City rocks with The Live Gig

Heavy Water, one of the regulars, performs at the Live Gig

Despite a ban on live music in pubs and clubs, rocks bands thrive

The live music ban in pubs and clubs hasn't stopped Bangalore from holding on to its title of the Rock capital of India. The latest to be added to the city's repertoire of musical ventures is The Live Gig.

The Live Gig is an open forum for the city's musicians to showcase their talent. A fortnightly event that takes place at the Indira Gandhi Musical Fountain on T. Chowdiah Road, it has come as a relief to music bands in the city.

New vistas

The brainchild of Bharath and Bushra in collaboration with Provoke an artiste's collective The Live Gig kicked off in the last week of November, opening up new vistas for music lovers.

"From day one, we've had bands jumping at us to offer support as well as to perform," says Bharath.

The event now boasts of five shows successfully carried out, all at the Indira Gandhi Musical Fountain. These shows have seen bands like Ston'd, Heavy Water, Grubby Halo, Nevermind and Slain perform alongside new local talent. Bruce Lee Mani of Thermal and a Quarter fame was another crowd-puller.

Asked about the choice of venue, Bharath answers, "We are basically looking to take music to places where such events haven't happened before. Also, it (Indira Gandhi Musical Fountain) is a government-owned park. We want to work with the government to further our cause. We want them to know that we are not against the law nor are we drug addicts or anything like that."

The ban on live music in pubs and places that serve liquor is another source of dismay for music bands in the city.

"The government fails to make a distinction between live bands and pubs where music is played. They have confused it with places where there is bar dancing and prostitution," Bharath said.

Contact
Bharath Kumar onu00a0 9964128425 oru00a0 bharath@provoke.co.in
Bushra: 9844146919 bushra@provoke.co.in