This Saturday, the state capital is gearing up for a stellar concert which might open a new chapter in its Western rock music scene. Old-time musicians and pioneers are taking the stage to celebrate the music of the 70s and 80s while performing their original compositions as well. Their community, named Trivandrum Rockers Group (TRG) will perform at 'Revive Vol 1'. The invite-only event will be held at Vyloppilli Samskrithi Bhavan amphitheater.
"It will be a throwback weekend for the city and all the late 70s and 80s musicians who were part of the western music community will come together and perform,” says Darshan Shankar, founder of TRG and the lead vocalist of the band Ground Zero. Darshan lives in Dubai now, but he remembers a time when the city used to rock and roll.
"From 1990 to 1997, I performed at various venues. The buzz over western music was much higher back then. The number of bands was higher and we used to get support from the tourism department. I left the country in 1997 to join a band in Oman, and so did few other musicians. Since then, Thiruvananthapuram’s western music scene has been quite dry," he adds.
However, the artist is hopeful of the renewed interest for the same in the last few years. “During my visit last August, I came across many youngsters wanting to jump-start a career in old school rock. I felt the need to bring the culture back,” he says, adding how this drove him to dig up his old address book and reconnect with contemporaries.TRG brings under its fold veteran, new-age and aspiring artists.
The show will feature 11 bands and over 50 musicians, including Nandu Leo and Cindy Nandakumar, The Gypsies, IX Hours, Darshan Shankar Ensemble, Lazie J, Jyothi Crishna, Rockknot, Souljam, The BFlat, Velvet Clouds, and The 12th Bar.
“This show was Darshan’s idea It’s more like a festival to us. Back in the 90s, we would hunt cassette shops to get our hands on new songs and artists. With digital platforms like YouTube and Spotify, listeners these days hardly understand this,” says Manoj Pillai of the band Lazie J.
The group also intends to organise workshops, meet-ups and training sessions for musicians in the city who would like to follow old school rock. “The idea is to inspire youngsters just the way this city raised us back in the day,” concludes Darshan.