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Day 1 of Indigo & Blues – International Jazz and Blues Festival at Palace Grounds, Bangalore

May 2012 will be remembered as the month when Bangalore had a much needed overdose of the Blues. The ten-day Ode to the Blues Festival with film screenings, busking and concerts conducted all around the city was followed by the (unimaginatively titled) Puravankara Indigo & Blues International Jazz and Blues Festival a week later. The line-up looked quite delicious, with the likes of Van Wilks, Bobby Whitlock and Blackstratblues promising to dish out a surfeit of sweet blues music that is music to the soul.

Day One of the festival featured The Chronic Blues Circus, Groove #3, Overdrive Trio and The Van Wilks Band. The arrangements at the venue were replete with blue Nilkamal chairs, tables with spotless white tablecloths, uniformed stewards and ofcourse, the stage! The stage was nothing spectacular, so to speak, and the lighting arrangements were leaning towards Spartan (for an event of this magnitude). I was lurking around in the hour before twilight, looking for artists doing their last minute sound checks, but could find none. What came as a pleasant surprise was that the proceedings started a few minutes after 6 p.m., just as promised! This was a novel experience, but the downside of it was that the crowd had not yet poured in as expected. Perhaps they assumed that the show would start at least an hour late, as is usually the case at music festivals.

Chronic Blues Circus was the first band to take to the stage. The band is headed by, as described by a friend, the “Amitabh Bachchan of the Indian Blues Scene”, Mr.Peter Isaac on the harp, guitar and vocals. They opened the proceedings with an upbeat instrumental version of John Mayall’s ‘So Hard to Share’. The 7-note bass cycle served its purpose of hooking the (still sparse) audience into a lull. This was followed by their own ‘Indian Blues’ with Miriam on the vocals and then Jimi Hendrix’s ‘Killing Floor’ which was opened by a rasping rally call of ‘Let’s Go’ by Peter. Ananth Menon and Venkatesh Subramaniyam (Venky) took turns to show us what they could do with their six strings, through the protracted complementing licks.

Venky then went on to introduce the next song, called ‘Woman’, written by Peter way back in ’93. The song was appropriately wistful and cynical in places and this was confirmed somehow with the two part vocal harmony. Another original, ‘Sweet Nicotine’ followed, which seemed to fit better with a theme of love-making and heartbreak rather than having anything to do with tobacco. I say this with due respect and a hat tip each to Ananth and Venky for their wailing, perfectly tremolo-ed leads. Owen Bosen, the otherwise self-restrained bassist took over the vocals for the next song, and just when I was thinking whether anyone else in the band could also sing, first Venky and then Ananth polished off one verse each.

Despite being wowed by the band members’ singing prowess, one could not help but notice the fluctuating vocal levels. This was the only distraction, the sore tooth in an otherwise perfect little set. True, managing sound for a band which has five lead vocalists is a challenge, but for an event of this magnitude, it should be easily doable. Palace Grounds is an open green area and is bound to have a swarm of mosquitoes in the evenings, something that could have been avoided by probably sanitizing the area before the show.

Owen was back on the vocals for ‘Money Talks’, with his Knopfler-esque nonchalance, that beguiles the talent and experience that stand behind it. Ananth Menon’s pearl-blue guitar told many stories that evening, and really stood out as something that would be remembered for a long time to come. The songs that followed were ‘Win n’ Lose Blues’ and ‘Ulsoor Lake Blues’, both originals. The latter is, obviously about Ulsoor Lake and what it stands for in Bangalore’s past and present.

The refrain call of ‘Stop giving me waste’ was sort of half-wasted, considering the audience was only half-full. This was my favourite from the set, both for the message that it carried and for the classy execution. Mukut Chakravarthy was quite the demon on the keys, wincing and jumping off his seat in time to the magically achieved coda. Despite the overly booming bass levels and the fluctuating vocal levels, The Chronic Blues Circus, for their part, managed beautifully to present one melodious blues sound.

Groove #3 was the next, and I was impressed all over again with the promptness hardly five minutes after the previous band had vacated the stage, the next set was kicked off in style! May 18^th incidentally marked the Chennai-based band’s first anniversary, and hopes were high for something special that evening. After the opening instrumental, frontman Benny Dayal appeared on stage in his curious wool cap and introduced the band to us. The first song was an original called ‘Baby You Got Me’. The sheer capacity and range of the vocals hit me almost immediately. It is very rare one comes across a vocalist who has got so many things right, even down to the showmanship. Napier Naveen Kumar’s slap bass for this ditty rightly justified the “Groove” in Groove #3.

Bob Marley’s ‘Get Up, Stand Up’ was up next, but it took a while for the audience to identify the song. This was thanks to the long lead and bass intro, and it wasn’t until Benny started with the lyrics that anyone could’ve guessed the song. Old jazz standard ‘Summertime’ followed, but this time in the funk/jazz style. This rendition by Groove #3 has become rather a phenomenon on YouTube but I have my reservations about tampering with the jazz standards. Yes, I am a purist, guilty as accused. If I were to imagine this to be some other song, then I would say I was rather impressed with the meaty groove and the arpeggio-ridden bass line. If I were to put the feeling in words, well, on one side, this version sounds rather “happy” for ‘Summertime’. On the other side, I was impressed by the walking bass line, the staggering guitar licks, the slippery keys and the brutal snare-belting. I was sold when Benny pulled a kazoo out of his pocket and let it rip for a few bars.

The next song was an original called ‘Nowhere to Run’, purportedly about “getting trapped in love”. The staccato one-note introspective soliloquy, that forms most of the verse, did not impress, nor did the unimaginative chorus. The song really was saved by the breaks – the chunky chord work on the keys and the guitar lead caused the song to finally admit to the remorseful, regret-filled lyrical content. Stevie Wonder’s ‘Superstition’ was up next, which, curiously, had Leon James playing the slap bass on the keyboard and Napier just playing the semi-muted root notes on the bass guitar. The meat of the song was rather like a quick march, and the break-aways were the 80s style organ sweeps and Benny wailing in full belt, causing the happy marriage of “soul” and “groove”.

