Bengaluru Habba

Nothing can compare with the experience of listening to a band for the first time, at a live concert, and loving it. I've managed that a few times at Bangalore (Advaita, Motherjane, Thermal and a Quarter). Thanks to a certain Mogambo's scouting skills, I managed to catch the last of the Jazz concerts at the Bengaluru Habba- the Amit Heri Quartet (Amit Heri + Maarten Visser + Keith Peters + Jeoraj) and blues band Soulmate, from Shillong.

The stage / Amit Heri / Tipriti Kharbangar

photo credit: Siddharth Mohanty

Lesson learnt after the Indian Ocean gig, this time I took along a black gel pen, oil pastels and my neon crayolas, last year's birthday gift from a Sighing Billi. The setting was so lovely, I just had to draw- open skies at the UB City rooftop amphitheatre. I only wish we didn't have the UB tower as a backdrop to the whole thing.

Amit Heri was a lot more jazz-ey than Prasanna was, but one could make out the Indian classical music touches to most of the pieces. (Again, especially with the names-like Incidental Kalyani. Is there something about Kalyani and fusion music? Prasanna has a track called Kalyani Connection).

Soulmate was a revelation. I was playing their music on loop off the internet for a week, but at the concert, I was far more fascinated with the lead singer Tipriti 'Tips' Kharbangar. You will have to watch videos of their gigs (or even better, catch them live) to get what I mean about Tips. These sketches do no justice to the energy she had on stage.

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Conclusions after a series of concert drawings:

- I like drawing drums and mikes.

- Guitars are best drawn while they are being played.

- Women are more fun to draw than men.

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Indian Ocean LIVE

The Indian Ocean gig here last year (atleast the one I went for) was part of Bongalore's Durga Puja celebrations. It was vastly different experience compared to the my first time at an Indian Ocean concert, in 2005 at IIM-A's Chaos. For starters we were in the midst of fish-filled uncles and aunties, and not drunk-in-dry-state students. Also, we had seats. Not the lounging on grass, staring at stars in the January cold this time.

BUT, strange enough, the concert managed to drag me out of my 'not in the mood to sketch' mood, which had lasted a few too many months. Note to self: Always, ALWAYS carry a pen. Just a pencil may not always suffice.

As you can see, shameless autograph getting also happened.

The Fantastic Tale of my Fluoroscent Nails

Okay, it's not fantastic and all. I just liked the sound of it.

I've always been guilty of strange coloured nailpaint. It was not allowed in my school, and I used to sneak around during term exams (when I was eleven) with nail art that involved more than one blinding colour. Somewhere along the way, I eventually gave up on that. But a summertime of sickness can make one do strange things.

Aided by the sister, I have rediscovered the joys of non-pink/red/brown nailpaint. And yes, the fluoroscent in the drawing is the actual nailpaint.

Victor Wooten + Guitar Prasanna LIVE

Much music discovery happened last year, Guitar Prasanna was one of them (thanks again to cousin). Think Carnatic music on guitar. Now imagine Carnatic+Bop+Blues. Ahh.

Finally managed to catch his concert last year. Prasanna was playing with Victor Wooten, and most of the crowd seemed to have come to listen to him. I'd never heard Wooten before, but Oh-My-God, the man has magic fingers when it comes to the bass guitar. Most of the pieces they performed were Prasanna's tracks though (I really love the names of all the tracks. So very Madras)

I squeezed my way through the crowd and managed to draw a bit, again in the dark.





The entire ensemble: Prasanna on guitars/vocals, Victor Wooten on bass/vocals, S.Karthick on ghatam and Bangalore Amrit on the kanjira.