Counting Down to 90 - Week 1573 - Blessed: Music, Matunga, Moments

The Concept Explained

Counting Down to 90 - Week 1579

Why 1579

Bhavin's WritingsBhavin Jankharia

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Two nights back at the NMACC, I discovered Ibrahim Maalouf and his band of horn players. I had deliberately avoided researching him in advance…his Arabic fusion jazz was a revelation...fun, different, and electric enough to have us on our feet from the beginning. This followed a weekend at the International Jazz Festival, at NCPA, where Cuban pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba gave a sublime performance on Day 2.

The music shows no signs of stopping: Maroon 5 is set for Tuesday at the Racecourse, followed by Kailash Kher at Shanmukhananda on Friday. Bryan Adams will rock NESCO the week after, and Sonu Nigam will tribute Mohd Rafi on Christmas eve. The calendar stretches even further with Coldplay at D Y Patil Stadium in Nerul and A R Rahman at Jio Gardens a day before.

Living in King's Circle/Matunga puts me in a sweet spot...Shanmukhananda Hall is just a 7-10 minute stroll...NCPA and Mahalaxmi Racecourse, even in bad traffic, are within a 45-minute drive, while NMACC, once a quick 20-minute trip now takes longer, but not more than an hour. Even venues such as NESCO in Goregaon and D Y Patil in Nerul are at best an hour to an hour and a half away. The city's other cultural spaces…VP stadium, MMRDA grounds, Royal Opera House, Mehboob Studios, and many more…also sit comfortably within this golden hour radius.

Tull They Come

About an anticipated Jethro Tull concert

Bhavin's WritingsBhavin Jankharia

With such rich access to live music, it is worth remembering that for most of human history, live was the only way to experience music. Our ability to listen to music anytime and anywhere is only 150 years old, dating back to Edison's invention of the phonograph. Perhaps this explains why we remain so deeply hard-wired for live performances…they tap into something primal, evoking sensory and emotional responses that recorded music, for all its convenience, can never quite match.

Live performances also offer an anchor to reality in an age where we increasingly lose ourselves in social media and virtual worlds. They pull us out of our digital cocoons; we have to physically move through the city and share space with strangers and navigate each venue's unique character. Often something magical happens; we form fleeting but profound connections with the performers and those around us and each performance becomes a unique, unrepeatable moment in time, shaped by the dynamic interplay between artist and audience. That collective "whoosh" of energy when a crowd moves as one…is something no digital experience or recorded music can replicate.

Growing up, I rarely saw live performances except for orchestras playing Hindi music and once, an Indian classical concert. During school years, my musical world was largely confined to the radio, listening to old and new Hindi songs on Vividh Bharti and Binaca Geetmala. An older cousin’s vinyl records of Cliff Richard and Elvis Presley were my only exposure to English music. Then came junior college, a different set of friends and cassette tapes that allowed easy copying of pirated music…which exposed me to rock, pop, and heavy metal…though live music remained elusive.

In the late 70s and 80s, things changed, and Rang Bhavan was a large part of that change…bands like Police and then the Jazz Yatra and many other concerts exposed me to the power of live performances, even though they were few and far between (Michael Jackson, Rock Machine, etc). 

Concerts in Contrast

About the Sonu Nigam concert in 2006, comparing it to the Tull concert

Bhavin's WritingsBhavin Jankharia

In the middle 30 years of my life, it was hard to find time for concerts and performances while I was immersed in my practice. But in the next 30 years, in the remaining 1572 weeks, I plan to make up for lost time, to explore and appreciate people singing and performing live, across all genres. 

Which is why, I feel blessed…living in Mumbai, which probably hosts the most performances of any other city in India, and then living in King’s Circle/Matunga with easy access to every venue in the city and then having knowledgeable friends (Nayanesh, Krishnan) and family (my kids) to guide me across different genres and to go to these performances with. What more could anyone want!