Another original called ‘Don’t Let Go’ was up next. The perfectly timed rests were enriched with music, and the song urged the audience to “stay funky, keep it right”. From the whole set, this song really stood out as the essence of Groove #3’s funk/jazz sound. This would’ve been the last song on the set, but the crowd clearly wanted more. After confirming with organizers, the band agreed to give us one more song. Just as I was beginning to jump with joy, I realized they were going to repeat the only lackluster track from their set, ‘Nowhere to Run’. This unfortunate choice for the encore was my cue to scuttle off to indulge in the sumptuous free snacks that were on offer. I must pause here to give two thumbs up to the organizers and my compliments to the chef.

Mumbai-based Overdrive Trio took the stage next, with Adrian D’Souza on the drums, Vibhas Patil on the bass and Sunny D’Souza on the guitar and vocals. This time, however, there was a slight delay allowing for Adrian to set up his own drum kit. I tried to get a peek at it, but it was mysteriously hidden behind a mountain of stage amps. The band opened with an original, ‘You’ve Got Me Tripping’. With its minimal lyrics and maximum overdrive, the song sent the audience tripping. The sound guy was still struggling to get the bass levels right, but I suppose we had just decided to give it up for a lost cause. Another original, ‘Long Distance Blues’ followed. Sunny’s guitar patch for this one sounded so fuzzy that it had an almost organ-like tone. Adrian D’Souza has been one of my favourite drummers and he surely didn’t disappoint. The 2-minute drum solo with the rumbling toms was as impressive as any other and one could spy members in the audience intelligently trying to keep time with the abstract clashes and thumps.

A quick change of tuning, and the band played another original titled ‘The Mid Life Blues’. Sunny’s vocals and guitar lead spewed desperation and anger as did Adrian’s drum rolls. Vibhas’ bass line walked all over the choppity-chop-chop guitar riffs to present an excellent and gratifying listening experience. At one point, Adrian jumped clear off the drum thrown HALFWAY through the roll, which itself then went the other way to emphasize the angst and the helplessness that was intended for the song. Richie Kotzen’s exquisitely crafted ballad ‘Remember’ was lined up next. This version was slowed down even more than the original, with longer wails emanating from Sunny’s guitar, giving the song an almost Gary Moore-like sound, creating an active, engaging conversation between the vocalist and the guitar.

Next in the set was Jimi Hendrix’s ‘Purple Haze’. I have never heard a version like this one before. The original song was all about swagger, but Overdrive Trio’s rendition had so much more tear-jerking soul in it. I will carry that coda in my heart for a long, long time to come. Just as Sunny announced that this was the last song from them, and was saying his thanks, the crowd went wild with cries for more. Even I had forgotten that Van Wilks was playing next, and would have had Overdrive Trio play forever. A quick nod from the organizers, and then they did oblige the crowd with a rendition of Jimi Hendrix’s ‘Foxy Lady’. My first witnessing of the Overdrive Trio had left me in an admiring daze, and I was already making promises to never miss another show by them. What is it with Mumbai and blues trios? Overdrive Trio’s positively incandescent performance would be complemented the next day by another blues trio from Mumbai, the Blackstratblues. But more on that in the Day 2 review.

Santosh Gnanakan, popularly known as RJ Saggy took the stage next to introduce the headlining Van Wilks Band, and also to do some justified promotion for Radio Indigo. Saggy also helpfully pointed out some members of the Bobby Whitlock Band and Coco Carmel, who were rubbing shoulders with the audience and drinking in the blues stupefaction. Also in the crowd were the boys from Blackstratblues.

Van Wilks strutted on to the stage with two friends in tow: Dave Ray on the bass and Nico Leophonte on the drums. Van Wilks is a world-renowned blues guitarist from Austin, Texas. He carries the Texan swagger and an easy humour with him. Seeing this easy-going natural stage baby, one could hardly guess that he is a cancer survivor, an inductee into the ‘Texas Music Hall of Fame’ and has a state wide official ‘Van Wilks Day’ celebrated every November 6 in Texas. It was clear that sparks were going to fly that evening in Palace Grounds, despite the problems with the sound and the mosquitoes, both of which were hurriedly brushed under the mental carpet in order to drink in the experience fully.

The opening song was ‘Secret’ which won the crowd over from the very start with its cheeky lyrics. Van’s fretwork for this song set the expectations quite high for the rest of the set. Another thing that stood out was the amount of fun the three boys were having on stage. Sadly, this failed to transfer completely to the audience, who were too comfortable in their Nilkamal chairs and too busy munching hors d’oeuvres. Sure, there was this small number of revelers who were dancing unabashedly right in front of the stage. The next song was ‘Stone Cold Day’ which incorporated hammer-on overdrive tones with a groovy bass line to create an exciting blues song.

‘Mama Talk’ followed with its heavy, almost hard rock intro. The faithful crowd in the front went berserk for this one. The experience would have been perfect with some nice stagelights, but sadly this was not to be. The lead section had Van Wilks affectionately patting the guitar with his strumming hand which produced an unholy beautiful sound while Dave’s bass licks kept the song on its burning track. The next song was ‘Temporary Love Affair’ with Van Wilks introducing the song as: “I may not be a lawyer but I can damn sure get you off with this one.” The song is an honest and not-too-humble confession of the singer’s love for beautiful women.

‘Dialtone Blues’ was a high reverb dreamy song with a spaced out lead and cleverly disguised bass and drums that created an aura of a lucid dream with eerie sounds. The shocking, crashing coda with the fast strumming bass (something I had never seen before) snapped us out of the reverie and ready for the next song. ‘I Know (You Don’t Love Me No More)’ was a regulation Texas blues song with a 4/4 time and a catchy meaty riff. The lead had lightning fast licks and squeals that reached high up to the Heaven. ‘Goin’ to See My Baby’ had the “on-the-road-so-long” theme which is one of the favourites among blues song writers. This song, however, also incorporated the Texan swagger and thus created a nice stylish little ditty.

