A fortnight before their live performance at the 8th Orange Festival of Adventure and Music at Dambuk, Arunachal Pradesh, Doji Dobom Collective, the most emergent native folk-rockers from the region, had dropped single Melo Jajine on YouTube. It got over a lakh likes. Little wonder that when they performed at the venue—an open-air amphitheatre surrounded by grass-topped, purpose-built incline on three sides—almost 6,000 people gathered for the show.
The deep dark wintry night was turgid with anticipation. The multi-ethnic band comprising Joe Kabak (guitar lead), Nyaamo Jini (rhythm guitarist), Papu Dolo (bassist), Samuel Laye (drummer) led by frontman Dobom Doji, commenced the show with Asi Noru Eh, a Galo-hymn, which acknowledges, “You’re the one who made us all.” A lilting C-Sharp Minor intro, winged by an improvised mid-song cracker burst, became Doji’s cue to let out a throaty scream. It seemed like an espresso shot in this hot chocolatey weather.
By now, the dominantly dark overhead sky had sprouted a lone star. The cappella rendition of Daminda, an Apatani folk ditty, was wrapped in reggae and had some in the crowd break into a jive. It was followed by Daming Dwram, a folk-fusion number alternating between chanting and chorusing. Soon the band took to a modern-working of Koko Leko, a folk tune of the Monpa tribe. This slow-tempo track with a delicious bassline brought out the lighted cellphones, which swung in educated unison.
Eight bars into their last scheduled song, Jimi Ane, the sound faltered. Doji, serene as the Sikang river, pacified the audience with, “Let’s talk till it’s fixed.” Though slim and just over five feet tall, he strode the stage with abundant exuberance. Notable was his shamanic tonality, inspired by his 68-year-old shaman-father. Truly, a night to remember.
Talking in Maths
Math rock, as a genre, may not at all come to mind when discussing South Korean bands. “There’s not much math rock in Korea; it’s mostly K-pop,” says bandleader—vocalist-guitarist, DyoN Joo of Cotoba, during the band’s performance at the festival. The first four songs were from their barely month-old album, Humanoid Operational. Attired in traditional Galluk, a gender-specific tribal waistcoat, the band warmed the gathered with Coii, couched with post-rock inflections. Cotoba means word and language in Japanese. For a generation that is into binge-watching K-dramas, the band was a hoot. Referencing the juiciness of Dambuk oranges, the band delved into its most famous song, Melon, to close their set with female drummer Minsuh crushing it.