page. Till then, let’s wait together 😀

 

EDIT: After posting the links of the blog to the BACKDOORS page, apart from acknowledgement,  I also got the set-lists of both Patrick Watson and Jose Gonzalez from them in response as well. Thank you BACKDOORS for this 😀 (Time to check them out). Here they are:

SHADOW AND LIGHT-ALBUM LAUNCH

Before we get into the gig details, there is a small backstory here, the story behind how I discovered this act. So here we go.

So on Dec 18th 2015, The Mighty Rock Union gig was held at Pebble, Bengaluru (a post on that will come soon) and one of the bands playing in the lineup of 6 was none other than Advaita, an electic fusion rock band from New Delhi. While the show started and the other bands were performing, a friend who was one of the volunteers for organizing the event, helped me spot the keyboardist of Advaita, Mr. Anindo Bose, quietly sitting and checking his phone under a tree.

I went up to him, and struck a conversation. Being a keyboardist myself, we got into tech stuff, keyboards, DAWs he uses, song composition techniques, about his work back home, and upcoming Advaita work . While talking about work, he mentioned that he’s into another act called Shadow and Light, and I should check it out.

A few days after the show, I did check out their music. I found their  self titled debut album, “Shadow and Light” and bought it off oklisten.com, and I began the musical journey. I was blown, by the arrangements, by the vocals of Pavithra Chari, by almost every aspect. You have jazz, electronic, Hindustani classical,Western vocals, contemporary arrangements, lush piano arrangements…everything flowing so seamlessly, just moving from one style to another… wow!!!. 😮

Plus it had a melancholic feel to the entire album, it resonated with me too, since things weren’t  merry with me too, at that time. I kept listening, on and on. I just fell in love with the music. I had to look for Anindo on Facebook. I did, and I messaged him saying that I loved his work. And he reciprocated as well. :D. I used this link to buy the first album:

https://www.oklisten.com/album/shadow_and_light

 

Coming to the gig now 😛

 

So I get a new notification on my Facebook timeline saying that Shadow and Light is going to do their second album launch gig in The Humming Tree on March 2nd, 2016. I booked myself for it, and the gig was free entry as well. I reach the venue after deciding to take a BMTC bus all the way from Banashankari to Indiranagar(no metro then 😦 ). Stuck in traffic for long, I thought I would be late.

Luckily I wasn’t. When I reached around 9.15pm, I saw that the opening act was still playing. The show was opened by another cool band named “When Chai met Toast”, who were warming us up with their acoustic songs. They were also playing songs from their upcoming album then, and were getting us into the mood for a good musical evening. They even asked us to take a small souvenir of a tea bag, packed in a colourful packet, which had the band’s name on it. In the meantime, I also met Anindo(he remembered me :D) , and the beautiful vocalist Pavithra, and we talked for sometime.

I also ended up spotting Raghu Dixit in the audience, somehow I went up and spoke to him, and he told that he had come to watch Shadow and Light too. What else did I speak to him?? Do check out my experience post on “The Raghu Dixit Project“, which is already up here.

It was time. After the opening act, Shadow and Light were finally on stage. They were accompanied by Jayant Manchanda on Bass and Aveleon Giles Vaz  on the Drums for the live setup. They started off with “Unkahi” from their first album, and it was on. They keyboards, the drumming, the rhythm loops, were going with her vocals. The delight of listening to that lovely voice live, right in front of me…was surreal.

They then went onto play songs from the new album titled, “Elements” which was being launched here. Some of the songs they did were “Dua”, “Saavre”, “Tum”, “Seekers” . They also performed “Dheemi”, and made the audience sing to the hum, along with her, trying out some form of musical interaction with the audience, which went well.

Apart from the songs from the new album, they also revisited songs from their first album. They did “Roh-i-Noor” which was hauntingly beautiful, even in a live setting, thanks to her vocals, “Khwahish” and the title song “Shadow and Light” as well.

Anindo was the man behind the keys, who had his Macbook backing him up with certain arrangements and sound layers. Apart from the usual song arrangements, he also did his own improvisations with some quiet soloing. Even though he was doing a neat job, I guess his volume could have been a little more on the console for the same, so it would sound even better. Nevertheless, we could still enjoy the lovely arrangements he has done on all the songs, even in the live setting.

Pavithra’s vocals took me to another world, just making me forget everything around me, and just going with the flow of their music and her voice. Her transition from Hindustani or Hindi vocals to Western vocals is seamless, and it feels like she belongs to both styles of singing with equal finesse. Not many singers or voices can transport you somewhere else, equally on audio recording and even on a live setting. Apart from all this, I am just out of words, because one should actually listen to them live and enjoy the experience. You won’t even need a drink, trust me. 😀

There was a pretty decent crowd for the show, and it also had Mr. Raghu Dixit in it. Everyone were enjoying the music and they were going with the sensibilities of the sound. Post the lovely gig, I was happy to see so many people, from different age groups going to both Anindo and Pavithra and buying their CDs. They were selling their new album CDs for Rs.200 and were giving away the first album CD with it for free. :D.

