CHENNAI: The 60s and 70s were a good time for rock music. Bands such as The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and Rolling Stones set the bar too high, often dubbed the harbingers of rock, roll and all that jazz. Those were the days when people grooved to headbanging music and relied on a band as opposed to DJs at events and parties.
Just ask the Bluebirds, a Tamil-English rock band who began their journey in the late 60s in Madurai. “Back then, we could perform all sorts of rock songs in Madurai. There were around 500-600 Anglo-Indian families residing there and there were many parties and ballroom events. They loved listening to rock songs that are classic now,” says Rajan, the bass guitarist of the band. “I’m not quite sure how Madurai would take to rock music now, but those were some amazing days.”
With sporadic breaks in between, Bluebirds burst into the music scene in South India owing to their renditions of classic songs and, of course, their catchy Tamil-English compositions. “Music had its’ best days in the 60s and 70s. Any connoisseur of good music would appreciate music from then, be it Bob Dylan,
Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple et al. And as a band, we cover a lot of those songs.
Such songs remain present,” asserts Rajasekaran, the lead vocalist of the band. “Many of those who attend our performances are people who grew up with these songs and would have crooned them away during their college days.”
While retro music is their forte and pioneering Tamil rock to the scene, the band isn’t dismissive about other kinds of music emerging in the city. “One good thing we are witnessing and liking is that there are newer bands now and they make good music. Sure music these days might be more palatable to our children, but we as a band always go back to 60s and 70s for music,” says Rajan. Bluebirds’ turning point, however, was two years ago when they opened for another band.
“The concert was to be a tribute to The Beatles at Museum Theatre Egmore. We were really keen on performing and our friend, who was organising it, was initially a little apprehensive but made it happen. So we’re on stage and we performed five-six songs to a packed audience. It was a memorable performance...all high on energy,” he recalls.
With professional lives catching up, the band still have occasional hiccups when it comes to jamming before a concert, but Rajan insists it doesn’t affect their performances.
“We respect each other’s professions and do not let it get affected. It gets a bit difficult at times considering many of us are in different cities. Some of us come all the way from Madurai or Coimbatore. But when we’re on stage, it’s a whole different feeling. We pull it off and there’s nothing like it,” adds the bass guitarist.
The band released an album called Rock Machines last year that had all their compositions right from their college days. “It’s a mix of English and Tamil songs. It’s quite rare to hear such songs by the same band,” says Rajasekaran. The album has eight songs written by Rajasekaran, with most of the English songs written by Jude Reeves, the other lead guitarist.
The band will be performing at Blend, Taj Club House
today at 7.30 pm, opening their performance with Led Zeppelin’s ‘The Immigrant Song’ and The Rolling Stones’
‘I can get no satisfaction’.
For details about the concert,call: 66313131