FREEDOM jam. Sans bread. Perhaps that best elucidates what the 6th annual Freedom Jam -was all about. Puducherry always has the right reasons to celebrate. Music has delectably made its way to the erstwhile French colony and given that some eight kilometres away, Auroville reverberates with the strains of world music, the place is never without musical cheer.
But with the government showing losing its interest in the concert unlike that of previous years, there was much buzz about how the show would go on. Siddhartha was determined. “This year the government provided us just the places to perform. It was different in the past when they used to help us with transportation for the band and things like that. That’s why our catch line goes as no bread,” says Siddhartha, who runs the Puducherry leg of Freedom Jam, a concert that throws open the stage to musicians for almost any genre, giving them an opportunity to perform anything they like. But the show went on, thanks to the good array of bands that graced their presence on the three days that stretched over the weekend. “It’s all because of them, “ says Siddhartha.
With dual venues (Le Café and Seagulls) strategically stretched over three days, artistes like Ministry of Blues, East Veli Street, Matt Littlewood, Krishna McKinsey, Eric Blues Band, Nervewreck, Suryan and Taranti, Prasanna, Josh Mosh, Inner Skin, Jeevan and Jeremy, Parker Brothers, Vedanth and the likes, took part in the show.
It was around the time of India’s 50th year of independence that Freedom Jam was first conceived in Bangalore by Siddhartha, Srinidhi Anantharaman and Gopal Manale, with an aim to promote original talents in the country. “I was in the band Baja and we found it difficult to get shows because we hardly played covers. There were similar bands like that of ours and we got together and thus birthed Freedom Jam,” remembers Siddhartha. The Puducherry leg of Freedom Jam started six years ago. “There are lots of people in Puducherry who are open towards any kind of music. It is one place in the country were you can do your own little things and still have a normal life,” he signs off.
elizabeth@epmltd.com
