World Music Day Heard a Song Play Sweet in the Benevolent Gathering in Kolkata
As bands, both new and old took the stage, the city rose with a hope for some new sound while preserving those voices that started the movement.
Kolkata’s budding independent music scene burst out of its cocoon on the eve of 37th World Music Day, as indie musicians from across the city gathered at the Gateway Hotel, Kolkata, at 6 pm on June 21. Organized by the collaborative efforts of Littlei and Alliance Française du Bengale, the event saw some of the best known bands in the city along with a few extremely young talents come together to celebrate this day which was started in France back in 1982. Today around 120 countries celebrate this day.
As many talents came together, the event soon turned into a melting pot of several thriving genres including folk, metal, soft rock, and some extremely soothing renditions of old-school country. Chronic Xorn, one of the most popular metal bands in Kolkata, not only gave the evening a kick start with their energetic and passionate performance but also established the fact that metal is not just about listening, it is about living through it. Their performance was perhaps the only one which compelled the audience to stand up on their feet and bang their heads in what seemed nothing less than well-choreographed moves.
Chronic Xorn made use of every moment that they were on stage.
Up next, some extremely young talents took the stage to showcase their rhythmic lyrics through rap, a kind that is quite rare in the otherwise slow-burning indie music scene of Kolkata. Duos such as Streetfood Music brought their hurling quick raps that ranged from Bengali to Hindi, and soon some fresh bands like Park Circus brought to stage their Hip Hop beats which was refreshing yet concerning in the otherwise folksy atmosphere of the Kolkata indie scene. While some of these newcomers showed extremely promising performance, somewhere they also lacked the gravitas that is otherwise prevalent in most bands coming from this capital city in the East.
However, the evening took a delightful turn when the age-old duo, Lim & Ludo, took the stage. Adding some upbeat jazz to their reggae rendition of some Bob Dylan classics, the duo gave the audience every reason to cherish the tender yet intense independent music scene that is unfortunately not receiving sufficient recognition in Kolkata. Not only did the collective, that is a collaborative of Rahul Roy Guha and Ritoban Das, manage to bring together an audience, which so far was quite divided in its reaction to several genres, but Lim & Ludo once again reminded us why the city is still considered the cultural heritage of India. Effortless, they prepared the evening for another upcoming legend who are equally celebrated in the independent music scene of Kolkata.
Lim & Ludo gave a cherishable performance.
As one of the last acts Mohiner Ghoraguli Sampadito Bangla Gaan Prashanti were welcomed on stage by all reflecting their immense impact upon the indie music scene of the city. Since the late 1970s, the band has been bringing with them a refreshing take on what was then considered an orthodox way or perceiving Kolkata’s budding indie scene. Often considered similar to Bob Dylan’s urban folk movement in the ‘70s, they had made their mark with the song ‘Prithibita Naki’ which is about the world getting reflected on television. Their performance was like wrapping up the golden age of independent music, and paving the way for the fresh minds such as the youngest band of the evening Murphy’s Paradox.
A collective consisting of some of the prominent members of Friday Night Originals (a non-profit organization devoted to the upliftment of indie music), such as Durjoy Choudhury, Abhibroto Mitra, Arka Chatterjee, and Budhaprabha Roy, the band will launch its debut EP pretty soon. Their performance was signature old style keeping up with the tenderness of Lim & Ludo, while maintaining the virtuous passion of Mohiner Ghoraguli. To conclude World Music Day in Kolkata was like a flame of hope much needed for the musicians who are trying to preserve the original sound of the city.
