This evening’s line-up had three fabulous bands lined up – Lagori, Agam and Avial. All these three have made a niche space for themselves by choosing non-English based music and taking it to the masses.
Kicking off the evening’s proceedings was Lagori. Despite a broken foot, the vocalist let nothing hold him back and the band set the mood for an evening of high energy music. It was a packed house at counter culture with a dedicated fan-base of Lagori who knew almost all the songs and sung along. The band did a great job of interacting with the audience as well and being a part of the crowd. My only grouse with Lagori is that towards the end of their set they got a little off tune and lost timing in a few places, a problem I saw even at their previous gig. Here’s hoping experience takes care of that. But full marks for putting on a great show and setting the pace for things to come.
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| Lagori |
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| Lagori |
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| Lagori |
Looking at the line-up, I felt Agam should have closed the evening and not come in second. And the show they put up proved my point. The audience managed to break the barricade between the stage and them – My Lord, I rest my case. I've seen Agam many times before, but today was just something else. Their song Rudra just had a different feel to it altogether, the drums, the audience hoarsely screaming along, the head banging, all gave me a possessed-by-Shiva-himself-musicgasm. Agam as usual were a tight unit and left everyone wanting more.
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| Agam |
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| Agam |
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| Agam |
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| Agam |
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| Agam |
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| Agam |
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| Agam |
The final act for the evening was the alternative act from Kerela - Avial. My only exposure to Avial before this has been on YouTube. Since my Malayalam is terrible (read non-existent), I had a tough time getting a lot of the audience interactions. However, the support contingent seemed to get every word and interact with the band. That bit aside, I really enjoyed the music live. The volumes on the vocals were a bit low, that aside, Tony John is an intimidating figure that I wouldn't want to mess with.
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| Avial |
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| Avial |
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| Avial |
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| Avial |
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| Avial |
The Indie March organized by Counter Culture is evidence that people in India will pay money to see some good independent non-Bollywood music live. It’s a joy to see a flourishing independent music scene and packed houses with people actually buying albums and supporting the local music scene. Kudos to Counter Culture for organizing this event. And a big shout-out to the bands! Keep on rocking guys!
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