The next song was ‘Without a Word’, a blues ballad. This is my favourite kind of blues music, and I was rather looking forward to the trip. I wasn’t let down. That could have been BB King playing on stage. Only, it was the smiling Texan, Van Wilks playing the guitar lead and transforming it again into a Blackmore-esque squall. This song sent me tripping! There was a big green praying mantis on a chair next to mine, and it seemed to be swaying with the music. The two of us probably made a circuit of Saturn and Jupiter while Dave took over on the bass lead which was played in the higher frets. The sound was exactly like the guitar lead, except in lower octaves. This could go on forever, everything else forgotten, just the sweet sweet music washing down all around us. Sadly, the end was inevitable, a song has to be time-bound, and therefore, come to a halt.

The next song was a complete paradigm shift into a pumping fast British Blues style number called ‘Stiletto Blues’. All hands were in the air in answer to the booming bass drum, and finally, the audience forgot about the chairs and the snacks and were on their feet, dancing. At the end of the song, Van said that he had “beaten the guitar out of tune”, so had to change it. The band then wrapped up with ‘Bleedin’ for You’ and ‘Boystown’. The latter offered a Texas-Mexico mish-mash sound that somehow gelled very well together. If you’ve heard anything by the band Tito and Tarantula you will get my drift. However, these two songs were somehow not half as impressive as the previous ones. Or perhaps I was still tripping from ‘Without a Word’, so failed to notice anything going on. The band looked justifiably exhausted after their adrenaline splashing set, and so, the music had to stop.

Van Wilks and his band had exceeded all expectations. One can only hope for more tours to India, with more of that healing, uplifting Texas Blues. I got a chance to meet Mr.Wilks backstage and I asked him about the experience of playing in front of an Indian crowd, to which he said, “It is not very different from playing back home. Music is the same language in Texas as in Bangalore.” Hats off to the man for having tackled my childish question with an unassailable truth!

And so, Day One of the Puravankara Indigo and Blues International Jazz and Blues Festival had come to a close. All around, one could see people walking around in a daze that can only be caused by an overdose of the Blues. I reminded myself that there would be more awesomeness to follow the next day with Adil and Vasundhara, The Saturday Night Blues Band, The Blackstrat Blues and Bobby Whitlock and CoCo Carmel. This indeed proved to be the “unadulterated blues rock experience” as promised by the organizers.

Rohan Arthur

Rohan Arthur is a Photographer + Writer at What's the Scene who enjoys all music that does not involve growling/vomiting into the microphone. Rohan is the vocalist of a blues rock band and also manages another folk rock band. At every given chance, he runs away to the jungles, which he believes are his home.

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Day 2 of Indigo & Blues – International Jazz and Blues Festival at Palace Grounds, Bangalore

It really is a shame that a combination of traffic, miscommunication and uncharacteristic tardiness on my part had me walk into the venue just as Adil and Vasundhara were wrapping up their set. I would’ve loved to watch them live but had to instead rely on rapturous one-line reviews from people around. But I wasn’t too perturbed as there were some more world class acts to follow – The Saturday Night Blues Band from Kolkata, Blackstratblues from Mumbai and, of course, the headliners Bobby Whitlock and Coco Carmel all the way from the US of A. The stage was well set up, the sound was perfect, and the weather couldn’t have been more pleasant if it tried, and I took my seat to drown myself in the blues.

The Saturday Night Blues Band started off loud and very proud with ‘Blues is my Business’, and apparently (as the lyrics go), “Business is good!” and it sure sounded like it! Singer Arunima Dasgupta’s voice was powerful, intense and in control. The band had a very tight old school blues sound. The Saturday Night Blues Band consists of Jayanta Dasgupta on Guitars/Vocals, Arunima Dasgupta on Vocals, Stuart Munrao on bass, Rohan Ganguli on the guitar and Avinash Chordia on Drums.

They played a mix of slow blues and danceable numbers like ‘6345789′ by Wilson Pickett and the great SRV’s ‘Mary Had a Little Lamb’. Their rendition of ‘Look Don’t Touch’ by Hubert Sumlin had an amazing Boogie Woogie rhythm and this was a song where they showed great stage presence and connected with the audience. Jayanta Dasgupta’s solos were quite incredible on every song. Ganguli, though somewhat silent at the start and playing only the rhythm parts, blazed his fret board every time he graced us with a solo. They ended their set with ‘What Good Can Drinking Do’ and ironically the audience raised their glasses to bid them goodbye!

As I looked around the venue, I had one major problem with the way it was organized – the strange seat segregation. There were three passes- Silver, Gold and Platinum. The Platinum – the costliest one (with free booze) – was right in the front and was only some 20 feet from the stage. It was the only section that stretched across the breadth of the lawn venue. The rest of the sections (Silver and Gold) had a chunk cut out from the left side to accommodate the monstrous sound console section. Moreover I felt that dividing the venue into three sections when the strength of the audience wasn’t more than 500 was an unnecessary waste of space.

India’s favourite trio Blackstratblues took to the stage next. The band has been revolutionary in the way they have popularized their brand of blues-based instrumental music to college audiences in the country. Originally the brainchild of guitarist/composer Warren Mendonsa, he was joined on stage by his live band consisting of Sidd Coutto on drums and Johann Pais on bass.

Blackstratblues are a thrill to watch live, always pushing their music to the limit, playing entire sets without losing the vigorous intensity that makes their performances so special. After a fierce blues-rock intro, they started their proper set with ‘The Happy Billi Song’ from The New Album. This was followed by a couple of new songs, ‘The Universe Has a Strange Sense of Humour’ and an untitled song. All the new songs they performed, named and unnamed, had a distinctly darker sound than the usual Blackstratblues material. The songs involved more layers of rhythm than just plain guitar solos. Here we also saw Warren playing around and jamming with his delay and wah guitar pedals almost as if the pedal board was the fourth musician on stage!

