JOIN USThe musical extravaganza that is ‘VH1 Sound Nation’ has been spreading across the City, with the last weekend seeing some of the country’s best musicians – ‘Indus Creed’, ‘Bay Beat Collective’, ‘Thermal and a Quarter’ (‘TAAQ’) and ‘Midival Punditz’ – performing at different venues.
With the extended Friday deadline, the crowd at Arbor Brewing Co lapped up the music of Mumbai’s drum ‘n bass act ‘Bay Beat Collective’ (Kris Correya and Sohail Arora) and New Delhi’s electronica duo ‘Midival Punditz’ (Tapan Raj and Gaurav Raina).
While the former played a glitch-heavy, bouncy set that had the crowd losing themselves to the beats and bass drops, the ‘Punditz’ were on a roll with their set of original tracks and remixes. “It was great to have so many people show up! We were performing alongside our buddies ‘Bay Beat Collective’ and we all had a real blast!” said Tapan Raj after the show.
Gautam, a regular at Arbor, said that he loved the gig. “I was quite excited about this gig. It started at 9 pm and went on till really late and the ambience and crowd was awesome. The music was what I went for and I wasn’t disappointed. I really enjoyed ‘Midival Punditz’, who played a different set from their usual,” he said.
On Saturday, the party shifted to Windmills Craftworks, where Mumbai-based alt rock band ‘Indus Creed’ and Bangalore’s very own rock band ‘TAAQ’ gave a memorable concert.
‘Indus Creed’ played old classics like ‘Money’ and ‘Pretty Child’ and premiered two new songs ‘Thief’ and ‘Paper Walls’. Their experience was a fulfilling one, said frontman Uday Benegal. “Firstly, we loved the place – what a great vibe, great food and exquisitely tasty beers! I’m sold on the IPA. The crowd was great as the Bangalore crowd usually is. They were open-minded and enthusiastic and it was a really fun gig for us. We were told that Windmills usually features much mellower bands but we just let it all out and the set went full throttle!” he added.
‘TAAQ’ were also at their usual best, playing songs from their latest album ‘3 Wheels 9 Lives’ and trying out tracks from their upcoming album. “We had a really good gig and it was an honour to share the stage with ‘Indus Creed’. Mahesh (of ‘Indus Creed’) did a guest performance on one of our tracks and I jammed with them on one of theirs. It was a super trip overall and the crowd response was amazing!” said frontman Bruce Lee Mani.
Shantanu, an audience member, said that the varied style of both the veteran bands was a pleasure to watch. “There were a lot of other gigs happening tonight but I chose this because two original bands that are synonymous with ‘Indian rock’ don’t perform on one stage too often. It was thoroughly enjoyable to see how these two bands have grown and the kind of music they’re making these days,” he said.