Sunday Jam
In keeping with my rediscovered passion for live music, I went to St. John's auditorium in Koramangala to check out the Sunday Jam. This is a regular event (first Sunday of the month), which used to be held in some faraway place called The Club.
The highlight of the evening was supposed to be a band called STOMP (no relation to that wonderful New York dance group). I wasn't impressed. In fact, I left after two songs. One of the lead guitarists was a prima donna who was gesticulating to the mixer guy when the song was in progress and making all sorts of expressions complaining about feedback which we could not hear in the audience. Maybe they should've brought their own sound guys too.
The band that did impress me was Surfer's Saga, a band made up of four doctors from St. John's. I liked them because they played a couple of Satriani covers and nailed them. Senthil, the guitarist, was just awesome and he added his own improvisations to an already fast Raspberry Jam Delta V. The band was tight, they looked like they were having fun on stage, and they sounded good. I spoke to these guys later and that's how I found out that Joe Satriani is coming to Bangalore. Woo hoo! It's amazing the number of Satriani fans I've met in concerts in Bangalore.
A couple of observations about Bangalore's music scene. There are a lot of talented musicians in Bangalore. There are a lot of heavy metal fans in Bangalore. There are also a lot of bands that have not figured out what they want to play, so they play everything, from metal to pop. Identity crisis I guess.
But there's nothing to beat live music. Now, if they could do something about those mosquitoes at St. John's.
4 Comments:
nice article...
I did find STOMP to be tight...
its just that the sound on stage is terrible at sunday jam..hence all the complainin'
as for bands playing everything...I happen to be in one of em...we play everything coz we like playing everything...issue of identity never arises...just offering a different pespective..
I only mentioned STOMP because they (actually the one guitarist) made such a big deal out of it. Other bands also played and they didn't make a big deal out of it. But, having played in a band, I know how important the sound on stage (from the monitors) can make or break your performance, so I don't mean to say that it's not important.
And, thanks for pointing out that I'd offered only one side of the story the kind of music that bands play. I neglected to see and mention that some bands (like yours) might just like playing everything. That's perfectly fine.
Hi there, Thanks for the blog. I was the 4th guy (only non-doctor) in Surfers Saga. My name's Arjun and i was the guy playing the horribly messed up red guitar (rhythm duties, obviously, as i'm no match for Sendil). Anyways, long story short, i think you made a valid point with the identity crisis. While i lived in Bangalore i met a lot of fantastic musicians (quite strangely a lot of them in the madiwala, koramangala area)who have some mean chops, but limited compositional originality. Having lived away from India for the past 6 years and jamming with different musicians to start getting your own "SOUND". And i think thats what needs to be encouraged...experimentation, listening, tolerance and appreciation. I didn't like Dream Theater when i was 14, but by 17 i was a die hard DT fan. Same goes with stuff by Greg Howe, Yes, King Crimson, Allan Holdsworth, Steve Morse, Weather Report etc. Oh, andthe rest of the guys in the band were Gerry on bass(now in NYC), Alex on drums (back in Bangalore and jamming with Sendil) and Sendil on lead. Cheers, Arjun
Cape Town, South Africa.
Arjun: Thanks for the comment. I don't know about the "messed up red guitar" and all that, I thought you were pretty good yourself. Cool to know that at least a couple of members of your band are still in Bangalore. I hope to catch them live sometime.
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