Being a huge fan, I did buy one for myself as well. I ended up taking a selfie with Anindo this time. Lighting was bad in Pebble the last time, so… :D. And right after this gig, they went to Kerala to shoot for Music Mojo series, Kappa TV

 

 

Very few artists can make your live gig experience so surreal and enjoyable, leaving such a lasting impression even months after the gig is over. I am glad that I happen to know their music, and enjoy it, live with it, and be a small part in their journey by being a music lover, and a fan. They deserve more fame, more listeners, more reach, and they are sure to get that in the times to come. They are also playing the NH7 Weekender in Pune on 4th Dec, 2016, as part of the Karsh Kale Collective, which is amazing. Kudos Shadow and Light. I am waiting for more music and more live shows here 😀

Photos for the event can be viewed on this link here from The Humming Tree page

web.facebook.com/pg/thehummingtree/photos/?tab=album&album_id=974083329342864

 

Ending this post with one of my favorites, this was done for Music Mojo. Do check out their music. Spread the word. Cheers!!! 😀

Feature photo credits: The Humming Tree (Abhishek Shukla Photography)

 

 

Do check out their Facebook page here:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PRE BACKDOORS EVENT-PART 2

It’s been a while since the party is over, and I have been late as well,  but here I am to finish the second part of this post

So after a lovely acoustic and guitar slamming perfomance by Dhruv Vishvanath, it was time for the second act, i.e The Shubham Roy Collective to take the stage. Meanwhile the crowd took a break as well, and went to refill their glasses

The band began their performance with a Baul song, and the mood was back to loud music, with the drums kicking in and the crunch of the electric guitar setting the tone for Shubham’s vocals, as he strums to the lovely song, which not only got us energized into another mood, but also got us to start dancing.

If you have read the first part, I have mentioned that there was more crowd, more music and more nostalgia. How you ask?? Being a Friday night, many of them joined the party only towards the second half. And nostalgia?? Well, the band then began to churn out their own renditions of famous songs. This began with a small mashup of O Shanti Shanti(Vaaranam Aayiram) and the indie classic Dooba Dooba(Silk Route). Before the song, he did ask for all the 90s kids in the crowd, and we couldn’t be happier listening to these songs. He then went into Tagore mode, by doing his own version of the famous “Ekla Cholo Re”, making the crowd sing to this with him.

It was then followed by covers of famous indie-Hindi(is that even a term??) songs such as Aahatein(Agnee), Teri Deewani(Kailasa), which got the crowd singing, headbanging and losing themselves into these evergreen hits, that connected with the crowd(with me as well, I love these songs too)

The band consisted of a flute player, along with the usual setup, who also did backing vocals as and when he liked. He complimented his sound well with the rock sound of the Collective. Their drummer(I would love to know the names of all members as well) brought about an amazing kind of energy into his rolls, that made us sit and take notice of his time and his flow into the music. Their lead guitarist brought out his own style into the solos, which would have sounded great in the original versions of the songs too. Their bassist could actually use the hoodie as his style statement, while slapping the bass :D.

Last but not the least, we have Shubham Roy, who’s vocals were energetic and soothing in all the songs he did, and also had his acoustic guitar to back him. The band ended their set with the same Baul song they had begun with. The crowd couldn’t get enough of Shubham and his voice, and he was asked to sing some more. Seeing how many late comers on a Friday night wanted to hear him sing, he then went solo, and started with a Nepali song, which even I was familiar with. He then went to a pumpkin celebration song, which got us all to dance once again.

After the gig, their bassist told some of us that the band was just 3 days old, and it still needed time to get set, and it was him who handpicked all the members of the band. Watching their performance, and the way they connected with the audiences, I am sure they will look ahead to do more original songs, which would give a new dimension to their sound and their musical horizons for all of them. The party ended post 12 am, thanks to the encore, post which everyone dispersed, to look forward for the weekend, bringing this pre-event party to a close.

I had some photos, which I had taken of the band, but unfortunately, I lost my phone on Sunday, and there went with it all the pics I had. So I will be posting the link to the photographs directly from The Humming Tree Facebook page, and the link is right below here:

web.facebook.com/pg/thehummingtree/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1184036845014177

(I am facing some link issues, so do copy the link and view the photos, trying to resolve it)

And post this gig, they also created their own Facebook page, which is right below, so do Like it for more updates: