Every gig Austrian beatboxers Bauchklang play at the Blue Frog is a homecoming of sorts. The Lower Parel venue first introduced us to the quintet in 2008; a surprisingly packed opening gig for a then almost unknown act. Since then, the Austrian quintet have been so well received at the club that we made sure we were at the venue well before the scheduled start time of the gig for fear the club would be too packed if we came any later.

Having played the venue several times before, the quintet’s performance felt almost orchestrated – their movements deliberate, as if rehearsed for a theatre performance. Yet, it had a fluidity to it that was symbolic of not only the band’s steady dance tunes but also of the fact that given the absolute human-ness of their sound, their music evolves; a definitive, progressive motion that’s the backbone of this vocal battery.

Performing a set of predominantly older material, Bauchklang’s approach to this, their tenth outing at the venue, was measured. Opening with now regular set-opener ‘Create’, Mumbai’s favourite beatboxers seemed unfazed by the adulation bestowed upon them by the packed venue, going about literally building a performance as if to give new meaning to the phrase ‘setting the stage’. There were no unnecessary excesses, no calls for singalongs, no lengthy introductions and yet the quintet had a vice like grip on the audience’s attention. The Blue Frog’s excellent PA, well attuned to the band’s sound, ensured that every nuance of this oral opera was crystal clear, and in the pit was a booming tsunami of a bass attack.

As is now a regular fixture of their performances, the band invited audience members to perform with them on stage. That, and a perfunctory collaboration with Blue Frog everyman Vivek Rajagopalan, was the only low of an otherwise resounding performance from the vocal groove specialists.

Indiecision: B+

Bauchklang @ Blue Frog, Mumbai

Bauchklang @ Blue Frog, Mumbai

This year the group plays at the Lower Parel venue on two nights, before gigs in Bangalore and Pune.

Dates
Feb 22: Blue Frog, Mumbai
Feb 23: Blue Frog, Mumbai
Feb 24: Pebbles, Bangalore
Feb 25: Area 51, Pune

Tickets at the Blue Frog are Rs 500 a pop. Well worth it for one of the most ingenious international acts we’ve caught in the country.

To be honest we had absolutely no expectations from Norwegian metal act Benea Reach. The thirteenth edition of Great Indian Rock came to Oasis, Pune with a lineup that included Indian metal pros Scribe and Bhayanak Maut. So, even without the Scandinavian band, one was guaranteed a reasonable quality gig. While the Indian bands efficiently went about creating mayhem at the scenic outdoor venue, the seven-piece from Oslo delivered their hardcore with a battering ram-like efficiency and an act that screamed “pro”. Pune was left sufficiently shocked in the best way possible.

We knew we were going to like The Giraffes after watching some of their eccentric music videos. We knew even more that we were going to like them when the Israeli band still went ahead with their gig in Mumbai, which was held barely a month after the terrorist attacks in November. What we didn’t know just how compelling an act the five-piece from Tel Aviv was. No matter that they were singing in Hebrew, The Giraffes were a garage rock band, in both sound and spirit and once lead singer Gilad Kahana got into the zone no one could stop him, not even the bouncers at the Frog who tried in vain to prevent him from walking on (and eventually breaking) the glass between the pods.

We were impressed by electro-jazz keyboardist Leo Tardin aka Grand Pianoramax the first time we saw him at the Frog in 2008. When he returned this year, he brought along trusty percussionist Karsh Kale and slam poet Celena Glenn aka Black Cracker and together they gave us plenty of both groove and grit. Though Tardin was as skilful as we remembered him to be, he almost saw himself being overshadowed by his guests. The highlight of the gig came when he briefly left the stage, leaving Kale and Clen to treat the crowd to a spontaneous freestyle jugalbandi.

An hour before the Porcupine Tree gig, staged as part of IIT Bombay’s annual cultural festival Mood Indigo, it seemed like the college  students were clearly overwhelmed by the logistics of an event of such  scale. Once the British prog-rockers took the stage however everything, from the inefficient booking process to the absurdly stringent security restrictions, was forgotten and forgiven. This was a band a significant portion of the city – and the country – had been waiting years to see and ultimately, we got everything we were hoping  for. We got the lights, we got the sound but most importantly, we got the songs. A set of greatest hits, on a tour specifically designed to promote a new album, left everyone in the audience smiling, swaying and satisfied.

Bauchklang have made India, and particularly Mumbai, their second home. Every time the Austrian beatboxers make their way to the city they are greeted by manic audiences that go mental to the sound of their vocal techno. It helps that they know exactly how to work the crowd with their set of ‘vocal groove’ that’s instantly engaging and loads of fun. While this set wasn’t as enthralling as the set that won them Best Gig International ’08, it was another killerific performance by the quintet.

And the Best Gig International ‘09 was

The Giraffes at the Blue Frog.

Head to the Indiecision ‘09 homepage for all the action.