‘Blues for Gary’ from the band’s debut album Nights in Shining Karma put Warren’s guitar playing in the spotlight, clearly showing his unique mix of playing styles, which involves a typical blues style of soloing but with that pinch of India thrown in and always served with some extra Bombay for good measure. The same goes for ‘Ode to a Sunny Day’ that was the last song of the set, though this song is a lot more folksy. Written by Warren when he was going through a tough time in his life, this is a song that always inspires. It sounds like the narrator is running towards the light at the end of the tunnel, and maybe someday reaching it too. And who is the narrator? It’s the black strat, of course, that conveys all of this without ever speaking a word!

Finally, we had Bobby Whitlock, Coco Carmel and their band get on stage. Their band consists of Jeff Plankenhorn on guitar and Austin Robbie Venturini on bass. They started their performance with ‘Anyday’, the first of the many songs from The Derek and Dominoes album that they played. All of the songs from that album have stood the test of time for almost half a century. Whitlock and Carmel’s rendition that night was proof enough that music so powerful and ever-relevant won’t fade away too easily. The song also featured Jeff Plankenhorn’s unconventional style of electric guitar slide playing where he keeps his fretting hand over the fingerboard and plays it like a lap steel guitar. The sound he got out of it was incredible, a Duane Allman-esque sound that is quite new to most Bangalore ears.

This was followed by ‘Keep on Growing’, again from the Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs album, and ‘Got to Get Better in a Little While’, which wasn’t in the original album but was later released as a bonus track. Most of these songs have unique southern rock harmonies, not powerful in terms of loudness or range, but in intensity and emotion.

Coco Carmel, after having played rhythm guitar accompanying her vocals until then, took up the saxophone for the rest of the gig. The volume was slightly low at the start, and after a few of the audience members complained (and the band and the sound guys finally realized that it wasn’t just drunken shouting), it was soon rectified.

Towards the end of the gig or perhaps the reason for the gig to prematurely end was a visibly uneasy Whitlock. They ended the gig with ‘John the Revelator’ and ‘Layla’. Their rendition of both the songs was quite slowed down. It was a very different take on Layla. It alternated between a slowed down verse and an upbeat chorus with, of course, the iconic main riff. At this point, Whitlock looked quite ill and had to get up from his keyboard numerous times. Immediately after Layla, the gig took an unfortunate twist as Whitlock ran backstage and passed out. He had to be carried to a car and rushed to the hospital. It turned out to be a severe allergic reaction caused by a mix up in medication that was given to him.

The fact that even after getting so ill halfway through the concert, he still gathered all his energy to give an amazing performance shows the immense passion for music that Bobby Whitlock has. Even though the gig was cut short slightly, it was immensely entertaining. On the whole, though I had some issues with the way it was organized, music-wise, Day 2 of the Indigo Blues and Jazz was quite enjoyable. This was just one of the many blues festivals and gigs that have been happening in the city lately. As a blues and jazz fan, I would hope to see this trend continue.

Abhishek Prakash

Abhishek Prakash is a Bangalore based guitarist and is a third of local act Groove Chutney. He loves jazz, street food, Woody Allen movies and often pretends to be a writer.

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Nokia aLive feat. Lamb of God and Skyharbor at Clark’s Exotica, Bangalore

May 26^th, 2012 as many diehard metal heads had predicted was brutally EPIC. You would have had to be extremely daft to expect anything less from a lineup that read – Escher’s Knot, Bhayanak Maut, Skyharbor and finally Lamb of God. Thanks to the new government rule which prohibits Palace Grounds from hosting any further gigs, the concert took place at Clarks Exotica, which looked like a rather serene resort till the Metal gods took to the stage and tore the place apart. The venue was by no means a letdown but comparing it to the Mecca of heavy metal in India, Palace Grounds, would be extremely unfair (to both Palace Grounds and Clarks Exotica). The location being 30 kms away from the city didn’t seem to pose a problem to the 6000 plus people that showed up but mineral water bottles being sold at an exorbitant fifty rupees a litre did. Unwilling to move from their vital vantage points, the water shortage soon turned into a mini crisis for the fans upfront. The enduring fans however were soon rewarded as the guys from Bhayanak Maut were kind enough to throw their own bottles to the thirsty crowd.

First up on stage (starting sharp at 5 pm) was the experimental metal band from Chennai Escher’s Knot, who played an extremely tight set, playing a lot of their new songs including ‘Reciprocity’ which seemed to have struck a chord with the crowd. It was a pity a lot of fans had to miss out on this enlivening opening act as most of them were either waiting to get inside or were stuck in Bangalore’s famous traffic jams. From playing in the pre party gig for the Lamb of God concert in 2010 to opening for them in 2012, this band has come a long way and is destined to scale more heights.

By the time Bhayanak Maut (who were up next) took stage a sizeable crowd of close to 5, 000 had gathered, and in true BM style they brought it that evening. Their set was a healthy mix of some old and new songs – their brand new song ‘I am Man’ along with with some of their older songs like, ‘Perfecting the Suture’ and ‘Ranti Nasha’. The guttural twins Sunneith and Vinay were specially brutal and with the double guitar attack of Aditya and Venky, teamed with Rahul on drums and Swapnil on bass they prepped the crowd perfectly for the mayhem to follow (though Sunneith’s vocal levels on the PA was quite low for most part of the set) It took them no time to get the crowd going, and the two gigantic circle pits on either side of the stage were testimony to it. Randy Blythe in particular seemed to take a liking for the band, he was spotted clicking pictures of the band whilst their set was on and later went on to make a personal dedication to them when Lamb of God was playing.

Next up on stage was Keshav Dhar’s much anticipated live act with his band Skyharbor; going live for the first and probably (hopefully not) the last time with Daniel Tompkins. Though Lamb of God was the headlining act, I personally know a lot of people who came down just to watch Skyharbor’s set. The band has been creating a lot of buzz, for all the right reasons post the release of their first album earlier this year, Blinding White Noise: Illusion and Chaos, which also features Marty Friedman (ex-Megadeth) in a couple of songs.

