Drowning in Indian Ocean's magic

JESSICA RAI

KATHMANDU: The impression and impact through their music was beyond words and explanation. One has to see to believe it. The hall full of spectators got up on their feet to show how much they liked their performances. In the first half, just those at the back of the hall stood up, but by the end of the last song, almost everyone was on their feet in standing ovation, arms raised as they saluted the musicians with sounding rounds of claps and applause. And then they thronged the stage for

autographs.

“It was awesome. I can’t describe in words. I am very happy to see the audience and it is one of the best audiences that we have performed for outside India,” shares Indian Ocean drummer Amit Kilam on their first performance in Nepal at the Indian Ocean Live in Kathmandu on July 18 held at Nepal Army Officers’ Auditorium, after witnessing the overwhelming response from the audience.

Why wouldn’t they?

The band had blown the audience away with their performance since the beginning of the concert till the last beat. Starting with the song Kya Maloom till the last song Kandisa, it was a musical spree with good music and lots of entertainment. For about two hours, Indian Ocean enthralled and captivated the crowd with their fusion music that had flavours of Indian, folk, jazz, rock and classical music.

The concert had began on a positive note when Kilam mentioned that their album “Desert Rain sold more in Thamel than in Mumbai”. The audience responded with a thunder of claps and cheers.

“We wanted to come to Nepal for a long time,” added Rahul Ram, bassist, and after the band’s successful concert he was moved to mention “it was worth every thing.” And guitarist Susmit Sen shared, “We would like to come back to Nepal.”

From jugalbade to fetching Indian elements on stage to remembering their deceased friend and bandmate — Asheem Chakravarty, everything happened on one stage.

The band performed their popular numbers like Jhini Re Jhini, Bandeh, Bondhu and Melancholic Ecstacy which garnered awesome applause. The high and low feel of their numbers elevated the soul and heart. No one resisted swaying to their beats.

Ram played the low frequency instrument and plucked, thumped and slapped to create groovy effects while Sen’s lead and riff on his semi-acoustic guitar was amazing. And tabala and percussion by Tuheen Chakravarty and powerful vocals by Himanshu Joshi put lots of dimension to their music.

Stepping outside from the rolling of the drums, Kilam also played other instruments like gabgubi. And with this Bengali instrument, he did jugalbandi with the audience and with Ram and Sen. That was one of the duets! There were also surprising moments on stage like tabala player striking the bass like tabala. That was impromptu and brilliant.

With such an act, even a first time listener like visual artist Kapil Mani Dixit was left speechless and stuck to his

chair. “It was excellent and

I enjoyed a lot. The fusion music was good,” he shared of his experience adding that the guitarist bowled him over.

On the other hand, Samir Shakya from New Road, found the

gabgubi playing different. He shared, “The band members were in sync and the best part was that they interacted with the crowd. It was a new experience and I didn’t want it to end.”

The concert was organised by the Embassy of India in association with Indian Council for Cultural Relations and BP Koirala India-Nepal Foundation.