The Indiecision ‘10 is a recap of the year gone by in Indian indie and a recognition of the work of its artists and those involved with the creation and promotion of the music.
The Best Gig Indian was the best concert by an Indian artist attended by the Indiecision staff. The nominees for the Best Gig Indian are
If you’ve watched Kochi nu-metal act Avial perform at a venue north of Bangalore (or outside Dubai), you haven’t really watched Avial perform. On home-ish turf, the Mallu band’s act becomes a collosal monster fueled by the undying, unequivocal support of an adoring audience. The Kyra theatre was packed with about 300 punters (a feat achieved by removing the tables and chairs at the venue), most mildly inebriated and ready to rock out to their heroes’ Korn-ish-sample-based-nu-metal-to-Malayalam-lyrics-and-Rex-Vijayan-guitar-kvlt-ness jams. Avial did not disappoint.
The term “music festival” is much overused in India these days. Anything from a garden party with a couple of DJs to a Backstreet Boys gig gets assigned this title. And while the ambiguity of its definition is cause for some concern, we’re pretty sure its essence stems from more than just the music. Of all the charlatans claiming to be festivals, Fireflies perhaps comes pretty damn close to the real thing. While the musical highlight of the February festival was local heroes Lounge Piranha’s set, it’s the fantastic festival vibe that’ll bring us back next year.
Indian Ocean were in a generous mood that night. Why wouldn’t they be? This was a bonus Sunday night gig, for over 200 fans who had returned home disappointed because they couldn’t be accommodated in their packed-to-capacity concert at the Lower Club venue the past Wednesday. The band played all the hits from their two-decade spanning career, and a handful of new songs including the soon-to-be-massive ‘Des Mera’ from the soundtrack of Peepli [Live]. There’s no such thing as a bad Indian Ocean gig, but this one-which had gubgubi solos, tabla players-turning-bassists and backstories aplenty-was different. It wasn’t just the spontaneous jam with Kailash Kher, this was a band that was feeling loved, and gave love in return.
The Supersonics disbanding was easily the biggest hit that Indian indie took in 2010. Between the solid rhythm section, Ananda Sen’s hauntingly unique vocal delivery and the just-absolutely-gorgeous guitar parts, we had a band that essentially exceeded the sum of its parts. The gig that April night was a leisurely stroll through their brilliant first album Maby Baking (Indiecision’s ’09 Album of the Year) and assorted unreleased material. Backed by the always-excellent Blue Frog PA, there was an inkling that we were witness to something special that night. It was, sadly, the last time they’d ever play Mumbai.
It’s perhaps noteworthy that Shaa’ir + Func played just two songs from Mantis in their opening 10 at the album’s launch at the Blue Frog. This is a band that has released three quality records in just four years (no mean feat, especially for an Indian band), is one of the most popular live acts in the scene (the south Mumbai venue was packed, like at the launch of Light Tribe, two years ago), and continually reinvents itself both musically and on stage. They don’t need to showcase new material. As the scene patois goes, it’s all good. This set was unrelenting in its mission to keep us grooving. Shaa’ir + Func is one of the most important bands in Indian indie music today. This gig showed us just why.
And the Best Gig Indian ‘10 was
Shaa’ir + Func at the Blue Frog.
(Note: We have excluded from consideration any gigs that Indiecision was associated with in 2010. This includes the Bacardi NH7 Weekender.)
Honourable Mentions
Zero @ Hard Rock Cafe, Mumbai
The Great Indian Octoberfest @ Palace Grounds, Bangalore
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