motherjane and Indian Ocean - Baajaa Gaajaa Day 3

motherjane, today, is one of the biggest bands in India and the fact that the "chettanmaar" are from Kerala does give a pat to the Mallu ego. For a band from Kochi, a relatively small city to have attained such success and recognition is truly inspiring. The only other bands I can think of, from back home, who have scaled such heights is the old 13AD of yore. The ironic part is that I have been to a motherjane gig only once, at Saarang, IIT Madras last year. I had to miss their December gig at Pune due to exams. Therefore when the band announced that they would be playing Baajaa Gaajaa, I couldn't have been happier.


As for Indian Ocean, here was a band of whom I have heard much but whose music I was not familiar with. The only song of theirs that I had heard before was "Bandeh". I remember reading news of their vocalist/percussionist Asheem Chakravarthy's passing away in December 2009. He is known to have been a very versatile musician who could play the tabla and sing simultaneously, with ease.












The concert was the closing event for Baajaa Gaajaa this year and therefore a lot of people wanted passes, not to mention the fact that the two bands playing have a pretty good fan following. As a result the passes ran out even before 11am. What a bummer! Thankfully, someone I know from the event management team got us in through the side, sans passes, into what was labeled as the "Ghat section"(what?). It was only after entering that I realised that this was not the amphitheater but a platform on the side of the stage. Yeah that is the Ghat. Again, bummer! All this because the amphitheater has only 450 seats and that went to the people with passes. What view we had was of the band from the side, blocked mostly by the tower speakers! The only consolation in this situation was that they had erected a set of speakers towards the Ghat, meaning we would at the least get decent sound. The worst part is, behind the stage was an artificial water body bigger than the amphitheater itself. That area if utilised could support a standing audience of up to 1000.

Enough complaints, I'll get on with the gig now. The concert started with some "Chendamelam" (a type of traditional percussion music of Kerala) being played over the PA as motherjane took to the stage with their trademark painted half-kathakali faces. Suraj was quick to acknowledge and thank the 'true fans' in the ghat section, 'the guys who had to fight to get passes', 'the people who got motherjane where they stand today'. That really did make it feel worth all the trouble trying to get in. The band played songs from both of their albums, including Mindstreet(that intro always gets me charged!), Maya, Karmic steps, Broken and a new song - Tribes of Babel - which they wrote for Amnesty International's Peace Initiative. Meanwhile some people from the ghat section managed to sneak in into the amphitheater. Yours truly soon found himself in front of the stage. The band was positioned well away from the edge of the stage but Suraj's wireless mike enabled him to come up front and interact with the audience. Before the last song, Suraj asked the audience to stand up and have fun and when the crowd obliged, then it felt how a real motherjane gig should have. I could notice some unlikely fans having a thoroughly enjoyable time.

At the end of motherjane's set, someone from the management came and requested us to take seats. By then, some of the people had left. In a little while, Indian Ocean came onstage amidst a lot of applause. Rahul Ram, their bassist, acts as the band's spokesman onstage, and i must say he has a way with words. He mentioned Asheem's demise and how it greatly saddened them. They had two new members to take on the tasks of percussion and vocals. I do not remember how many songs the band played but the ones that really struck me were Bandeh and Kandisa. Both of them are amazing songs, Bandeh a lamenting ballad and Kandisa so full of positive vibes. Rahul is very good at what he does - playing bass, and he has a great stage presence. I loved the bass line of Kandisa. Also, Susmit Sen on the guitar was smooth. The band ended the gig with Kandisa and news of a new album which they plan to give out as a free download. They also announced that the documentary about the band will be released on the big screen later this year. Throughout the gig we also had some extra entertainment happening on the side watching this girl go ballistic over Indian Ocean. She seemed to be overcome with godknowswhat flailing her hands, jumping up and screaming "once more" after every song. Great things music does to people!


Some links
- Pics : motherjane and Indian Ocean at Baajaa Gaajaa
- Video : motherjane - Tribes of Babel at Baajaa Gaajaa
- Video : Indian Ocean - Bandeh at Baajaa Gaajaa