Live: menwhopause @ Blue Frog, Mumbai

New Delhi alternative rock act menwhopause played the Blue Frog on Thursday, May 26. We were there.

menwhopause is the blue collar indie rock band India never had. They channel sweeping blues rock a la The Doors with an almost The National-esque sense of self-awareness, rooted deeply in an Indian upbringing. This refreshing brand of adult alternative is performed with characteristic middle-class pluck; for them, playing a good song is making the good song sound great.

The New Delhi quintet brought this particularly riveting routine to the Blue Frog last month. Part of the launch tour for their sophomore album Easy, the gig was the band’s first appearance at the venue since 2008. The band performed without frontman Sarabjit Chadha who was reportedly suffering a bad throat, with bassist Randeep Singh filling in on vocals (like he did at the Escape Festival the weekend before). Singh was an ample replacement for Chadha; a booming falsetto delivered with his classical dancer-ish head bobble.

That minimal upper-body movement was the extent of menwhopause’s histrionics. The band showed a The Supersonics-esque disdain for stage theatrics, instead focusing on live soundcraft. They paced their act with German efficiency. Uptempo builders were given room to breathe. More laidback tracks were  measured; the momentum of the gig was perhaps a nod to the title of their new album. Though deep in concentration through the gig, the band showed no sign of being hurried. Guitarists Anup Kutty and IP Singh, while nervous at the start, settled into a groove and complemented each other especially well on the tracks from the new album.

The set comprised primarily tracks from Easy. The freneticism of tracks like ‘Solitude’ (with its hat tip to ‘The End’ by The Doors) and ‘Keep’ was offset efficiently by more sedate tracks like ‘Puppets and Paupers’ and ‘Easy’. The highlight of the gig however was set closer ‘Father Monologue’. The track which made its debut on the band’s debut album Home (and a shortened edit on Easy), was one of our top 25 songs of the last decade; the #16 we gave it felt a bit low after this almost hypnotic performance. Following ‘Easy’, the instrumental melodrama that built up to ‘Father Monologue’s circular groove was irresistible.

The crescendo that it culminated in left us with that rare feeling of satisfaction. Of having watched a hard working group put on a show sans ostentation. Of having experienced honest music that originated from a genuine place.

menwhopause didn’t come back for an encore. We didn’t hold it against them.

Indiecision: B+

For a monochrome gallery of photographs from the gig, check out the NH7 Facebook page.

Photos by Kunal Kakodkar

menwhopause @ Blue Frog, Mumbai

menwhopause @ Blue Frog, Mumbai

menwhopause @ Blue Frog, Mumbai

menwhopause @ Blue Frog, Mumbai