Last night I went to see some live bands perform at a club called The Blue Frog. The event was part of a reality TV series here in India called Coke Studio (sponsored by Coca Cola) on MTV. It's a "battle of the bands" format for a show featuring live musical performances by artists from all around India . Three bands played last night as part of this round of the competition to get onto the tv show. The focus of the competition is on cultural fusion - meaning how the bands can incorporate traditional musical influences and themes into more mainstream styles (rock, pop, etc.). The format of the competitions that each episode of the show will have 3 bands performing live - one that has a more traditional twist, one that is considered an "up and comer," and one that is a more established, popular band. The results were incredible!
The first band was called Highway 61, named after the music highway in the US. They were a 6 person band, each from a different place in India. Of all the bands that night, they were the only one that used traditional instruments. For example, one of the guys in the band played this amazing wooden flute for all of the songs - it was beautiful. The lead singer took the time to explain the meaning of the songs to the crowd before they played them (which I greatly appreciated). The lyrics were all in the Kashmiri language, and obviously not everyone in the crowd would be expected to speak Kashmiri, so it made it nice for them to provide some context so I could understand what they were singing about. The lyricist in the group is Kashmiri, which explains why their songs are in that language. This band took a very raw, deep and powerful approach to their music - the closest I could come to describing their style is that they sing folk ballads with a rock twist. One of the songs was inspired by a woman that the lead singer met who had lost her son to the conflict in Kashmir when her son was only 16. He went out one day and just never came back - she knows he's dead, but doesn't know what happened to him other than that there was fighting that occurred in the region that day, and he must have gotten caught in the middle of it. When the singer asked her what her one wish would be if she could see her son again, she said she just wants to have him come home and eat a meal that she's cooked, and she can sit there and watch him eat. That song was dedicated to all of the people who have been lost as part of the conflict in Kashmir. Another song was actually a poem from a Sufi poet from Kashmir, written in the 1870s, that they put to music. I really liked this band and hope that they move on in the competition so that I can see them play again at the semi-finals in June :)
The second band took a different approach - they tried to mix heavy metal with folksy lyrics. They certainly tried to achieve "fusion" but fell short. The heavy metal music itself was pretty good actually (this coming from someone who is not a heavy metal fan), but the singing just didn't match up with it or blend well with it. I could have listened to the music by itself without any singing, but the two together created some kind of harmonic dissonance that turned me off. I also was a little disappointed that the singer didn't explain what the songs were about, so I had no idea what I was listening to. Still an interesting concept though!
The final band - named Rang, which means "color" in Hindi - was (I'm assuming) the more popular, established band out of the three. The crowd seemed to recognize them and their music. They were more of a pop-rock style of music, but holy cow can they play! They had two fantastic male vocalists who harmonized beautifully, and songs that have a beat that makes you want to clap along. The last song they played - called Jaago, which means "wake up!" - is about seizing the day and being who you want to be - I found it online and have put the link here in case you want to listen to it. The song actually was a lot better live than it is on the recording, but it gives you an idea of what I'm talking about. Also it takes a couple minutes of instrumental playing to get to the lyrics - be patient.
After the bands were finished, we stuck around and chatted with different band members who were hanging around. Ami and I felt a little bit like groupies, but they were all very friendly and happy to talk about their music and philosophies. We may have developed a little bit of a collective schoolgirl crush on the lead guitarist of Highway 61 - his name is Rohit and he has a (short) ponytail. Don't judge me, you weren't there.
Coke Studio has these events every Thursday at the same club for the next few weeks. We were there tonight with a group of about 10 people - some from work, some friends of friends. I have a feeling that this group of people is going to be going back every Thursday to see more of these performances - at least I know I will!
The first band was called Highway 61, named after the music highway in the US. They were a 6 person band, each from a different place in India. Of all the bands that night, they were the only one that used traditional instruments. For example, one of the guys in the band played this amazing wooden flute for all of the songs - it was beautiful. The lead singer took the time to explain the meaning of the songs to the crowd before they played them (which I greatly appreciated). The lyrics were all in the Kashmiri language, and obviously not everyone in the crowd would be expected to speak Kashmiri, so it made it nice for them to provide some context so I could understand what they were singing about. The lyricist in the group is Kashmiri, which explains why their songs are in that language. This band took a very raw, deep and powerful approach to their music - the closest I could come to describing their style is that they sing folk ballads with a rock twist. One of the songs was inspired by a woman that the lead singer met who had lost her son to the conflict in Kashmir when her son was only 16. He went out one day and just never came back - she knows he's dead, but doesn't know what happened to him other than that there was fighting that occurred in the region that day, and he must have gotten caught in the middle of it. When the singer asked her what her one wish would be if she could see her son again, she said she just wants to have him come home and eat a meal that she's cooked, and she can sit there and watch him eat. That song was dedicated to all of the people who have been lost as part of the conflict in Kashmir. Another song was actually a poem from a Sufi poet from Kashmir, written in the 1870s, that they put to music. I really liked this band and hope that they move on in the competition so that I can see them play again at the semi-finals in June :)
The second band took a different approach - they tried to mix heavy metal with folksy lyrics. They certainly tried to achieve "fusion" but fell short. The heavy metal music itself was pretty good actually (this coming from someone who is not a heavy metal fan), but the singing just didn't match up with it or blend well with it. I could have listened to the music by itself without any singing, but the two together created some kind of harmonic dissonance that turned me off. I also was a little disappointed that the singer didn't explain what the songs were about, so I had no idea what I was listening to. Still an interesting concept though!
The final band - named Rang, which means "color" in Hindi - was (I'm assuming) the more popular, established band out of the three. The crowd seemed to recognize them and their music. They were more of a pop-rock style of music, but holy cow can they play! They had two fantastic male vocalists who harmonized beautifully, and songs that have a beat that makes you want to clap along. The last song they played - called Jaago, which means "wake up!" - is about seizing the day and being who you want to be - I found it online and have put the link here in case you want to listen to it. The song actually was a lot better live than it is on the recording, but it gives you an idea of what I'm talking about. Also it takes a couple minutes of instrumental playing to get to the lyrics - be patient.
After the bands were finished, we stuck around and chatted with different band members who were hanging around. Ami and I felt a little bit like groupies, but they were all very friendly and happy to talk about their music and philosophies. We may have developed a little bit of a collective schoolgirl crush on the lead guitarist of Highway 61 - his name is Rohit and he has a (short) ponytail. Don't judge me, you weren't there.
Coke Studio has these events every Thursday at the same club for the next few weeks. We were there tonight with a group of about 10 people - some from work, some friends of friends. I have a feeling that this group of people is going to be going back every Thursday to see more of these performances - at least I know I will!
No comments:
Post a Comment