After the insanity of BM, Skyharbor was an invigorating change with their breezy vocals and intricate guitar riffs. You’d be forgiven to think that the recently moshing crowd was replaced by an opera audience (dressed in black metal t-shirts and combat boots though). Their set featured songs from Illusion and their sound was awe-inspiring to say the least. Keshav was his usual legendary self, and it was so refreshing to watch him just stand there smiling at the crowds while playing some of the most mind-boggling stuff on his guitar effortlessly, while Devesh Dayal from Goddess Gagged supported him beautifully. Dan’s poignant vocals melted perfectly with the sound of the band and it’ll truly be a pity to not watch him sing a ‘Celestial’ or a ‘Catharsis’ live again. Although I must say, it would have been awesome to see Sunneith on stage creating some ‘Chaos’ with the band, considering he was just around the corner.

Up next on stage for the second time in Bengaluru was the headlining act from Richmond, Virginia, Lamb of God. They came on stage to thundering applause and started their set with ‘Desolation’ and ‘Ghost Walking’ from their brand new album, Resolution after which the entire crowd of 6000 plus metal heads walked with Randy in Hell. The band thankfully played a lot of music from their earlier albums which had a more raw sound compared to the polished sound of ‘Resolution’.

The crew filming for Lamb of God’s upcoming movie must have, without a doubt, got some spectacular shots of wave after wave of head banging metalheads I literally had goose bumps when the entire crowd sang Something To Die For’ along with Randy. The band followed it up with crowd favorites, ‘Hourglass’, ‘The Undertow’ and my personal favorite, ‘Omerta’ which all led to two of the most massive and wicked circular pits I’ve ever seen. (People moshing had nothing to worry about; there was an ambulance on standby!)

They belted out some more classics like ‘Contractor’, ‘The # 6′ and another crowd favorite in ‘Laid to Rest’ before going off stage for a bit giving the audience a chance to comprehend the insanity that had just hit them. But before any sanity could sink in, the band was back on stage with some of their most characteristic songs like ‘In Your Words’ and ‘Redneck’ before sort of calling a premature end to the night (considering it only 9:30) with yet another crowd favorite ‘Black Label’, arguably their most popular song till date.

The party however wasn’t over for the 6000 plus metal heads who had gathered at Clarks Exotica just as yet, as Overture India decided to play Santa Claus to them by announcing that, “the booze is on the house”. That pretty much sums up how epic that night was. Was the concert better than Lamb of God’s first coming on May 15^th, 2010 at Palace Grounds? Well, you don’t compare two great concerts; you just have to be there to enjoy them.

Ishan Vartak

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INAC Rock Hammer at Palace Grounds, Bangalore

What do you get when you take poor publicity, lack of experience and add some shoddy time management to it? You get angry and frustrated bands, no music playing, and an enormous gathering of empty plastic chairs as an audience for an empty stage.

It was meant to be the finale of the Bangalore league of the Indian National Autocross Championship (INAC) and Rock Hammer – a battle of bands “organized to showcase Music Talent among the Indian Youth” was to be followed by the headlining act Parikrama. What we got in the end was a compromised show after hours of waiting, and no Parikrama.

By the time the stage was setup, it was 8 p.m., which meant that it was going to be either the veterans – Parikrama playing or Rock Hammer – young blood showcasing their music to the world. It was then that Parikrama took a decision befitting their stature, that is, to cancel their performance so that the bands that had been waiting since the morning could finally play. It was a gesture well-received by the bands and the few audience members remaining, who had been waiting quite pointlessly until then, and for no fault of theirs. On being asked the reason for their decision, Parikrama’s keyboardist Subir Malik said, “Parikrama has been playing for 21 years now. Given the situation, it is more important that the kids get on stage. It was originally meant to be their show anyway.”

The bands taking part in the competition were Paper Sun, The News, Hungry and Raptura Anima. They were asked to reach the venue at 11 a.m and their performance was supposed to start at 3:30 p.m. The bands had to wait for the entire afternoon until the evening as the lights and sound equipment were being set up. Parikrama began their soundcheck at around 6:00 in the evening, at a time when some people were trickling into the venue, giving us some hope. But after they finished, there was a problem with the power supply which further delayed the start. As the members of Hungry put it, “The band has been hungry since morning!”

At about 8 p.m., the technical glitches were resolved and a surprisingly optimistic management decided to start the show. The participant bands were asked to play 10 minute slots each, so that Parikrama could start soon after and finish before the curfew. This received severe objection from the bands and didnt seem practical as well- the bands had just begun their soundcheck. This was when Parikrama took their decision to let the bands play at least 20 minute sets first and then see how the things pan out.

Paper Sun took to the stage first and then there was music. Finally! Their music was simply pure and fun rock music. The first two songs with their pentatonic funk riffs on one side and the wailing organ on the other were a delight to listen to. Their last song ‘House In Ruins’ shook things up a bit with an imposing Arabian-sounding guitar riff and impressive keyboard and guitar solos. The vocals matched up too and maintained the middle-eastern feel of the song while still retaining the energy of a rock song.

The News played second and did a very energetic set. The first song ‘Sunrise’ had the guitar in an alternate tuning creating some unique chord patterns and an odd-time signature. It was a slightly sober beginning to the second half of their performance, which involved weirder rhythms and time-meter changes, and complex jazzy chords. The last song ‘Shell’ was one of the most colourful performances that night, a celebration of a verse followed by a progressive darkening of the sound as the lyrics went into “Down, Down…”. Without an electric guitar, the keyboard riffs played a vital role in filling up the entire soundscape and did it flawlessly, creating an atmosphere when required and being hard-hitting and badass when the rhythm got upbeat.

