Despite being a cosmopolitan city, the financial capital of India fares poorly when it comes to cultural get-togethers. Itihas Shetty says those yearning for shows of live music are only being left with disappointment

Mumbai is a city that attracts eyeballs and raises curiosity more than any other Indian metropolis does. Bombay is what I would like to call it and it cannot be denied, it is home to a diverse population. But ask those that look at live music for wholesome fulfillment, they sure feel starved; any kind of a cultural get-together is very soon going to be a thing of the past in Mumbai if the present trend continues and this isn't an exaggeration.

It is common knowledge now that India has been accepted as a destination for all kinds of live events. Bands touring the world are seen making a pit-stop in India too, fearing their music might go unnoticed in a nation that is not visited for a long time. However, what we see happening is, the bands and artistes who are supposed to play India come down, eadline some major cities and some relatively minor ones, but they don't even land in Mumbai.

The number of live, open-air concerts in Mumbai is, therefore, few. Organizers are seen showing lesser and lesser interest in having Mumbai on their itinerary. Several reasons account for this. A major impediment is the entertainment tax. Not knowing what kind of a success the show will taste, organizers are right in giving Mumbai the skip, Mumbai has an entertainment tax of 25% while the national capital Delhi has only 15% and Bangalore 10%.

There ain't no bantering when it comes to organizing an event that scales up to national and international standard, the brains behind some of the well- established festivals in India have tried to make things work for Mumbai, but to no avail. The 2009 event Great Indian Rock (GIR) had Meshuggah, Enslaved and Tesseract perform in India, touring Bangalore, Delhi, Kolkata and Pune but Mumbai was was given the go by. The hurdles are many. Independence Rock festival was started way back in 1985 to celebrate Indian rock and it was synonymous with Rang Bhavan, Mumbai. But in 2003, the courts disallowed performances here and even a petition filed by the main organizer, Farhad Wadia, was dismissed. Since then, the event has been organized at the Chitrakoot Grounds.

It would seem, the Maharashtra government is failing to understand that such hurdles to musical performances hinder growth of the city as a cultural hub. Mumbaikars now have to go to neighbouring Pune to listen to an international rock band. I dread the day when Mumbai will get the image of India's only city where concerts and cultural festivals do not happen. Venues that exist within Mumbai lie barren, often home to stray cattle, some music might yet return them to a bit of their former glory.

Call of the Katatonia

Sounding as if the voices were coming from someplace else, the band's performance at the IIT Bombay Livewire was a complete experience and the pleasure derived was paramount, says Itihas Shetty

When a thoroughly indulging drug like Katatonia is playing somewhere, there is no place for second thoughts. Wooing your soul with immensely enriching and mature music, Katatonia was the right pick by organizers at IIT Bombay to headline one of the biggest college events in India. This also shows that the musical understanding of IITians do match that of rock band lovers outside of college. And when Indus Creed, who regrouped this year after having called it quits in the late-nineties, were to open for Katatonia, I did not want a minute's delay for the evening to get underway.

Yet, despite all my planning and even when I was among the first to get in, I managed to miss out on the opening band Abraxas's performance. This year there were four competing bands. The band that eventually won was Abraxas from Pune, followed by Purple Asparagus (Kolkata) and Guillotine (Delhi). Mumbai's own Goddess Gagged came a close fourth.

With the competition out of the way, it was time for the Indian headliner Indus Creed, back with a mix of old and new talent. Most of us had not heard them in their earlier avatar but knew a comeback is not always easy. One must say, Indus Creed made a safe landing at Katatonia, playing for almost an hour. Their list included crowd favorites Pretty Child and Top of the Rock. And then the lights were turned off.

Katatonia is a Swedish metal band formed in 1991 by Jonas Renkse (formerly aka Lord Seth) and Anders Nystrom (formerly aka Blakkheim). The early Katatonia albums are noted for their bleak melancholy and despair of their sound, often giving them the name doom metal. Katatonia's recent albums have a wider sound, with modern overtones.

Katatonia's music is all about mind, body and soul and their emotional connect -- the human factor in the music. If they talk about ghosts, they take you through a journey that wakens the ghosts inside you, if they are depressed you cannot be smiling. Five white figures, dressed mostly in black, took the stage at around eight thirty with their first song Day and Then the Shade. I had bagged a backstage entry and was hopping between the stage and sound console.

The track list shows, this was their best in the one-and-a-half hours they graced the podium. They had played these numbers at Stockholm on December 4, I knew they were likely to belt out the same numbers, among them: Day and Then the Shade, Liberation, My Twin,Onward Into Battle ,The Longest Year, Soil's Song, Omerta, Teargas, Saw You Down, Idle Blood, Ghost of the Sun, Evidence, Criminals and July. For the encore they had For My Demons, Forsaker and Leaders.

Sounding as if the voices were coming from someplace else, the performance was a complete experience and the pleasure derived was paramount. And with the sound also in place, Katatonia lovers did not have to compromise. December 21, 2010, thus became the day when I attended the best concert of my life. When the show ended, I left with a heavy heart, euphoric though that I had heard them live. Jonas and boys, India will miss you. Come back soon!

(The writer blogs at www.absurdhistory. wordpress.com and mail him at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .)