JOIN USAs a concept, it’s always great to provide free entertainment to the public. But when a majority of that public is more interested in food and shopping, it may not be the best formula for the providers.
That’s often the case at the concerts held in the Phoenix MarketCity Courtyard, where a host of bands from the City and outside are given slots to perform. At the recently-held gig by Bangalore-based alternative rock band ‘Work In Progress’, the fleeting crowd was hardly around to show the band support.
Formed in July 2012, the band comprises Varun Prakash on vocals, Owais Ahmed on guitars, Vinian Easwaran on guitars, Nirmith Moses on bass, Sudeep Andrews on keyboards and Charles John on drums. While the boys started off as a parody band, it has gone through a number of changes to get to its current level of musical seriousness.
The members strongly believe that they derive inspiration from their immediate surroundings, more than what is happening with the world. Assuming a new role of determination and musical creativity, the band is currently working on music that truly defines their style.
At the gig, the band performed a variety of original compositions and covers, both in Hindi and English. The originals included ‘Memories’, ‘Pain’, ‘Tears’ and ‘One Night Stand’.
The band also belted out some fun renditions of popular songs like ‘Watch Over You’ by ‘Alter Bridge’, ‘Drive’ by ‘Incubus’ and ‘It’s Ok’ by Chennai-based alternative rock band ‘Junkyard Groove’ to name a few.
But it was unfortunately their Hindi song covers that worked for the crowd, which kept requesting for more Hindi songs rather than the setlist planned by the band.
“I came with my children and wife to the mall and when we heard music, we came to check if it was being played live. We were pleasantly surprised to hear the band’s music and enjoyed watching them while we could,” said Ajith, an audience member.
But the band wasn’t particularly pleased by the general response. “As a band, we usually just have fun there because the sound is great and it’s a nice stage. That’s also how we approached this gig.
But the crowd response wasn’t good and we were playing stuff that the mall-goers did not really want to listen to. At any given point, we’d have 30 to 40 people standing around but they’d walk away after a few minutes of listening,” said Nirmith, the band’s bassist.