Hungry stepped onto the stage with their usual air of excitement and confidence. They started quite normally and went about their set of ‘Hungry Boys’, ‘Boombox House’ and ‘Jungle Song’. But somewhere in the middle of the monkey squeals in Jungle Song, the band went into turbo-mode led by a shirtless Sonal Chittiappa taking complete advantage of the wireless mic as he ran, hopped and jumped all around the almost empty hall and even dived into the audience, while at the same time squeezing every inch of angst and frustration with the day’s proceedings into his voice. It was a spectacle worth watching; like a modern day Indian Morrison, mad and free with the music ever so steadily running with him.

Raptura Anima was the surprise package in the end. Who would have thought the group of “school children” practicing solemnly in a corner would deliver a performance powerful enough to make everyone look up at them in admiration and feel old and boring themselves? Well, that is just what they did! They played an extremely tight rendition of Ozzy Ozbourne’s ‘Crazy Train’ followed by their own compositions. The band members, all aged between 15 and 18, gave us a nostalgic blast from the past reminding everyone of the raw untouched energy of a teenager discovering hard rock for the first time.

Though the last hour and a half of the night, before the cops arrived, was interesting, each band could showcase only a snippet of their talent. Hungry’s on-stage extravaganza won them the first place. It was by no means a great day for anyone in that hall, but we did get to see a wonderful display of affection by a daddy-band for the “kids”. On being asked their stand on the organizers’ mess-up, Parikrama said they wouldn’t think too much about the matter as it was the first time INAC was organizing such an event.

Still, we would hope that incidents like these would remind organizers not to organize their “rock fests” without thinking of two important things that are astonishingly missed out often – the interests of the bands, and that of the audience.

Abhishek Prakash

Abhishek Prakash is a Bangalore based guitarist and is a third of local act Groove Chutney. He loves jazz, street food, Woody Allen movies and often pretends to be a writer.

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Ghulam Ali – Live in Concert at Palace Grounds, Bangalore

This is not a review. An account is more like it, because it requires sheer stature to “review” a performance by an artist, a maestro, a legend, who one has grown up listening to. Although Ghazals in today’s scenario are a dying art form, they are still considered as one which involves immense taste. One always associates Ghazals with the sensibility of the soul.

If you are an avid Ghazal listener, you are considered as an individual who possesses fine taste which is needed to understand the intricacies of the songs – the harmonious melodies, the soul-stirring couplets, the subtleties and nuances in the presentation style. After all, these aren’t miraculously developed overnight. It takes a lot of patience and an environment to imbibe a love for this very elitist art, because of its much shielded nature; not as in-your-face as the music we usually listen to. The world’s deepest thoughts can be conveyed in merely a few lines of couplets, or shers as they are commonly known. A special mention must go to poets such as Mirza Ghalib or Amir Khusro who were blessed with the divine gift of being able to describe the most beautiful phenomena in the universe with the most appropriate words.

When the concert began, people took their seats and were greeted by a mesmerizing opening act by Praveen Rao and Troupe, who rendered two wonderful Ghazals, which created the perfect setting and mood that would be the staple point of the evening upon which the legend would merely enunciate. After this opening act, the crowd began to grow a little restless in their anticipation of the Ustaad, a sentiment which wasn’t being appeased by the repeated announcements by the Emcee, who kept stating that the maestro would grace us with his presence shortly.

However, two hours later, all that fizzled away into oblivion when Ghulam Ali saab arrived from the green room to cheers which were usually reserved for rock stars and not elite Ghazal exponents, dressed in his quintessential attire, seeming as if he had not aged a day. As he graced the stage and did his customary sound check, we took our seats and waited in awe for the legend to commence. He did undergo some fits of tantrums at the sound quality and at the callousness of the organizers and the public. One such occurrence of this instance was his curt reply to a member of the audience who whistled with joy when he started singing – “Masha-allah, kamaal ki seeti hai. Meharbaani karke dobara mat bajaana yaar” (“By the Grace of God, a wonderful whistle. Please, don’t do it again, friend”). Another occurrence was when he stopped the orchestra at the sight of the organizers serving refreshments to the audience, to which he said, “Yeh mujhe de do, main baat dunga! Yeh koi tareeka hota hai?” (“Give these to me, I’ll distribute them! Is this the way it’s done?”) followed by “Ab inke juice ke chakkar mein main sher bhool gaya” (“Now because of their juice, I’ve forgotten my couplets”), to much applause from the audience. Nevertheless, after all this was brushed aside, the Master geared up to give us all an evening to remember.

The concert was packed with everything I had expected to see. Witnessing his infectious charm when interacting with the crowd, intermittent bursts of tantrums, his mischievous smile, certain gestures to the crowd, and the mesmerizing improvisations to his songs that were archetypal Ghulam Ali traits, there wasn’t a shadow of doubt in anyone’s mind that this was sheer genius on display. After starting the show with three relatively unknown Ghazals, ‘Apni Tasweer Ko’, ‘Phir Kisi Rehguzar Par Shayad’ and ‘Yeh Baatein Jhooti Baatein Hain’, he reverted to his greatest hits at the demands of the ecstatic crowd which was, fortunately for music in general, a healthy mix of the young and old. The revered aura he was generating discounted any faults that had happened leading up and during the event. The moment he sang the opening lines of ‘Dil Mein Ik Lehar Si Uthi Hai Abhi’ and began improvising the titular line, vivid joy and awe flushed on people’s faces and they kept screaming in joy as he proceeded to show us the different notes which he can make the “waves” sound like. This was followed by one of his signature songs, ‘Awaragi’, which simply carried on from where the previous song had taken off. In spite of booming requests for ‘Hum Ko Kiske Gham Ne Maara’ and ‘Pata Laga Mainu Hondi Ki Judaai’, due to shortage of time, he could promise us one last song. Just when we thought he hadn’t sung most of his famous numbers, he conjured, out of nowhere, a combined melody of ‘Chupke Chupke Raat Din’, ‘Hungama Ha Kyon Barpa’ and a few of his Punjabi hits such as the wonderful ‘Baija Mere Kol Tenu Takhda Rawaa’, which rendered each and every person in the crowd yearning for more.

