The first outing of the Indian Ocean band to God’s Own Country proved one thing - that Keralites for sure have a taste for fusion music. The band was cheered on to the stage by a mixed crowd of all age groups who did not miss a single chance to move their feet and body when the band belted out melodies enmeshed in metallic high pitch.
The band started their second song, an instrumental with an announcement that the actual score was composed by Asheem Chakravarty, one of the founder members of the band who died in 2009 following a cardiac arrest. As the band started playing the music the crowd started to stand one by one and within no time the entire audience was on their feet.
The next came the cult hit ‘Jhini’ followed by OST of Black Friday and the Bengali song ‘Bandoh’. The crowd including women with babies in their hand danced to the tunes which egged many others to join while the disco lights added to the frenzy.
The band, one of the oldest in the country and hailed as the most successful when it comes to live music, did not disappoint the jam packed crowd. Performing at Nishagandhi auditorium to bring the fifth edition of annual Kovalam Literary Festival to a spectacular close, the band had a surprise in store - a new fusion number they dedicated to Kerala and the jam packed crowd. The new song in Aramaic language was used in churches in Kerala as choir song way back in 18th century and in some churches the practice is still on. According to Rahul Ram, guitarist and vocalist in the band, the lyrics of the song was passed on to them by a Mallu friend, who had listened to it frequently during his church visits in childhood days.
Though in general their music falls in the genre of fusion, often fans identify them with rhythms that integrate shlokas, sufism, environmentalism, mythology and revolution. Though none of the band members vouch for any, they recently did create a revolution of sorts when they released their latest album ‘6/ 330 Khajoor Road’ online for free moving away from music company biggies.
Indian Ocean have built a steady fan base within India and overseas since the 90s. The band has also composed some memorable scores for movies including ‘Black Friday’ and ‘Peepli Live’. The band left the city receiving all the cheers with a promise that they would love to be back in the city and Kerala again. Soon we hope.
