The Indian Ocean Performance..!!

(Written on 29th January, 2006)

Well..yesterday I got the opportunity to witness one of the greatest bands in the Indian musical scene, at the IIMA FEST: Indian Ocean. I have been listening to the songs of the band since say about 2 years now. And this chance was something I couldn't afford to miss anytime. I had heard about the band's terrific performances around the country especially at last year's Mood Indigo at IITB. And somehow I was just hoping if Icould get a chance to see them perform live around here in Ahmedabad as well. Lucky for me they it was to be so.

The band simply ROCKS. There is something different and unique to identify with IO that other bands fail to acheive. IO does not play music which one may term cliche, rather their music is unique in the playing style and the use of the instruments. Neither are they classical in that sense, because they keep in mind the modern generation, and in that way they are some sort of a fusion band. But these days, as every new band tries to get the same appellation , I am pretty sure this band stands out of all of them and belongs to a different league all together. As according to the band "Urban Folk" is the term they associate with their music.

The strength of the band is the professionalism that each and every member imbibes. The lead singer, Asheem Chakravorty, is a fine singer, you ought to listen to his classical ragas and variations when he comes out in full mood. His tabla sounds so in tune with the song that you need to extract that sound from your own, it simply fuses together and is so my in sync. The bassist, Raghu Ram, huh he is another champ. You listen to any song of the band, and the bassist makes a mark in there with his small solos and pieces which complement the beats of songs so perfectly. He also sings guys, and he is simply too great at that too. In fact, the starting piece in Bandhey is by this person. Next, the lead guitarist, Sushmit Sen, I think he is the soul of the band. If it wouldn't had been for him, those solos wouldn't have been sounding marvellous. His style of playing the guitar is very unique, for he tries to make it more classical, but at the same time rocking too. His pieces are all masterpieces, and a very challenging to play indeed for an amateur guitarist. I feel is someone is able to play leads of this guy, he could claim to be a guitar's friend. And finally, the drummer, Amit Kalam. Well, Indian Ocean is not very known for their drums, but I think this is something people have not noticed more. The drummer rocks too people, by presenting the right beats at the right moment. Songs which go slow in pace suddenly pace up when his drums come in, and this brings up a lot of effect.

In yesterday's performance, there were two things to preserve as mementos. The first one was the piece on the bass, where Raghu and Asheem both play at the same time on the same instrument. Raghu had the guitar with him, and Asheem was bent in front of him with his hands rolling on the front side of the bass guitar. I just couldn't imagine such a thing was happening, two players on the guitar, one from back (the usual mode) and the other in front, both playing pieces interspersingly. It was like a jugalbandi, but on the same instrument. Absolutely awesome.

The second thing to relish from the nite was the percussion being played by Amit. For the song Ma Rewa, he came out of his drums armor, and stood up right in front with some sort of a bottle in hand. And imagine he played that for the song's entire duration. The sound from the percussion was absolutely amazing. He made the song rock with that different kind of sound beats.

I have some videos of the nite, if anyone would like to have it, let me know. Though they are not of very good quality, they are the best we could have managed. Send me a mail at {rajesh.bachani@gmail.com} if you want to get the feel of the band's LIVE Performance.


Have fun

**Rajesh**