(note: we have excluded from consideration any gigs that Indiecision was associated with in 2009)

In its maiden year, the extended line-up unfolded over the four days in the very ambitious venue of the highest plateau in the world – Leh. Considering the fact that over 60 artists traveled from across the globe (Terracotta – Portugal, Gateways – Switzerland, Anna Van Reil – New Zealand, Bauchklang – Austria, Rodney Branigan – Canada, Talvin Singh  – UK, Ortal Pelleg – Israel, David Swarupe – Italy) and far reaches of the nation as well (Rajasthan Roots – Rajasthan, Mahesh Vinaykram and Vedant Bharadwaj – Chennai, Shaa’ir + Func and Tribal Flora – Mumbai, Soulmate – Shillong) to congregate with local legends (Rahul Sharma, Ali Mohammad – monks who sings the blues, and Castaways – local rock band as generic as they sound) there was reason enough to pack and head to the mountains.

August 28 to 31 were dates booked over the pasteuring and flat land, situated on the banks of the Indus River that hosts the annual historic festival of Sindhu Darshan each year for the people of Ladakh. Located around 8kms before Leh between the hamlets of Shey and Chagmanslor, the venue was perfect to create a medley of traditional and the contemporary – in terms of culture and music. The organizers couldn’t have picked a more fitting location considering their lineup including artists that border the divide between yesterday and tomorrow. And the fact that artificial stages and permanent arches would make for the ambient environment of the little land, enclosed between high peaks and building infrastructure, was particularly endearing.

Two stages were set-up, the Nyima that ran acoustic gigs and the main stage, the Skarma that pulled power for the headlining acts each evening. Tents scattered around the property were supposed to give a lesson in local Ladakhi art and craft, assisted and spearheaded by Rob from the Mad Show on Pogo and a Film Tent that would screen movies through the day courtesy Sapna Shahani, noted filmmaker.

But overriding the minimal crowd walk-ins, considering how most walking in wore volunteer badges, the total number of some 200 a day who managed to attend the confluence came for the love, peace and the music. Only this was a literal cosmosis of castaway firang bikers and hippies who were willing to dance and trip to everything that had a melodic sound and of course out-of-towners who didn’t mind the idea of the confluence. Celebrity spotting was easy. Purab Kohli and Vasundhara Das seemed to have flown in for a bit of the artists’ haven. But more than a tight stage-to-stage scrambling, The LC was a bass line of loosely connected dots. The artists were seen mostly hanging out like it was an open mic night of sorts and in between the many power failures (Leh has its concurrent blackouts), the best part of the festival were the instant  jam sessions that broke out in between the shows.

And amidst the mediocre and the awkward, the truly notable performances of Shaa’ir + Func, Vedant Bharadwaj, Rajasthan Roots, Tribal Flora, David Swarupe and Ortal Palleg and of course Soulmate clearly stood out. On opening night, the CM of J&K Omar Abdullah arrived to see Talvin Singh and Rahul Sharma open the fest as the headlining act. There seemed to be the promise of better things to come. “I am excited to be here and to be a part of a cultural fest like this. I promise you these young minds will bring in more and I am willing to do whatever it takes to make this work,” he cheekily opined. Chering Dorjay, chairman of the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council, promised much more in years to come, as ministers tend to do.

There was even unseasonal rain that threatened to disrupt the last day of the confluence, that managed to be saved by a set by Bauchklang who were gasping for breath but threw in a neat performance accompanied by Suchet Malhotra, Vasundhra Das and a jam partner in Harsha from Hyderabad. True to their performances, they closed the Ladakh Confluence over a merger of arms aloft in pandemonic trance.

The organizers in Rayna Jhaveri and Swaati Langeh hoped to have had a better crowd gathering and a tighter show, but excusing the many structural breakdowns, LC was true to its namesake. It was a big jam space in the middle of the mountains and the often idled musician mingled amongst the crowds, invited people on staged, jammed with nu and new inspiration. So what if the locals mostly eluded, except for on day three when the local favourites in Soulmate made sure the discounted Rs. 600 per ticket for the locals, made for a great attendance. Experimental bands in Gateways even saw a bit of the rock fan angst you run into at campus gigs. But the genius in impromptu shows, especially in Rodney Branigan’s appearance three nights of the four made for much entertainment.

The highlight of the festival was the daily Drum Circle organized by ace percussionist Roberto Narain and Priyanka Blah from Tempo Tantrick. In the middle of the expansive field post sunset, the duo would light a bonfire and pass a rhythmic instrument. They’d direct us to a melody and we were all musicians. The confluence made us that in Leh.

This was the scene over the four days. Sunset would gave away to dusk, dusk to twilight, the impenitent tropical pyrexia cooled slightly, but the temperature of the crowd was rising. You would have to be a very dull person – a snob, or a sad cynic – not to enjoy this show. The sound is of symphonic scale, and of course there is the spectacle, especially here, on and off stage – the sight of fans, arms aloft, singing every word of every song.

Follow our coverage of The Ladakh Confluence: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 (was largely rained out)

We won’t say much else than put your headphones on, sit back and enjoy the closest you’ll get to experiencing Bauchklang without actually being at one of their gigs.