Sometimes it takes longer than usual.
On Thursday, March 17, South Bombay lounge/restaurant Valhalla metamorphosed into a live music venue, for the first time, with jam band Something Relevant kicking off their series of Thursday-night Val Alive gigs. Valhalla is a small, pleasant space, with a red velvet throne and dim chandeliers hanging off a low ceiling. An area was cordoned off from the main space, where the India vs. England cricket match was being screened. The gig was scheduled to begin 8pm, and started a little after 10, as a sizeable section of the crowd including the band, were engrossed in watching the match.
The seven-member band was spilling off the tiny confines of the stage. Saxophonist Ryan Sadri spent most of his time on the floor to the right. The band played a two-and-a-half hour, almost-gapless set, showcasing some new material interspersed with the first album in its entirety. By their second song ‘Eddy On A Roll’, they were letting notes ring and hang in the air, growing catchier as they plunged forth into ‘City In A Situation’.
Something Relevant are great if you need a pickmeup – using an assortment of everything from Dave Matthews-esque alt to the beginnings of what seemed like them crafting a mini-rock opera to plinking keys over possible Hanna-Barbera soundtracks. This gig was significantly different from a Hard Rock Cafe or Blue Frog gig – the audience was here for the gig, they weren’t just diners. Immediately after the end of the match, a crowd of about 100 people had gathered around the miniature stage, lining the bar and packing the seating area.
Midway through the set, the band introduced the ’80s synthy ‘Tomorrow (I’ll be a Working Man)’, as a song for people who had to go to work the next day, which turned into a full-fledged conversation with the audience. Guitarist Tanmay Bhattacharjee would throw in The Godfather theme, and ‘Sweet Child of Mine’ riffs from time to time mid-solo. The band then launched into an impromptu interlude about mosquitoes, with an 8-bit lambada thrown in. Toward the end of the gig, individual band members competed for applause, which ended in a mini dance-off between bassist Stuart DaCosta and a member of the audience.
Interesting sidenote: One of the members of the audience looked remarkably like Guy Fawkes.
Indiecision: B-
Setlist
‘Love In My Head’
‘Eddy On Roll’
‘Groovy Sense’
‘City In A Situation’
‘Longer Than the Usual’
‘Reality’
‘Yesterdays Song’
‘Tomorrow (I’ll Be A Working Man)’
‘Sweet Strange’
‘So Called’
‘Mr Invisible’
‘Love Me Like You Do Me’
‘Comfort Song’
‘Window’
‘Aaha’
‘Layman’
‘What’s Done Is Done’
Pictures by Suvajeet Duttagupta
Something Relevant @ Valhalla, Mumbai
Something Relevant @ Valhalla, Mumbai
Something Relevant @ Valhalla, Mumbai
Something Relevant @ Valhalla, Mumbai
Something Relevant @ Valhalla, Mumbai
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