Night of rock and awe

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Music is the elixir of life. It transcends boundaries, gives expressions to unspoken emotions and direction to life. On June 21, the capital celebrated World Music Day by organising gigs for music enthusiasts across the city. In a mega event around 40 musicians including some of the biggest names like Indian Ocean, Euphoria, Them Clones, Advaita, Mrigya and Punkh jammed together to a full-house at Strikers, Vasant Kunj.
“The idea behind this event was to celebrate independent music. For the first time the audience got a chance to see a unique collaboration as artists played each other’s hit singles. With seasoned musicians having mutual respect for each other, it was just pure magic,” says Ashutosh Bhattacharya, CEO, Soundtree, a music and entertainment company that organised the event.
Dilip Ramachandran, a drummer and ex-member of Parikrama was heard playing Kashmir by Led Zepplin, Tom Sawyer by Rush and Karmah by Punkh. He said, “The numbers that I played were created on the spot, when musical royalties descended at the venue. For me it was reliving those days when it was all smooth, pure and totally about music.”
Heavens Down, the rock ‘n’ roll band known for its popular numbers like Just too Much and Rock will never die performed many tracks. Talking about the significance of the day, Manjit Joseph, the guitarist of the band said, “It was a great moment allowing the wonderful collaboration of Indian bands on one single stage and we created music that will be remembered by the audience for long.”
Fête de la Musique or World Music Day has become an international phenomenon today. “With all the hatred, corruption and issues infecting this vibrant democracy, music can be a great binding force, as it has no colour, caste or language,” says Bhattacharya.