The show ended with felicitations by the organizers and on observing a frantic crowd wanting an up-close and personal glimpse of the legend, he bid us adieu and retreated to the sanctity of the green room, leaving a plethora of people waiting outside in the hope of getting a souvenir photograph with him. A few others just sat at their seats, soaking in the vitality of the genius they had just witnessed. Even though it appeared at quite a number of occasions that age had caught up with his voice, it was evident that not even time has managed to erode an ounce off his charm and charisma, which just added to his magical aura. One word should appropriately suffice to describe the experience – enchanting. It is certain that one thing was struck off from many people’s bucket lists.

Akshay Datta

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Ustad Ghulam Ali Live in Concert at Palace Grounds, Bangalore

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Prateek Mukunda

Prateek Mukunda is a photographer from Bangalore who oves shooting people,streets and empty spaces. He also enjoys films, theatre, coffee, biking and long walks on busy Bangalore streets.

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Foreigner at Palace Grounds, Bangalore

Question: Who organizes a rock concert and has only chairs in the arena? Who invites one of the biggest arena-rock bands of the 80’s for a performance and expects the audience to be seated throughout the gig? Answer: The ‘organizers’ of the Foreigner concert.

The much-awaited Foreigner + Niladri Kumar concert was terribly scheduled for one. The BJP to celebrate their 1000^th day in power had organized a large scale rally in Palace Grounds, where the said gig was to be held. As if that wasn’t bad enough, there was also a fish mela (!) and few other programs happening at Palace Grounds. This meant that the concert was shafted (no, I did not mean to say shifted) to a smaller closed arena within Palace Grounds. The traffic, within a 4km radius of the venue was chaotic to say the least. Now all of this would have been all but forgotten had the concert lived up to its expectations. Alas, the chairs.

I unfortunately caught only the final song in Niladri Kumar’s performance. The dude can really shred on his electric sitar! The crowd, presumably late due to the traffic, was just trickling in. I noticed that the rows of chairs closest to the stage were all reserved for VIPs. This had the feel of one of those pretentious ‘by invite only’ jazz shows that seem to happen often at five-star hotels in the city.

Foreigner appeared rather abruptly on stage and played ‘Double Vision’ to a completely seated, sedate crowd. This obviously affected the band as they were just going through the motions of completing their setlist rather than perform. They listlessly played ‘Dirty White Boy’ and a couple of their other numbers to the half-full/ half-empty arena. The sound was quite horrid and barely audible at the back of the arena.

Fortunately, the venue started filling up and junta ditched the chairs and started showing some sort of enthusiasm. To their credit, they did seem familiar with the band’s music. The band launched into a brilliant rendition of the very Rainbow-esque ‘Starrider‘, a song off their self-titled debut album. I confess to not having heard the song before and it really impressed me with its rock n’ roll riff and soaring solo. The legend Mick Jones, founder and guitarist of Foreigner got a chance to showcase his impressive guitar skills with his extended solo on this song although Kelley Hanson’s vocals couldn’t quite match that of Lou Gramm. They played ‘Feels Like The First Time‘ before launching into what probably is their most recognized song. The guys and their respective girlfriends/wives sang ‘I Want to Know What Love Is’ along with the band. Foreigner didn’t deviate too much from the studio versions of their songs and seemed content with delivering a solid performance showcasing their hits rather than playing their lesser known but not necessarily bad songs.

The band then predictably played their encore consisting of ‘Hot Blooded’ and ‘Jukebox Hero’. Few people in the crowd actually fell for the good-old trick of the band leaving the stage and returning for the encore! The performance wasn’t spectacular but was satisfying as they managed to coax the crowd to sing along to these two songs. Again, the impatient audience scurried to the exit even before the band could take their final bow. Quite pitiful, really.

Thanks to some bad decision-making by the organizers, the gig was not as fun as I thought it would be. Instead it had the air of a snobbish, exclusive event that would be featured on Page 3 of a supplement like The Bangalore Times. On this fateful day, I realized that while playing live, bands always feed off the energy from the audience and it took a ‘Foreigner’ to show me that.

Sohan Maheshwar

Jack of all tirades, total shirk-off. Follow Sohan on twitter! @soganmageshwar

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Summer Storm Festival 2012 headlined by Opeth at Palace Grounds, Bangalore

The fact that the Metal scene is exploding in India is pretty well known. Over the past half a decade, an unprecedented number of international metal bands have played at various music festivals in the country. Back in 2010, a hitherto unknown entity called Overture India got Lamb of God down, much to the Indian metal crowd’s joy. After a year’s hiatus, they announced that Opeth would be headlining the second edition of Summer Storm on 5^th February, 2012 (which isn’t exactly summer, but we wouldn’t hold that against the organizers). Foreign bands Suidakra from Germany and Nothnegal from Maldives, as well as local metal bands Theorized and Eccentric Pendulum from Bangalore, were added to the lineup before the festival.

Palace Grounds in Bangalore has turned into a Mecca of sorts for the Metal fans in India, since most of the big Metal festivals are held there. On the day of the concert, all roads leading to Palace Grounds were thronged by kids in black t-shirts from all over the country, as well as neighbouring countries. The venue had all the usual food and metal merchandise stalls, although booze was nowhere in sight! However, it was heartening to see that adequate supply of water was maintained throughout the concert, since at most gigs fans get desperate to find water near the end of the gig.

The gig started on time around 4 p.m., with thrash band Theorized opening the proceedings. They had released an impressive debut EP, False Hope of Tyranny, a couple of years back although their setlist for the gig consisted of only two songs from it – ‘Dark Incarnation’ and ‘Raise The Dead’, while the rest of the set consisted of new originals. Theorized has improved by leaps and bounds, in terms of tightness on stage, crowd engagement and interaction, in comparison to the only time I saw them live 2-3 years back in Mumbai. The band plays new age thrash with tons of groove, which a section of metal fans appreciate well.

