Pics: The Jass B’stards, Gowri @ Zook, New Delhi

Zook, in the capital, hosted singer-songwriter Gowri and experimental rock act The Jass B’stards this past weekend, on July 9. The venue has an interesting layout, with a small stage area with a decent light setup and a lounge area at the back. Although Zook looks like it was primarily designed for DJ gigs, the acoustics held up well for the diverse genres on offer.

Kicking off over an hour past the scheduled time, the night started with the solo acoustic stylings of Gowri. She punctuated her set with short anecdotes detailing the genesis of her tracks – ‘See The Pussy Run’, for instance, is about the funny way in which she runs. The Jass B’stards joined Gowri for her last few tracks which included ‘Bangalore’d’. She ended her set with The Vaselines’s ‘Jesus Doesn’t Want Me For A Sunbeam’.

The Jass B’stards set featured a number of curious add-ons – shakers, a megaphone, a whistle, a mouth-organ and even an analog radio! They started things off with a samba-channeling track, with the band’s vocalist/keyboardist Stefan Kaye running into the dance floor and jiving with whistle and shaker in tow. The band’s lineup included Nikhil Vasudevan on drums (also the latest addition to the menwhopause lineup) and Tony Guinard on bass. The B’stards were joined by guest vocalists Samara Chopra, Aditi Veena and Suguna Sridhar (sister of Suman Sridhar, of Sridhar/Thayil). In the middle of the set, Nikhil appeared to succumb to fits, losing control of his limbs and forcing the rest of the band to restrain him. Although it’s unclear if that part of the band’s stage act, it’s safe to say that the B’stards’ set was not short on energy.

Photos by Prateek Biswas

Nikhil Vasudevan of Jass B'stards @ Zook, New Delhi

Gowri @ Zook, New Delhi