Progressive metallers Eccentric Pendulum were next up on the stage. Now this band is really progressive, unlike the plethora of metalcore bands that use djent to masquerade as progressive metal. Searing thrashy riffs accentuated by cleverly crafted guitar solos and intelligent progression typifies their music. However, their sound during the gig lacked the “fullness” since a guitarist was missing from their lineup. They played mainly from their debut full-length Winding The Optics and managed to get the crowd into a frenzy when they played the impressive ‘Mathematicians of Ambient Waters.’ Both, Theorized and Eccentric Pendulum, had their merchandise for sale at the gig, which included t-shirts and CDs.

The Indian bands finished playing by 6 p.m. after which the first international, and pretty unknown band, Nothnegal came up on stage accompanied by appropriately dark ambient synths. It was very mysterious that despite hailing from the tiny atoll called Maldives, Nothnegal had somehow managed to rope in drummer Kevin Talley (ex-Dying Fetus and ex-Chimaira) and keyboardist Marco Sneck (ex-Kalmah) who were part of bigger and much better bands. But what perplexed me the most was how a band with members from good bands managed to be so mediocre. To be honest, the first part of their set was above average, although the guitar soloing ability of the frontman is questionable. This was the part of the set where they had harsh vocals, metalcore-ish chug-chugging riffs ably supported by the impeccable keys of Mr. Sneck and tight drums of Mr. Talley. It was during the last two or three songs that the band threw a huge curveball by introducing a different singer with clean vocals. That was when they dipped below the waves of mediocrity and I headed to grab some of the Kaati rolls.

The Celtic metallers from Germany, SuidAkrA, took to the stage next. They are Celtic not by the sole virtue of having a bagpiper in their midst, but they do incorporate Celtic tunes and themes in their songs, and their evidently Celtic costume. They started off with the incredibly catchy ‘Pendragon’s Fall’, which was probably the first time many people, who had missed Eluveitie, heard a Celtic metal tune. They went on to play songs culled from almost all their albums, like ‘Wartunes’, ‘Dowth2059′ and ‘The IXth Legion’. However, they had to cut short ‘Stone of the Seven Suns’ because the mandolin was out of tune. SuidAkrA’s set was characterized by the highly infectious, energetic and upbeat Celtic tunes, which got the crowd suitably primed for Opeth. However, their set was marred by a mishap when a barricade collapsed on a poor guy’s foot who had to be carried off from the spot and SuidAkrA even stopped between two songs to enquire about him.

Opeth took a while to come onstage, which they did around 8 p.m. to a backdrop of the album art from their latest album ‘Heritage’ and ambient strains of ‘Through Pain to Heaven’ (a Popul Vuh track). They straightaway launched into playing two songs from Heritage, ‘The Devil’s Orchard’ and ‘I Feel The Dark’, back-to-back. The incredible proggy-ness of The Devil’s Orchard was too much to even properly nod your head to! The diminutive Martin Mendez has to be one of the best bassists in Metal at the moment. The groovy low notes he plucks from his bass are nothing short of exquisite!

Mikael introduced the next song as one from Martin Mendez’s first album with the band, before he started with the hypnotizing fingerpicking intro to ‘Face of Melinda’ from Still Life. Next, they played ‘Slither’ from Heritage again, as a tribute to Ronnie James Dio. With trademark self-deprecation Mikael introduced the next song as the only album he played bass in and not too well at that. The soothing cadence of ‘Credence’ from My Arms, Your Hearse and the one that followed it, ‘To Rid The Disease’ from Damnation, was made more mesmerizing by the haunting atmosphere and keywork provided by the “new kid on the block” Joakim Svalkerg.

As is the case with almost all Opeth concerts, Mikael, the standup comedian that he is, reserved his most biting ribbing for Mendez, calling him “chickenshit” for sporting a moustache like us Indians but hiding it in his beard. At this point, Joakim was facing some problem with his keyboard and Mikael fumbled with the order of the setlist too, provoking him to ask the audience to shout “F**k you, Mikael”, something he had been asking the audience to do all evening! After playing ‘Folklore’, from Heritage, he obliged the expectant crowd by revealing they were moving on to the heavier part of the set.

They chose ‘Heir Apparent’ from Watershed to start the Death Metal proceedings. I felt truly blessed when they next played one of my most favorite Opeth tracks ‘The Baying of the Hounds’ from Ghost Reveries, a song they don’t play live very frequently. The endearing part of this song is that it has all the Opeth ingredients in equal parts – the brutal part suddenly switching to mellower portions accompanied by heavenly ambience! Every great band has a crowd-sing-along track, and for Opeth, it is ‘The Drapery Falls’ from Blackwater Park, which they played much to the crowd’s frenzied joy. Coming back for encore, Mikael played the starting lick of ‘Deliverance’ joking all the while that Slash had stolen it from him! It was a fitting finale with its long drawn out, frantic headbang-inducing outro.

Many were apprehensive before the gig, about Mikael Akerfeldt’s ability to growl anymore and whether the set would be dominated by songs from Heritage, which had got mixed reactions from the Opeth faithful. All those fears were put to rest over the course of the evening, as Opeth probably played one of the best sets ever, with songs from all the albums, except the first two.

Overall, Summerstorm 2012 lived up to almost everyone’s expectations. The sound was decent for most parts, although it could have been better during SuidAkrA’s spell. The organizers were diligent enough to ensure that everything progressed smoothly. My only grouse is that there could have been a good mix of Indian bands from across the country much like the first edition of the Summer Storm Festival, and Nothnegal could have been avoided altogether!

Summer is miles and miles away, but Summer Storm is here to stay.

Karthik Yermunja

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Pt Ravi Shankar And Anoushka Shankar at Palace Grounds, Bangalore

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Chethan Ram

Chethan Ram is a failed musician but wants to keep his association with music by capturing the best moments through his camera. His loves Hindustani and Carnatic music.

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